Note on Curriculum in Social Sciences

SOCIAL SCIENCE CURRICULUM

The Concept of curriculum

The term curriculum is derived from the Latin word currere which mean path.  In this sense curriculum is the path through which the student has to go forward in order to reach the goal envisaged by education usually the term curriculum is understood as a group of subjects prescribed for study in a particular course.  But curriculum is not confined to this narrow concept.  Curriculum should in no way to considered as synonymous with courses of study.  The course of study does list much of the content to be learnt and indicate some of the major activities but these form only part of the curriculum.  Curriculum should be considered as a broad-based term encompassing every aspect concerning a course of study.  Curriculum for a course of study may be conceived us the totality of experiences a pupil is exposed to within the boundaries of the school and outside while undergoing that course, with a view to achieve the anticipated educational goals.

There are four curriculums:

Explicit curriculum: subjects that will be taught, the identified "mission" of the school, and the knowledge and skills that the school expects successful students to acquire

Implicit curriculum: lessons that arise from the culture of the school and the behaviors, attitudes, and expectations that characterize that culture

Null curriculum: topics or perspectives that are specifically excluded from the curriculum

Extra curriculum: school-sponsored programs that are intended to supplement the academic aspect of the school experience

Definition of curriculum

·         Curriculum is a tool in the hands of an artist (teacher) to mould his material (pupils) according to his ideals (objectives) in his studio (school) – Arthur Cunningham

·         Curriculum is that which the pupil is taught.  It involves more than the act of learning and quiet study.  It involves occupations, productions, achievement, exercise and activity - H.H. Horne.

·         Curriculum embodies all the experiences, which are utilized by the school to attain the aims of education – Munroe

·         Curriculum is made up of everything that surrounds the learner in all his working hours - H.L. Laswell

CURRICULUM, SYLLABUS AND TEXTBOOK

When it comes to education, the two concepts which pop up in our mind is syllabus and curriculum. People are quite confused between these two, although the fact is that there is a difference. If we talk about the syllabus, it is focused towards a particular subject. Unlike curriculum, which is related to the all-round development of a student.

Basis for Comparison	Syllabus	Curriculum
Meaning	Syllabus is the document that contains all the portion of the concepts covered in a subject.	Curriculum is the overall content, taught in an educational system or a course.
Origin	Syllabus is a Greek term.	Curriculum is a Latin term.
Set for	A subject	A course
Nature	Descriptive	Prescriptive
Scope	Narrow	Wide
Set out by	Exam board	Government or the administration of school, college or institute.
Term	For a fixed term, normally a year.	Till the course lasts.
Uniformity	Varies from teacher to teacher.	Same for all teachers.

Definition of Syllabus

The syllabus is defined as the documents that consist of topics or portion covered in a particular subject. It is determined by the examination board and created by the professors. The professors are responsible for the quality of the course. It is made available to the students by the teachers, either in hard copy or electronic form to bring their attention towards the subject and take their study seriously.

A syllabus is considered as a guide to the in charge as well as to the students. It helps the students to know about the subject in detail, why it is a part of their course of study, what are the expectations from students, consequences of failure, etc. It contains general rules, policies, instructions, topics covered, assignments, projects, test dates, and so on.

Definition of Curriculum

The curriculum is defined as the guideline of the chapters and academic content covered by an educational system while undergoing a particular course or program.

In a theoretical sense, curriculum refers to what is offered by the school or college. However, practically it has a wider scope which covers the knowledge, attitude, behaviour, manner, performance and skills that are imparted or inculcated in a student. It contains the teaching methods, lessons, assignments, physical and mental exercises, activities, projects, study material, tutorials, presentations, assessments, test series, learning objectives, and so on.

The curriculum is well planned, guided and designed by the government or the educational institution. It is aimed at both physical and mental development of a student. It is the overall learning experience that a student goes through during the particular course of study.

Key Differences Between Syllabus and Curriculum

The basic differences between syllabus and curriculum are explained in the point given below:

·         The syllabus is described as the summary of the topics covered or units to be taught in the particular subject. Curriculum refers to the overall content, taught in an educational system or a course.

·         Syllabus varies from teacher to teacher while the curriculum is same for all teachers.

·         The term syllabus is a Greek origin, whereas the term curriculum is a Latin origin.

·         The curriculum has a wider scope than the syllabus.

·         The syllabus is provided to the students by the teachers so that they can take an interest in the subject. On the other hand, normally the curriculum is not made available to the students unless specifically asked for.

·         Syllabus is descriptive in nature, but the curriculum is prescriptive.

·         Syllabus is set for a particular subject. Unlike curriculum, which covers a particular course of study or a program.

·         Syllabus is prepared by teachers. Conversely, a curriculum is decided by the government or the school or college administration.

·         The duration of a syllabus is for a year only, but curriculum lasts till the completion of the course.

Conclusion

Curriculum and Syllabus are the terms of education, imparted to the students by teachers. It means the knowledge, skills or qualifications that are passed on from one generation to another. A subject syllabus is a unit of the curriculum. The two terms differ in a sense that curriculum is a combination of some factors which helps in the planning of an educational program, whereas a syllabus covers the portion of what topics should be taught in a particular subject.

Textbook

A textbook or course book is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbooks and other books used in schools. Although most textbooks aren't only published in printed format, many are now available as online electronic books.

PRINCIPLES OF CURRICULUM CONSTRUCTION

·         Constitutional Values ·         Enabling Inclusion and Agency ·         Application-Orientation and Innovation ·         Learner-centrism ·         Interdisciplinarity and ReflexivityOpen Education ·         Excellence Principle of Curriculum Construction:The content of curriculum is determined on the basis of some academic principles which are stated below: (1) Aims of education and objectivity: Life is complex. A curriculum should reflect the complexities of life. In other words, in farming the curriculum one should take into consideration the aims and objectives of education.  (2) Child-centric principle: The curriculum should be framed according to the actual needs, interests and capacities of the child. That means a curriculum must be child-centric as modern education is child-centered. (3) Principles of civic and social needs: Man is a social being. He lives in the society. The child develops in the society. Modern education aims at both developments of the individuality of the child as well as the development of the society.  (4) Principle of conservation: Man has conserved experiences very carefully for better adaptability. Education is regarded as a means of deserving the cultural heritage of humanity. The school serves two-fold functions in this regard- preservation of the past experiences and transmission of experiences.  (5) Principles of creativeness: Education not only conserves that past experiences of humanity but also helps an individual to develop his innate potentialities.  (6) Principle of forward-looking: The aim of life-centered education is not limited to the present life-situations in the family and society. Hence, education must prepare the child of shouldering future responsibilities. So in farming the curriculum we must take into consideration the future needs of the child as well as the needs of the society. (7) Principle of preparation for living: The children should know the various activities of the environment around them and how these activities are enabling people to meet their basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, recreation, health and education.  (8) Principle of integration and correlation: Subjects should be arranged logically and psychologically in accordance with the child’s developing interests. (9) Principle of learning ability: Every item should be learnt. An item should not only be learnable, it should also have utility. (10) Principle of individual difference: The curriculum should be framed in such a way that every individual can have opportunity for self-expression and development. The curriculum should be based on the psychology of individual difference, which can meet the complexities of modern democratic society.  (11) Principle of social relevancy and utility: Subjects should not be determined on the basis of their disciplinary value but on the basis of their intrinsic value, social relevancy and utility.  (12) Principle for utilization of leisure: Variety of subjects such as games and sports, fine arts, subjects of aesthetic value are to be introduced in the school programme to utilize leisure.  (13) Principle of variety and flexibility: The curriculum should include such activities and experiences, which may facilitate his normal development. The curriculum for girls should naturally be different from that of boys; boys and girls have different needs and attitudes.  (14) Principle of time: Relative significance and importance of each subject in the curriculum has to be judged and determined in the light of the time available in the timetable, which is regarded as the mirror of the school programme.

FUSION, INTEGRATION AND CORRELATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE CURRICULUM

In recent years many educators have demanded that less attention should be given to subjects and a greater emphasis placed on material that answers pupil’s needs. They would evaluate the material regardless of subject on the curriculum and many experiments have been attempted. As a result much work has been done on the curriculum and many experiments have been attempted. Literature relating to organizing the curriculum contains such terminology as fusion, correlation and integration. These terms relate to the arrangement of content in the curriculum and should not be thought of as a type of curricular organization.  

Traditional curriculum design is very much subject centered where we have our subjects as Math’s, English, Science. Then we may have the humanities subjects as History, Geography, and Politics. Then the Languages, the arts subjects as Music, Drama, and Art. Then at the lower end we may have the technical arts as Woodwork and Metalwork. Each one of these areas has its own assessment criteria, practical activities, aims or objectives, assessment types.

Fusion

Fusion refers to the organization for instructional purpose of content from several subject areas into unified course. Such an arrangement ignores the conventional barriers or boundaries between existing subjects. In this multidisciplinary approach, teachers fuse skills, knowledge, or even attitudes into the regular school curriculum. In some schools, for example, students learn respect for the environment in every subject area. The school records the number of days without a fight as “peace days”; teachers write the accumulated number of peace days on the blackboard in every classroom. Teachers wear peace signs, and students greet each other with the peace sign.

Fusion implies the breakdown of subject boundaries and selection of material from various fields to achieve the objectives that have been set up. Fusion can involve basic skills. Many schools emphasize positive work habits in each subject area. Educators can fuse technology across the curriculum with computer skills integrated into every subject area. Literacy across the curriculum is another example of fusion. For example in the social studies curriculum History, Geography, and Civics frequently united at the junior high school level in to one course. Proponents of the plan claim that under such a procedure the solution and arrangement of material can be based on social objectives and not on the traditional content basis.

Fusion courses vary to a considerable extent. The earliest courses attempted to blend the material in two or three subjects. History, Geography, and Civics were the fields generally chosen for the fusion experiments. Such a procedure was natural for long before the term fusion had been used in education, teachers has pointed out the importance of a geographical background for the study of history and often history and civics were closely related.  

However in later years the use of the fusion textbook declined.      

Correlation

Correlation design Allows for some linkage of separate subjects in order to reduce fragmentation of the curricular content. Correlation design is similar to broad-field design in that it is focused on integration. The difference is that correlation design combines only two subjects while broad-field will combine several subjects.  In many ways, one could say that correlation design is a simplistic version of broad-field design. Some examples of correlation design social psychology, which is sociology and psychology; bio-statistics, which is biology and statistics; and music technology, which focuses on music and its use through technology.  Generally, correlation design is found at the university level where students need expertise in specific subjects.

Correlation means the seeking and utilizing of points of contacts and relationships among subjects in order to bring about association in general field of knowledge and to some degree among the various parts of the curriculum. Correlation considers a systematic and continued association of one subject to another keeping the subject at high school level. This planned arrangement deals with a common topic or area of interest. Correlation is nothing more than the attempt to tie up knowledge that the pupil is studying with the knowledge in a related field.

The advantages of correlation design are that it fills in the gaps within curriculum of two subjects that are related. The two subjects are combined in innovative ways and the students are able to see the connections between the two of them. The disadvantages are that few teachers have enough expertise in the two subjects to successful correlate them in a curriculum. In addition, few teachers have the time to collaborate with their peers on a project such as this.  Despite these issues, correlation design is an option for teachers interested in creating a unique curriculum for the needs of their students.

Two types of correlation

Incidental correlation- In this the teacher tries to tie up the topic or the event that the pupils are studying with the related knowledge that he has learned elsewhere. Naturally the extent of this type of correlation will depended up on the teacher.

Subject correlation – It has often been the topic of curriculum revision. Attempts have been made to correlate history and literature. For example – American history is studied at the same time as American literature, and teachers of both subjects confer frequently to prepare the program that will help the pupils to tie up the knowledge of both subjects. Plans have been made to correlate history and geography. Another plan of correlation may be found in the single correlated courses in which first a unit of geography is taught, then a related unit of history and finally a related unit of civics. An extreme attempt of correlation is one in curriculum. But generally correlation resulted in a loss of attainment in the real objectives of education.

Integration

            One of the guiding principles of the curriculum is coherence, whereby students are offered “a broad education that makes links within and across learning areas”.  When used effectively, curriculum integration provides a learning environment that offers this coherent education, allowing connections to be made within and across subjects.  Nonetheless, it could be argued that curriculum integration remains one of the most confused topics in education today. Many teachers and researchers use the term to mean a variety of things, some of which have nothing to do with curriculum integration. The confusions surrounding the term have undoubtedly hindered consistent professional development and research in this area. Curriculum integration is a design that supports the need for learners to be actively involved in their learning, through being part of the decision-making process.

Curriculum integration is simply a matter of rearranging lesson plans as overlaps among subject areas are identified. One of the best ways to understand curriculum integration is to discuss what it is not. First, it is not a historical. The roots of curriculum integration are to be found in the progressive education movement of the early 1900s and are evident in the work of Dewey, Kilpatrick and others.

Dewey stated that within the curriculum, “facts are torn away from their original place in experience and rearranged with reference to some general principle” Curriculum integration is responsive to this concern because it values the students’ prior knowledge and uses this as an initial starting point to be built upon. This is an active process that makes learning relevant to what the students already know. Integration means the creation of units of understanding that consisted of integrated materials of instruction from several fields in order to present a whole picture of a phase of knowledge rather than a part.

Integration as applied to subject matter is generally accepted as a median between correlation and fusion. Integration the process that cuts across the subject boundaries more freely than is done in correlation in order to place greater stress on inter-relationship. The objective of such field however makes it desirable that the various fields of knowledge should not be taught by several individuals. A single instructor of wide training world is better if the course is to have unity. However the work may be successfully carried out in the social studies teacher assumes full charge of the course and directs the work of the other teachers. Integrated courses present many administrative problems.

ORGANISING SOCIAL SCIENCE CURRICULUM-TOPICAL, SPIRAL AND UNIT APPROACH

Curriculum approaches

            Curriculum practitioners and implementers may use one or more approaches in planning, implementing and evaluating the curriculum.  Even the text book writers or instructional material producers have different curriculum approaches.

The following are the various curriculum approaches.

Approaches to curriculum organizations

There are several approaches to curriculum organization. The major approaches are:

1.      Integrated approach

2.      Disciplinary approach

3.      Pupil centered approach

4.      Teacher centered approach

5.      Process approach

6.      Content for subject centered approach

7.      Factual approach

8.      Conceptual approach

9.      Flexible approach

10.  Structured approach

11.  Concentric and spiral approaches

12.  Psychological and logical approaches

13.  Topical and unit approaches

 Concentric and spiral approaches

The whole curriculum is spread over a number of years.  a general treatment of almost all the topics are attempted at the beginning and it is developed in successive years according to the mental development of the pupils.  In the beginning of the course, the whole aspect is given to pupils in a simplified way.  In the next year more and more details of its parts are added.  It follows the maximum of teaching, such as from whole to part, simple to complex, easy to difficult etc. Among educationist of modern times, Burner is the main exponent of the approach is maintained.  Sometimes this approach is referred to as concentric approach.  But the term “spiral approach” is preferred to the other.  The term spiral gives the additional implication that while attempting gradation the linkage too is taken care of and the continuing of the topic concerned is never broken.  While conceiving it as concentric only the widening of the scope is indicated but the linkage is not taken care of.

        

Topical and unit approaches

Every subject of study involves number of topics.  a topic is a comprehensive collection of elated learning materials pertaining to specific are of the subject, systematically and sequently arranged so as to get a holistic picture of those aspects.  There are a large number of concepts, principles, processes and skills associated with this area.  Which act as related part of a “whole”. Since these aspects are inter-related and maintain certain logical sequences and co-relations, it is often advised that the topic should be thoroughly dealt with and mastered before passing in to another topic.  This is known as the topic approach in curriculum.

Psychological and logical approaches

The arrangement of subject matter based on the principles of psychology is known as psychological approach.  In this approach, the criterion for inclusion of an item in the curriculum will be the psychological needs, requirements, potentials, capacities, etc.  Appropriate for the developmental level of the stage for which the curriculum is being designed.  In other words this approach is in tune with the principle of child-centeredness.  In the logical approach stress is given to the logical sequence.  It is often criticized that by splitting topics to suit the developmental status of the learner, this logical developments broken. Logical approach demands maintaining the logical sequence while developing a curriculum.  At the same time, a good curriculum if carefully developed can maintain the psychological approach without sacrificing the logical sequence of the subject.

Behavioral approaches

This is based on a blueprint, where goals and objectives are specified, contents and activities are also arranged to match with the learning objectives.  The learning outcomes are evaluated in terms of goals and objectives set at the beginning.  This approach started with the idea of Frederick Taylor which is aimed to achieve efficiency.  In education, behavioral approach begins with education plans that start with the setting of goals of objectives.  These are the important ingredients in curriculum implementation as evaluation the learning out comes as a change of behaviour. The change of behaviour indicates the measures of the accomplishment.

Managerial Approach

In this approach, the principal is the curriculum leads and at the same time constructional leader who is supposed to be the general manager.  The general manager sets the policies and priorities, establishes the direction of change and innovation, and planning and organizing curriculum and instruction school administrations are less concerned about the content than about organization and implementation.

System Approach

This was influenced by systems theory, where the parts of the total school district of school are examined in terms of how they relate to each other. The organizational chart of the school represents a systems approach it shows the line –staff prelateship of personal and how decisions are made. The following are of equal importance:

1.      Administration

2.      Counseling

3.      Curriculum

4.      Instruction

5.      Evaluation

Humanistic Approach

            This approach is rooted in the progressive philosophy and child-centered movement.  It considerate the formal or planned curriculum and the informal or hidden curriculum. It considers the whole child and believes that in curriculum the total development of the individual is the prime consideration.  The learners at the center of the curriculum.

CONCLUSION

Curriculum is the plan for bringing desirable changes in student behavior.  There are many approaches in curriculum organization.

Curriculum is associated with social, emotional and psychological factors of a child, which aims the total development of a child in their life.

APPROACHES TO CURRICULUM CONSTRUCTION

1. THE GRASS-ROOTS APPROACH: In its most comprehensive form, the grass- roots approach is community wide. It embraces not only teachers but also students, parents and other members of the community.

2.  THE ADMINISTRATIVE APPROACH (TOP-DOWN APPROACH)

In this approach the superintendent of schools or any other school administrator makes the first move when he realizes the need for curriculum development and sets up machinery to make the needed revisions.

It is called top-down approach with the reason of that, the curriculum development initiatives appeared from education officials and the administrators or the holders of the education policy such as the General Director or Head of Education Department. Then by using the command line, curriculum development goes to the bottom. This approach is also called line staff model.

3. THE DEMONSTRATION APPROACH

The purpose of this approach is to introduce changes in regular program on a small scale.

Modern trends in social science curriculum

1) Digital Diversity

Present age is an age of ICT technology has touched to al the wakes of human life.  Technology has made various tasks easy, convenient and of quality. To survive in the concern filed it is necessary for everyone to have a knowledge and skill of technology. Education makes man enable to contribute, it strengthens the capabilities. For the effective  transaction of curriculum ICT is must.

Web 2.0 applications must be used for the effective teaching learning process. Curriculum makers should give clear guidelines regarding this. E.g.  teacher tube is very useful source for the educational resources. Khan academy.org also provides good videos, lectures and many more which makes learning meaningful, easy and effective.  Curricki merlot, K2-12 Hippocamus all these provides educational resources which students can use, edit reconstruct and so on. All these things should be interlined with every curriculum.

2) Need based Curriculums

Researches in all the fields resulted in to specialization. Need based curriculum is the foremost need of the present education system. Many universities are developing need based short term programs for this purpose.

E.g. Mumbai University has introduced courses like – certificate course in Power Point, certificate course in tally, certificate course in marketing, YCMOU- introduced –English communication skills program for Mumbai Dabawala.

3) Modular Curriculum with credit base system

Modular curriculum gives real freedom of learning .especially in the open learning  system this approach has been adopted at first but now majority of traditional universities also  accepting his system; this is a real emerging trend in the modern curriculum.

4) Online coerces

Need based and choice based curriculums are available online also. E.g. course era .com  has introduced many useful need based courses for free of cost. Government also takes  initiative for this e.g. Right to Information certificate curse has been introduced by  Government of India to the Indian people. This course is free and online.

5) 21st century skills

All the curriculums of various courses should focus on 21st century skills. Skills like  collaboration, critical thinking, effective communication, multitasking stress management,  empathy are must for all the personals.

6) International Understanding

 Globalization has made converted the world in to global village. We should consider world as a one family and for this international understanding must be inculcate through  curriculum.

 7) Constructivism

 Constructivist approach believes that learner should be given freedom to construct his/her knowledge. Spoon feeding must be avoided. If a learner is fully active in construction of knowledge then learning process will be highly effective. In all the curriculums constructivist strategies must be given important place.

Conclusion

 Constructivism, modular curriculum, credit system, Information technology these all are the emerging trends in curriculum development. These trends should be given proper justice while developing curriculum. Educators should learn to work together with their students, and with other experts in creating content, and are able to tailor it to exactly what they need.

Traditional concept – The traditional curriculum was subject-centered while the modern curriculum is child and life-centered.