Curriculum Development – Meaning, Characteristics, Need, Importance and its Principle

Curriculum is a very important topic of Knowledge and Curriculum subject of B.Ed 2nd year. In this article we will discuss about the meaning of curriculum, Curriculum development, its characteristics, need, importance and principle of curriculum.

What is Curriculum

Curriculum has been derived from Latin word currere which means “to run a way” or “course to run”.

Curriculum signifies a course to be run by students for achieving aims and objectives of education.

According to Crow and Crow “Curriculum includes all the experiences that the child receives inside and outside of the school, in a programme which is chalked out to help in developing his intellectual, physical, emotional, social, spiritual and moral aspects.

In nut shell we can say Curriculum includes all those activities (theoretical, practical, cultural, sports, artistic etc.) which contributes in the personality development of the children.

Characteristics of Curriculum

  • What is taught in schools : Everything that is taught in schools through any medium is a part of the curriculum.
  • A set of subjects : Subjects are decided under the curriculum according to the class and levels of students.
  • Content : Content is what is to be taught, that is decided by the curriculum experts. Content is prepared on the basis of age and level of students.
  • A program of studies : A programme is set under the curriculm that what subjects will be taught and how will be taught. How much textual material will be used and how much practical and co.curricular activities will be there.
  • A set of materials : Material that will be used in curriculum that is set by the experts. That includes text books, audio visual aids, anything that can be used while teaching.
  • A sequence of courses : Sequnece is decided that which topic is taught first and afterwards. Sequence is very important as simple and basic knowledge is to be provided first which leads to the understanding of complex problems.
  • A set of performance objectives : A set of small or short term objectives are set to achieve the final or long term objective.
  • A course of study : Complete course is decided on the basis of set objectives.
  • Extra class activities : Extra class activities or out of the class activities are very important with inside classroom activities.
  • A series of experiences undergone by learners in a school.
  • Everything that goes on within every field of school activities.
  • Well designed curriculum is built on clear vision of what it is trying to achieve.

Curriculum development

Curriculum development is how you construct, collect or assimilate the content material and learning experience provided to the learners.

According  to Roger and Taylor, “ Curriculum development describes all the ways in which training or teaching organization plans and guides learning. This learning can takes place in groups or individual learners. It can take place inside or outside a classroom. It can takes place in an institution setting like a school, college or training centre. It is central to the teaching and learning process.”

  • Curriculum development is a process involving the activities like conceptualizing the curriculum.
  • Selecting and organizing the content material or learning experiences.
  • Suggesting the methods and ways of providing these experiences.
  • Evaluating the learning outcomes.

Need and Importance of Curriculum

  • Clear purpose and goals
  • Proper use of Time and Energy
  • Determining Structure Of Content
  • Preparation of Text Book
  • Continuous Assessment and Improvement of quality
  • Self feedback on mechanism
  • Making strategy in teaching learning
  • Decision about Instructional Method
  • Development of Knowledge, Skill And Attitude

Principle of Curriculum

  • Principle of child centeredness: Curriculum should be according to age, grade, abilities, capacities, interests, mental development and previous experience.
  • Principle of comprehensive of curriculum: Content in a comprehensive curriculum focuses on all domains of learning: social-emotional, physical, cognitive (intellectual), and communication.
  • Principle of correlation: All subjects should be related to each other
  • Principle of practical work: Learning by doing. Curriculum should provide maximum opportunity to the child for practical work.
  • Principle of flexibility: Curriculum should be flexible due to the individual differences and changes in society. Curriculum is ever changing product.
  • Principle of joint venture: Curriculum construction is the joint efforts of educational psychologist, Curriculum specialists, evaluation specialists and teachers.
  • Principle of utility: According to this principle only those subjects, topics should be included in the curriculum which are found any utility to the students
  • Principle of interest: Interest is the mother of both attention and motivation. So attention should be paid for the inclusion of such topics, contents and learning experiences in curriculum.

Thank you so much for reading this article.

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