1. What is the role of objectives in Tyler's model?
2. Why do objectives have to be screened by philosophy and psychology?
3. Give THREE specific examples of "learning experiences" according to the Tyler Model.
4. What are elements? Give specific examples. 5. What is the purpose of evaluation?
Figure 5.1: Tyler's Curriculum Development Model
Source: adapted from Ornstein, A. C., & Hunkins, F. P. (1998). Curriculum: Foundations, principles and issues. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, p.198.
5.2.2 The Taba Model
Another approach to curriculum development was proposed by Hilda Taba in her book Curriculum Development: Theory and Practice published in 1962. She argued that there was a definite order in creating a curriculum. She believed that teachers, who teach the curriculum, should participate in developing it which led to the model being called the grass-roots approach. She noted 7 major steps to her grass-roots model in which teachers would have major input (see Figure 5.2). She was of the opinion that the Tyler model was more of an administrative model. The Tyler model involved too much top-down decision making. The greater portions of curriculum decisions were made by administrators in the Central Office or the Ministry of Education.
Taba felt that a curriculum should be designed by the users of the programme. Teachers should begin the process by creating specific teaching-learning units for their students. She advocated that teachers take an inductive approach to curriculum development. This meant starting with the specifics and building toward a general design. This was just the opposite to the more traditional deductive approach which starts with the general design and than working toward the specifics.
Taba proposed seven major steps to her grass-roots model in which teachers would have major input throughout the curriculum development process:
1. Diagnosis of need: The teacher who is also the curriculum designer starts the process by identifying the needs of students for whom the curriculum is planned. For example, the majority of students are unable to think critically. 2. Formulation of objectives: After the teacher has identified needs that
require attention, he or she specifies objectives to be accomplished.
3. Selection of content: The objectives selected or created suggest the subject matter or content of the curriculum. Not only should objectives and content match, but also the validity and significance of the content chosen needs to be determined; i.e. the relevancy and significance of content.
4. Organisation of content: A teacher cannot just select content, but must organise it in some type of sequence, taking into consideration the maturity of learners, their academic achievement, and their interests. [We will discuss curriculum design in more detail in Topic 6].
5. Selection of learning experiences: Content must be presented to students and students must be engaged with the content. At this point, the teacher selects instructional methods that will involve the students with the content.
6. Organisation of learning activities: Just as content must be sequenced and organised, so must the learning activities. Often, the sequence of the learning activities is determined by the content. But the teacher needs to keep in mind the particular students whom he or she will be teaching.
7. Evaluation and means of evaluation: The curriculum planner must determine just what objectives have been accomplished. Evaluation procedures need to be designed to evaluate learning outcomes. [We will discuss curriculum evaluation in more detail in Topic 8].
8. TabaÊ model has much merit. However, some argue that teacher involvement throughout the process assumes that they have the expertise and, perhaps more importantly, the time to engage in such an extensive and intensive curricular activity. Teachers being involved in the early stages of curriculum development may not necessarily be an advantage as it will not necessarily guarantee an effective curriculum since it is a highly specialised process.
However, it cannot be denied that curriculum development requires the involvement of many parties at various stages of the process. It involves individuals from the Central Office or the Ministry of Education, district education officers, principals, teachers, community leaders, subject matter experts, academics and even students. Usually, curriculum developers at the Central Office are given the task of directing those actions that bring together various participants in curriculum development. Teachers may only be involved in implementing the curriculum while the main part of the curriculum is determined by the Ministry of Education, academics, content specialists and employers.
SELF-CHECK 5.2
1. Explain why Taba's model is called the grass-roots model.
2. Do you think teachers should be the main decision makers in the development of a curriculum? Why?
3. To what extent are teachers involved in developing curriculum in your country?
5.2.3 The Saylor and Alexander Model
Galen Saylor and William Alexander (1974) viewed curriculum development as consisting of four steps (Figure 5.3). According to them, curriculum is "a plan for providing sets of learning opportunities to achieve broad educational goals and related specific objectives for an identifiable population served by a single school centre" (p.24).
(a) Goals, Objectives and Domains: The model indicates that curriculum planners begin by specifying the major educational goals and specific objectives they wish to accomplish. Each major goal represents a curriculum domain and they advocate four major goals or domains: personal development, human relations, continued learning skills and specialisation. The goals, objectives and domains are selected after careful consideration of several external variables such as findings from educational research, accreditation standards, views of community groups and others.
(b) Curriculum Designing: Once the goals, objectives and domains have been established, planners move into the process of designing the curriculum. Here decision is made on the appropriate learning opportunities for each domain and how and when these opportunities will be provided. Will the curriculum be designed along the lines of academic disciplines or according to student needs and interests or along themes? These are some of the questions that need to be answered at this stage of the development process [We will discuss curriculum design in more detail in Topic 6].
(c) Curriculum Implementation: After the designs have been created the next step is implementation of the designs by teachers. Based on the design of the curriculum plan teachers would specify instructional objectives and then select relevant teaching methods and strategies to achieve the desired learning outcomes among students in the classroom [We will discuss curriculum implementation in more detail in Topic 7].
(d) Evaluation: Finally, curriculum planner and teachers engage in evaluation. The model proposed that evaluation should be comprehensive using a variety of evaluation techniques. Evaluation should involve the total educational programme of the school and the curriculum plan, the effectiveness of instruction and the achievement of students. Through the evaluation process, curriculum planner and developers can determine whether or nor the goals of the school and the objectives of instruction have been met. [We will discuss curriculum evaluation in more detail in Topic 8].
SELF-CHECK 5.3
1. What is meant by "domains" in the Saylor and Alexander model? 2. What must teachers do to implement a curriculum?
The three models just discussed reveal both similarities and differences. All models outline a sequence of steps to be taken in curriculum development. Interestingly, the Taba model emphasises the role of teachers in curriculum development while the Tyler model focuses on the two screens objectives have to pass through. However, you should keep in mind that models often are incomplete; they do not and cannot show every detail and aspect of the complicated curriculum process. To depict every aspect in detail of the curriculum development process would require an exceedingly complex and intricate model.
In looking at the three models we cannot say that any one model is superior to another model. Some curriculum planners have followed the Tyler model with considerable success. But this does not mean that the Tyler model represents the ultimate in models for curriculum development or that all educators are satisfied with it.