Curriculum in Social Sciences
Curriculum is an academic word. The concept of
curriculum is emerged along with the formal education system in the world. A
school runs up on a stipulated curriculum. Curriculum has different aspects and
elements.
The word curriculum come from a Latin word ‘currere’,
which means ‘to run’ or ‘to lead’. Curriculum is a path to run or a way to run
to reach at a goal. Curriculum is mean and end for the conduct of education.
Curriculum is defined as all the experiences that learners can have at school
or in educational institution. Curriculum is the tool in the hands of the
artists (teachers) to mold his materials (students) in his studio (school), is
the concept of Cunningham.
Hence, we can find that curriculum is the exact
directive for the educational experiences. It is the totality of the
experiences that learners get from the educational institution. There is a fact
that in most of the cases, the curriculum being considered as syllabus. It is a
notable error, but using commonly.
Factors Influencing Curriculum Construction
There
are different factors that influence curriculum construction for educational
programme. Some of the major factors are listed below;
·
Socio-cultural
factors
·
Psychological
factors
·
Philosophical
factors
·
Economic
factors
·
Factors
of convenience and facilities
·
Factors
of teacher qualities and learners learning capacities
·
Technological
and other supportive facilities
·
Factors
of resource availabilities
·
The
government policies
·
Policies
of Educational administrators
·
Attitude
of the stake holders of education
The factors that affect the curriculum construction
which are listed above are not complete.
There may have different other factors that may affect the curriculum
construction.
Principles of Curriculum Construction
The
construction of curriculum is based up on certain principles and policies.
These tenets are called principles of curriculum construction. Certain
important principles that are to be followed for curriculum construction are
given below;
Principle of: -
·
child
centeredness
·
activity
centeredness/ activity orientation
·
optimism
·
conservation
·
protecting,
transforming and transferring culture
·
creativity
·
humanity
·
flexibility
·
protecting
significance of leisure
·
psychological
aptness
·
philosophical
and cultural aptness
The principles are the directions to be followed while
constructing curriculum. An effective curriculum might have strengthened by
incorporating these principles.
Organizing Social Science Curriculum
A curriculum can be constructed in different
ways. The organization of curriculum needs to follow any of the stipulated
approaches. New approaches can be developed based up on strong pedagogic
principles. The organization of curriculum designed based up on the approach of
construction. The major approaches of
curriculum construction are given under;
1.
concentric
approach
2.
topical
approach
3.
unit
approach
4.
spiral
approach
Concentric Approach in Curriculum Construction
Concentric
approach aims to provide learning experiences in a continuous mode. It promotes
continuous, unbreaking and linked learning at all levels.
Curriculum based up on the concentric approach develops continuous learning experiences for students at all levels – primary, secondary, higher secondary) The curriculum content and experiences continuously elaborated from early stage to higher stage. Concentric approach is a grade-by-grade approach to reach on the aims of curriculum.
Figure -1: The curriculum develops stage by stge.
This figure explains the continuity of curriculum experiences in Concentric Approach. At the first level, the curriculum deals with primary experiences and gradually it develops. It is a method from cone to center.
Topical Approach
Curriculum construction is called Topical Approach when it is constructed based up on topic-by-topic data. The topic will be suitable for learners age, ability, interest, learnability and life situations. In this method each topic will be self-satisfied with content and experiences. In topical approach all topics are independent in the content and experiences but are interrelated with the central theme of the curriculum
Unit Approach
A
unit of content is an organized body of information and experiences, designed
to provide significant learning out comes to the learner. There are different
types of units – resource units, teaching units, work unit and so.
In this approach, content and experiences are organized s units with specified objectives, learning tasks and process skills with specified learning outcomes. Resource units provide learning experiences, information and conceptual ideas. The units are interconnected and related with a total theme.
Spiral Approach
Spiral curriculum means continuous organization of experiences and content from lower level to higher level. For example, if the content is to teach is Mughal dynasty, primary matters at lower level, and gradually go to complex information.
In spiral approach, the curriculum develops like a
spring of content and experiences from lower level to Higher level
Different Types of Social Science Curriculum
Curriculum are different in types based up on its aims
and scopes. The mjor types are;
a.
separate
Curriculum’
b.
integrated
curriculum
c.
hidden
curriculum
d.
open
curriculum
A school subject is not an isolated area of
study. It is connected with all other subjects. Social science, like other
subjects is a compound of different subjects.
If the selection of experiences and contents for social science are
isolated or independent, it will have a separate identity. It will separate
from other disciplines or school subjects. Separate curriculum focused on
subject elements and it is content oriented.
In integrated curriculum different disciplines are
integrated with each other in content and experience. They are complementary
for developing knowledge. An integrated curriculum is the integration of all
subjects related with social science.
Hidden curriculum is a curriculum
planners’/administrators’ agenda. It means by undergoing a curriculum the
learners should acquire certain qualities, characters, information, values,
habits and etc., that may not be explained openly. This intention also may not
be open in curriculum.
