Page 17 - Jurnal Kurikulum BPK 2020

Fieldwork Education is a company, which provides international curriculum and
professional learning to schools and teachers around the world and work with more than 15,000
teachers, in over 1000 schools, in over 90 countries globally, strongly believes in curriculum
integration and uses themes for learning. The International Early Years Curriculum has 8
learning principles essential for child development which has 4 learning strands and 8 learning
units organized in exciting themes. The International Primary Curriculum has subjects such as
Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, ICT & Computing, Technology, History, Geography,
Music, Physical Education, Art and Society and 130 different thematic units specially designed
to arouse children’s interests and help them to learn more about the world around them. The
International Middle Years Curriculum has subject teaching and thematic units, which is based
around a ‘big idea’ that helps students to achieve coherence and connection within their
subjects. The big idea challenges students to think beyond a topic by delving deep within a
theme to broaden their conceptual thinking and making connections to subjects learnt in
schools. It helps them develop a sense of their place in the world and that of others.

DISCUSSION

As we are in a discussion on a new model of curriculum, we have looked at centralized and
decentralized curriculum, as well as integrated curriculum and examples of integrated
curriculum presented in this paper. Engaging in this endeavour, curriculum developers need
to equip themselves with a new mind-set and an open mind in order to prepare future
Malaysians for a VUCA world. Researchers such as Beane (1997), Jacobs (1989) and
Mathison & Freeman (1997) have supported curriculum integration as it makes sense for
students, advocates of curriculum integration note that it can support connections among
disciplines and can be more relevant and authentic than subject-centred curriculum (as cited in
Wall, A. & Leckie, A., 2017, p. 38). However, Springer (2013) has clearly stated that the
central problem inherent in any attempt to analyse curriculum integration, i.e. no unified
definition of curriculum integration has taken hold. No single, set pedagogy has been
established. Instead, the concept remains a loose philosophy of student-centred education with
several general philosophical consistencies but a myriad of actual, practical manifestations (as
cited in Wall, & Leckie 2017, p. 38). As such, Wall & Leckie (2017) clearly state, a guiding
principle of curriculum integration is a student-centred approach, grounded in democracy
enacted in ways that support students academically and effectively (p. 38). Nichols (2019) in
her article, “7 Skills Students Will Always Need in The Future of Learning”, has stated that a
new model allowing for student-centred learning in an effective way is essential to foster seven
skills students will always need, which are, curiosity and imagination, initiative and
entrepreneurship, agility and adaptability, critical thinking and problem solving, effective oral
and written communication, collaboration across networks and leading by influence as well as
accessing and analysing information. In order for students to be able to foster the seven skills
students will need in the future, curriculum integration can help students acquire these skills to
prepare them for the VUCA world.
Curriculum Developers need to study decentralization at a closer level with a positive
note too, as stated by Brennen (2002), when individual schools are given the opportunity to
make decisions, a higher degree of morale and commitment to the organizational goals and
objectives are fostered. If the principal through decentralization is given the authority to
generate and disburse funds, great gains could be realized. The staff, then, would exert more
effort since it would be a means by which their strategic plans for curricula and program
development could be implemented. Decentralization demands the establishment of
accountability and evaluation mechanisms. This in itself would ensure that individual schools
operate at a high level of efficiency and effectiveness in promoting student achievement.
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