Page 137 - Jurnal Kurikulum BPK 2020

ELEMENTS OF CURRICULUM AND CURRICULUM DESIGN

In developing any curriculum, questions of what and how are frequently asked.
Examples of such questions are: ““What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?
What educational experiences can be provided that is likely to attain these purposes? How can
these educational experiences be effectively organised? How can we determine whether these
purposes are being attained?” (Tyler, 1949, p.1). These questions echoed those asked by Taba
(1962, p. 425): “What is to be done? What subject matter is to be used? What methods and
what organisation are to be employed? How are the results going to be appraised?” (Taba, 1962,
p. 425). Answers to these questions provide input for the formulation of aims and objective,
subject content/areas of study, learning experiences, and evaluation of learning. These are
known as the elements of curriculum (Beauchamp, 1975; Ornstein & Hunkins, 1993; Taba,
1962). The relation between these ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the curriculum elements is portrayed
aptly by Giles, McCutchen & Zechiel in a diagram as shown in Figure 1 (Giles, McCutchen &
Zechiel, 1942, p.2; cited in Ornstein & Hunkins, 1993, p. 233; cited in Taba, 1962, p. 425; cited
in Tanner & Tanner, 1995, p. 231). According to these forerunners of the curriculum field, the
four elements of curriculum are interdependent upon each other and need to be thought of as a
constellation in which each has a bearing on the others (Taba, 1962). Any decision made about
any one of these elements out of relationship to others is bound to be faulty and this is because
“each element of curriculum acquires meaning and substance in reference to other elements
and by its place in the pattern that encompasses all others” (Taba, 1962, p. 424).

Objectives

Subject matter Method and
organisation
(learning
experiences)

Evaluation

Figure 1: The Components of Curriculum Design
(extracted from Giles, McCutchen & Zechiel, 1942, p.2)

Curriculum design is basically how these elements of curriculum are balanced and organised
into a coherent system (Beauchamp, 1975; Cheung and Ng, 2000; Ornstein & Hunkins, 1993;
Taba, 1962). It is the outcome of the process where purposes of education are linked to the
selection and organisation of content (Longstreet & Shane, 1993), it reveals the potential
progression for learners through levels of schooling” (Beauchamp, 1975, p.196). It affects
decisions made on what to plan for and to deliver as a final result of the curriculum development
process (Armstrong, 1989).
Various curriculum designs have been formulated and used throughout the world. The
degree of emphasis and substance of each curriculum element differs from one design to
another. From the assortments of curriculum designs identified through literature, it can be
deduced that there are basically three major groups or categories of curriculum designs. The
first category is the design using existing and established body of knowledge as a basis. The
body of knowledge concerned could be a rigid and specific discipline or a broader field
encompassing few disciplines put together through central or unifying themes, sub-themes,

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