AIOU COURSE CODE 6503-1 SOLVED ASSIGNMENT AUTUMN 2022

Course: Curriculum and Instruction(6503) Semester: Autumn, 2022 Level: MA/M.Ed

Assignment No.1

Q.1 Explain model of teaching by focusing in functions. Highlight the need of model of teaching.

Models of teaching relate to several models that assist teachers in honing their communication skills. The models enable teachers to assist the overall learning curves of students. Various approaches may create a successful course curriculum for both long-term and short-term courses.

Teaching models provide direction to instructors and planners while also speeding up the educational process. It helps them to assess and improve on their strengths and weaknesses. When developing such models, teachers consider elements such as social, personal, information processing, and behavior.

Basis of Models of Teaching

The models are based on the following criteria:

Environment Specification: It outlines in precise terms the state of the atmosphere in which the teacher should examine a child’s reaction.
Specification of operation outlines the system that allows learners to respond and engage with their surroundings.
Performance criteria specification: It specifies the performance criterion that is acceptable by the students. The teaching models define the behavioral outcomes that the learner will exhibit after completing specified educational sequences.
Learning outcome specification outlines what the learner will do after finishing an educational sequence.

Joyce and Weil classified instructional models into six areas:

Focus: The model’s focal elements concentrate on the model’s principal goal. Models are typically created with a specific goal or emphasis in mind. In collaborative learning models, the role of social interaction and peer assistance in learning new things is emphasized. As a result, models vary concerning their principal goal or focal point of their desired consequences.
Syntax explains the framework of the model and contains the series of steps included in the model’s design. It defines how the model evolves and covers the primary components and the stages of emerging or the ordering of steps. Therefore, the syntax for each model will be somewhat different.
The Principles of Reactionsguide the instructor to view the learner and react to what the student performs while using the model. Responses should frequently be suitable and selectively specified when employing a designated model. This section focuses on the teacher’s reactions to the pupils’ responses. This section of the model advises the instructor on how to respond to the pupils’ replies. The instructor learns if the students were actively participating in the model’s procedures and steps at this point.
Social System:As each model is considered a little civilization, the Social System explains the interactions between pupils and teachers. Because each teaching style is unique, it will have its social structure and involvement standards. This section discusses the teacher’s and student’s interacting responsibilities and connections, anticipated standards, and student actions to be rewarded. These can be explicitly stated or assumed. Depending on the model’s philosophical orientation, the teacher’s role may be dominant in specific models and passive in others. In some models, the focus is on the instructor, while it is on the pupils in others. Other models, however, necessitate shared responsibilities in which teachers and students share tasks equally. The teacher might explore both motivating techniques and tactics for engaging pupils in this part.
The support systemspecifies the teacher’s requirements for the model to be effectively implemented. ‘Support’ refers to any further needs required to apply the model beyond the ordinary generic human talents and competencies. This component refers to any additional criteria not typically held by instructors or found in schools. This assistance would also include unique books, DVDs, laboratory supplies, study guides, permissions, and facilities, among other things.
Application and Consequences— application is the model’s utility in that the teacher may apply it to different circumstances. Each model tries to affect learners’ thoughts, feelings, social interactions, or physical movements in some manner.

Impact of Models of Teaching

The Usefulness of Teaching Models in the Classroom

Teaching models can help students increase their social efficiency, personal talents, cognitive skills, and behavioral features. It facilitates the selection and stimulation of conditions that result in the desired changes in learners.
They enable scientifically establishing teaching and learning links. It contributes to the effectiveness of the teaching.
They aid in providing a theoretical justification to the teaching, resulting in modifications and corrections.
They encourage the emergence of new educational reforms in teaching techniques and methods, which may eventually replace those used in schools and classrooms.
They help material creators develop more productive and interactive instructional and learning resources.
Because of their practical nature, teaching models aid instructors in developing their skills to create a conducive environment for teaching.
They assist curriculum planners in developing learning activities and materials that give learners diverse educational experiences.
The teaching model assesses pupils’ behaviour. It gives such a criterion for this crucial work, with the assistance of which the teacher may simply assess the changes in the pupils’ behaviors.

Essential Features of Models of Teaching

A Teaching Model’s Features

Encourage the Art of Teaching- Teaching is regarded as a craft. This art is encouraged through teaching approaches that provide an educational environment.
Development of Inherited Talents -Teaching models, contribute to the personal growth of character by assisting in developing mental strength. It also improves the teacher’s social skills.
Based on Personal Differences- Because it is built on personal characteristics, the teaching approach takes advantage of students’ interests.
Philosophy of Education Influences Every Teaching Model- The philosophy of education influences every teaching model. As a result, teachers develop variousteaching models influenced by the philosophy they trust.
Solutions to Basic Questions- Responses to all critical questions about student and instructor behavior are incorporated in every teaching model.
Offer Suitable Experiences- Suitable interactions are provided to both the instructor and the learner through teaching models. The most important aspect of teaching is choosing information and delivering it to pupils for comprehension. This problem is addressed when a teacher shares a relevant experience with the pupils.
Maxims of Teaching- The imperatives of teaching serve as the foundation of the teaching model. They serve as the cornerstone for all educational models.
Regular and ongoing practice and focus are required to form a teaching model. The appropriate construction of a teaching model is only feasible if the assumptions are clarified via connected thinking.

These models are heavily influenced by the approaches employed in the classroom to develop an optimal teaching atmosphere while also increasing instructors’ competitive and sufficient teaching experiences. It aids in the improvement of educational performance.

These continue to be valuable tools in modifying and improving teaching practices, therefore helping meet all of the needs of a modern-day student and connecting with every student more successfully. In other words, it encourages a good teacher-student interaction.

Q.2 Compare Bruner’s ‘Concept attainment model’ and Piaget’s ‘Cognitive growth model’?

Cognitive development refers to a person’s thought processes and the developemnt of mental traits.. It looks at how a person thinks, perceives, gains understanding and together with information processing, reasoning, imagination and memory it is how a person interacts with the world from childhood through to adulthood.

This development has been measured and studied in a variety of ways over many years. The widely used Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests were introduced early in the 20th century and are based on the concept of a mental age obtained from the results of a test the subject undertakes. However, IQ tests have come under increasing criticism as they only measre a limited range of intellectial capabilities and definine intelligence too narrowly, they can also be biased with regard to culture, race and gender. In contrast researchers such as Watson and Skinner developed their learned theory which focused on the role of environmental factors in shaping the intelligence of the child and they argues that a child is malleable with the ability to learn by having behaviour’s rewarded while others discouraged.

Piaget and Bruner were two influential theorists of cognitive development and both agreed that cognitive development took place in stages. However, their theories are fundamentally different.

Piaget’s theory was first published in 1952 and he was the first to propose that there were set steps and sequences to a child intellectual development and that intellectual development results from an active, dynamic interplay between a child and her environment. His views on mind and development have been enormously influential. His theory grew from years of observational studies of children in their natural environment as opposed to laboratory experiments of others in the same field, although some experimental data was also used. Piaget believed that all children progress through four stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational and a child’s knowledge is composed of schemas; categories of knowledge from past experience that help us to interpret and understand new experiences. In Piaget’s view, new information is used to modify, add to, or change previously existing schemas. For example, a child may have a schema about race. If the child’s sole experience has been with white people, a child might believe that all people are white. Suppose then that the child encounters a black person. The child will take in this new information, modifying the previously existing schema to include this new information. This adaption by the child results in a change that helps in two fundamental actions Piaget terms assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is the process of taking in new information into our previously existing schema. However, the process is somewhat subjective as we tend to modify experience or information somewhat to fit in with our preexisting beliefs. Accommodation is the changing or altering of existing schemas with the new information and new schemas developed. Using Piaget’s theory, cognitive development involves an ongoing attempt to achieve a balance between assimilation and accommodation that he termed equilibration.

In Piaget’s view, then, cognitive development occurs in a series of four distinct stages characterized by increasingly sophisticated and abstract levels of thought. These stages always occur in the same order, and each builds on what was learned in the previous stage. Piaget believes each stage in development occurs as a result of interaction between maturation and environment. He also believes intelligence or intelligent behavior is the ability to adapt. Piaget’s theory differs from other theories in several ways: it is concerned with children rather than all learners, it focuses on development rather than learning per se so does not address learning of information or specific behaviours, it proposes discrete stages of development, marked by qualitative differences rather than a gradual increase in number and complexity of behaviours, concepts, ideas, etc.

The first sensorimotor stage occurs during the first two years of life. Knowledge of the world is limited and information is primarily obtained through sensory inputs and movement. Infants gradually learn to control their own bodies and some language abilities are developed. During this stage a child achieves a sense of object constancy, in other words, the knowledge that objects go on existing even when they cannot be seen.

The preoperational stage last from two to seven years. Children in the preoperational phase try to make sense of the world but have a much less sophisticated mode of thought than adults. Memory and imagination are developing but by adult standards, is often illogical and self-centered.

During the concrete operational stage from ages seven to ten a child will begin to deal with abstract concepts while logical, rational and operational thinking also develops (mental actions that are reversible). Egocentric thoughts diminish. A child will begin to understand other people’s perspectives and views and will build on past experiences.

Finally, the formal operational stage (twelve to fifteen) is where the child develops more adult like thought structures and processes. It is characterized by an increased independence for thinking through problems and situations and taking decisions based on these and they will begin to reason logically, systematically and hypothetically. A formal operational child is capable of meta-cognition, in other words, thinking about thinking.

One of the problems of Piaget’s theory is that it’s been understood or taken to mean that before these ages children are not capable (no matter how bright) of understanding things in certain ways. In contrast, Bruner observes that the process of constructing knowledge of the world is not done in isolation but rather within a social context and notes that “there is no unique sequence for all learners, and the optimum in any particular case will depend upon a variety of factors, including past learning, stage of development, nature of the material, and individual differences.”

Bruner built on Vygotsky’s social constructional theory from the 1930’s which fell into three general claims; higher mental functioning in the individual emerged out of social processes (culture), secondly, social and psychological processes are fundamentally shaped by cultural tools (language) and lastly, the developmental method Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The ZPD is defined as the difference between problem-solving the child is capable of performing independently, and problem-solving capabilities with guidance or collaboration. Like Piaget, Bruner said that children have an innate capacity and that cognitive abilities develop through active interaction. Howver, unlike Piaget, Bruner argued that social factors, particularly language, were important for cognitive growth. These underpin the concept of scaffolding; the help given to a child that supports learning and is similar to scaffolding around a building, where a child is shown how to do something so the child can accomplish the task individually. The scaffolding is a temporary support structure which helps the child: understand new ideas, complete new tasks, motivates and encourages the child so they can achieve higher levels of development. In contrast to Piaget’s four stages, Bruner suggested three stages.

The first is the enactive mode (first eighteen months) when the childs activities are predominantly motor and related to motor nerves. The iconic mode then develops where the child is guided by mental imagery; able to form own mental images and expresses self on that basis. The final stage is the symbolic mode from about six or seven years onwards in which the child will express self in the form of words and will have a mental sense of time and distance. At this stage language learning also begins.

Bruner became interested in schooling in the USA during the 1050’s with a particular interest in the cognitive development of children and the appropriate forms of education. Bruner stressed the importance of the role of social exchanges between the child and adult and whilst Bruner’s theory is much narrower in scope that Piaget’s, Bruner’s ideas have been applied more directly to education. Bruner’s work was instrumental in the development of a range of educational programmes and experiments in the 1960s and he also became involved in the design and implementation of the influential MACOS project which was later critiqued by others and found to be difficult to implement as it required a degree of sophistication and learning on the part of teachers, and ability, motivation on the part of students. Bruner was also concerned with how knowledge is represented and organised through different modes of representation and suggested that different ways of thinking (or representation) were important at different ages which was in contrast to Piagets who emphasised that children developed sequentially through different stages of development.

During the 1960’s Bruner also developed his own theory on cognitive development. In contrast to Piaget, his approach looked to environmental and experiential factors and he crisised Piaget for his lack of attention to social and political context of his theory. Bruner suggested that intellectual ability developed in stages through step-by-step changes in how the mind is used.

Piaget suggested that children learnt in a set series of stages and could not learn things deemed too difficult, however, unlike Piaget’s, Bruner did not contend that these stages were necessarily age-dependent, or invariant. Bruner argued that any subject can be taught effectively to any child at any stage of development which underpins the idea of a spiral curriculum in education weheby a subject is revisted repeatedly, building knowledge and depth each time appropriate to the level of the child. For example, it would not be appropriate to teach a three year old complex physics, however, Bruner contented that they could be taught some principles of physics (e.g., force, mass, momentum, friction) in enactive form and later repeated in iconic, then symbolic form. Bruners theories on enactive, iconic, and symbolic stages may also be applicable to adults learning unfamiliar material where in contract Piaget theories relates to children only.

Later reflections from Bruner on education in The Culture of Education (1996) show how culture impacts on cognitive development; “‘culture shapes the mind… it provides us with the toolkit by which we construct not only our worlds but our very conception of our selves and our powers” and how his thinking has changed since the 1960’s.

Aswell as Piaget and Bruner, other major theorists such as Gesell, Erikson and Spock also believe there are stages and periods of development, but each emphasizes a different approach to the study of a child’s thinking and learning patterns. Gesell’s theory is that heredity promotes development in a preordained sequence with few individual differences. He deemphasizes individual differences among children and stresses the importance of maturation following an inherited timetable; abilities and skills emerge in a preordained sequence. Although Erikson and Spock also think of cognitive development in terms of stages, in contrast, they emphasize the emotional development of children.

Q.3 Differentiate between individualized instruction and group instruction and also explain the instructional methods use for each style of instruction

As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, increasingly more schools have adopted a blended learning strategy to prevent lapses in instruction when students cannot attend school in-person. Last week, we published an article explaining how a blended learning strategy supports instructional approaches like differentiation, individualized instruction, and personalized learning. But what do these terms actually mean, and how do these instructional approaches benefit students?

Definitions of Differentiation, Individualized Instruction, and Personalized Learning

In 2018, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) published an article explaining the subtle differences and similarities between differentiation, individualized instruction, and personalized learning. Let us take a look at the definitions for each term, plus some examples of how each approach to learning can be incorporated into a blended learning strategy.

Differentiated Instruction

ISTE defines differentiation as “a type of learning where instruction is tailored to meet the learning needs, preferences and goals of individual students.”

Most schools and districts follow prescribed learning standards or objectives that all general education students must meet by the end of each grade level. However, teachers do not need to teach all students with the exact same lectures, classroom activities, or assignments in order to reach these standards. In fact, evidence suggests that differentiated instruction can promote a deeper understanding of the curriculum and higher student achievement.

Example of Differentiation in Blended Learning

Station rotation is one common differentiation model that can work both in a traditional classroom and through blended learning. Dr. Kara B. Douma, a supervisor of English Language Arts, wrote a blog for Edutopia outlining four examples of stations that teachers can incorporate into their blended learning plan:

Virtual Independent Practice — Students use a virtual learning platform to complete independent learning activities. At the end of each activity, they can get “immediate feedback upon completion signifying progress on the standards.”
Non-Virtual Independent Practice — Students work independently with non-virtual learning materials, such as books, journals, and art projects so that they can get a break from screens.
Teacher-Led Station — The teacher can work with students one-on-one or in small groups to observe students work through a learning activity. The teacher can provide real-time feedback to support student work. This station can be hosted in-person, virtually, or through a mixed group.
Collaborative Learning — Students work together in a small group (in-person, virtually, or through a mixed group) to learn together as a group.

Individualized Instruction

ISTE explains that “[i]f differentiation is the ‘how’ then individualization is the ‘when.’ The academic goals, in this case, remain the same for a group of students, but individual students can progress through the curriculum at different speeds, based on their own particular learning needs.”

Example of Individualized Instruction in Blended Learning

Kareem Farah, a former teacher and current Executive Director of The Modern Classrooms Project, wrote a blog for Edutopia explaining how teachers at his school support individualized learning:

Teachers create “bite-sized” instructional videos and supplemental learning materials in preparation for the upcoming learning unit.
Students are given clear deadlines for completing the lessons in each learning unit but complete the required activities at their own pace.
With this self-paced model, students can only move on to the next lesson after they demonstrate mastery of the previous lesson.

Another Explanation of Individualized Learning

Understood offers another perspective on individualized learning: While differentiation “is a teaching method for groups of students,” individualized instruction “starts with the needs of the one student.”

Understood uses an Individualized Education Program (IEP) as an example of an individualized instructional approach. IEPs are created for students with special needs, including students with disabilities. They help caregivers, educators, and support professionals know a student’s abilities and challenges, set specific learning goals, and provide services and aids based on their needs.

Personalized Learning

ISTE explains the key difference between individualized instruction and personalized learning: “Unlike individualized instruction, personalized learning involves the student in the creation of learning activities and relies more heavily on a student’s personal interests and innate curiosity.”

Example of Personalized Learning in Blended Learning

Robyn Howton, a teacher who helped develop the Blueprint for Personalized Learning in Delaware, wrote a blog for ISTE, sharing advice on how to build personalized learning plans for students.

In her classroom, “[c]lass often starts with a mini lesson, which then flows into students making choices about what they need to do next to meet specific learning targets aligned to the standards.” Her students are able to “choose their own learning pathways and complete the activities in the order that makes the most sense to them.”

For example, students can choose to:

Read a short story (in a physical book or on a digital device) or read along as they listen to an audiobook version of the story.
Take notes and journal about their thoughts in a traditional notebook or with a digital program.
Demonstrate their understanding of a topic “by writing a traditional essay, creating a website, creating infographics, writing a script for a video that they then record or via a communication tool they suggest.”

Q.4 Enlist the phases of curriculum and elaborate the process of curriculum development

Process of Curriculum Development

Curriculum development is a process in which different components such as formulation of curriculum policy, curriculum research, curriculum planning, its implementation and then its evaluation play an important role. The curricular framework generates creative thinking at various levels of decision making such as the national, state regional and district levels. It provides a great deal of flexibility to provide space for local specificity and contextual realities.

International experiences have shown that neither the completely centralised approach nor the totally decentralised approach to curriculum development has really been successful.

The impact of the school curriculum is so crucial for national and state policies that in most of the countries of the world this responsibility is shouldered by various government and national level organizations and agencies. In fact, no country can afford to ignore the curriculum development process.

Stages in The Process of Curriculum Development

There are basically four stages of curriculum development –

Formulation of Objectives
Selection and Organization of appropriate learning-material.
Selection of Suitable Learning Experiences
Selection of Suitable Material for evaluation of curriculum

Formulation of Objectives-

The objectives of teaching mathematics formulated and determined in behavioural terms. While formulating and determining objectives following points should be kept in mind-

That the set of objectives formulated should indicate both the desired behavior and the type of situation in which it is to occur.
An objective should be expressed in terms of desired pupil behaviour rather than of teacher behaviour.
An objective should be specifically stated so that it is possible to infer some appropriate learning activities.

Selection and Organisation of Appropriate Learning-Material

The selection of suitable content depends to a great extent on the extent on those basic considerations that underlie in the formulation of objectives. For eg- The objectives recognize four significant aspects of mathematical learning-

Contents or meanings
Computational skills
Problem-solving(reasoning), and
Mathematical attitudes

Concepts play an important role in the reasoning and also facilitate the learning of computational skills. Great emphasis should be placed upon those basic concepts and skills of mathematical thinking and problem-solving that most people should know in order to function intelligently as members of society.

Selection of Suitable Learning Experiences –

The concept of learning-experience as it emerges from the thinking about the learner and the learning principles accepted as the basis for objectives, can be broadly described as a desired change in the mental makeup of a child and it can be brought about through, “Activities leading to the discovery of connections, relationships and meaning which have significance in the directing or ordering of conduct.” Learning experience, envisaged here, place great importance on the pupil and the learning situation, instead of on the leather and the content. The proper organisation of learning experiences depends upon a number of factors such as-

Age, needs and previous experiences of the learner.
Needs of a particular community
Abilities of the children
Facility available in the school
Readiness, maturity and capabilities of the child.
Attention and interest of the learner

Each teacher should feel free to adjust the objectives, content and activities to suit his requirements. However, the following criteria should be kept in view while selecting and organizing learning experiences-

Learning experiences should be appropriate to behaviour changes defined under objectives.
They should be suitable for the content area.
They should be practicable.
They should be adequate and effective.

Much reliance is therefore, put on the judgement of the teachers who framed them.

Selection of Suitable Material for Evaluation of Curriculum-

Evaluation and curriculum are regarded as closely related parts of the same educative process, not as distinct and seperate functions.

No curriculum can therefore, be said to have been planned without laying down some basic principles of evaluation. Evaluation comes in at the planning stage when objectives are identified.

The needs, interests, attitudes, and abilities of children should be kept in mind while selecting suitable material for the evaluation of the curriculum.

National agencies like the National Council of Educational Organisation and the Council of Boards of School Education need to undertake the following tasks:

Laying down the expected levels of attainment in each curricular area of all the stages of school education.
Developing conceptual materials and prototypes on child-centered, activity-oriented, and competency-based teaching-learning materials;
Generating various kinds of tests, which could be meaningfully employed for assessing cognitive and non-cognitive learning outcomes, making them available to the state agencies;
Organizing training programs for paper setters of different boards.

Q.5 Discuss in detail the three main foundations of curriculum.

Foundations of curriculum are the considerations of educational programs and policies in the light of an interdisciplinary endeavor involving philosophical, psychological, sociological, and historical, understandings.

The foundations of curriculum set the external boundaries of the knowledge of curriculum and define what constitutes valid sources from which to derive the field’s theories, principles, and ideas. Curriculum’s commonly accepted foundations are philosophical, psychological, social and historical areas that are explained as under;

Philosophical Foundations of Curriculum

Curriculum decisions involve a wide range of considerations that anchor on several issues in education. These issues include the purpose of learning, sources of the subject matter, the nature of teaching/learning process, characteristics of the leaner, among others (Ekanem, & Ekefre, 2014). These decisions are based or anchored on certain fundamental beliefs that spring from one’s philosophy of education. This is what made it possible for philosophy to be viewed or taken as one of the foundations of curriculum. The various philosophical thoughts that influence curriculum are Idealism, Realism, Existentialism, Pragmatism, Essentialism, perennialism and Deconstructionism.

Alistair (2000) argues that there is no curriculum that does not draw inspiration from these philosophical schools of thoughts. Philosophy helps us to handle our own personal system of beliefs and values, that is, the way and manner that we perceive the world around us and how we actually define what is important to us. Since philosophical issues have always influenced society and our institutions of learning, the study and understanding of philosophy of education in relation to curriculum development becomes vital and imperative.

Basically, philosophy of education does influence, and to a greater extent determines our
educational decisions and alternatives. This is because; those that are responsible for
curricular decisions need be clear about what the belief or their belief system is. This is
based on the fact that unclear or confused beliefs will definitely lead to unclear and
confusing curriculum (Ekanem, 2013). One vital step in developing a personal philosophy of education is to understand the several alternatives that others have developed over the years.

Psychological Foundations of Curriculum

Educational Psychology as a discipline is concerned with the question of how people learn. Psychologists are concerned with establishing patterns in human life so as to be able to understand and predict behavior. Educational Psychology as a discipline advances principles of teaching and learning that influence teacher-student behavior within the context of the curriculum. This is because psychology is the unifying element in the learning process. For example John Dewey, a renowned educationist acknowledges that psychology is the
understanding of how the individual learner interacts with objects and persons in the environment. The quality of this interaction determines the amount and type of learning.

Psychology in general and educational psychology in particular contributes to appropriate decision making in curriculum regarding selection and organization of appropriate objectives, learning experiences and methods of evaluation as well as decisions regarding the scope of the curriculum. According to Ornstein and Hunkins (1998) psychology serves as the impetus for many curriculum decisions. Psychological influences of curriculum can best be understood through theories of learning. These theories of learning are classified into three broad categories as follows: Behavioral learning, cognitive and developmental learning and humanistic learning theories.

Social Foundations of Curriculum

Schools are part and parcel of society and exist for society. Society influences society through its curriculum. Schools, through their teaching of the curriculum, can shape and
mold society and society in turn can impact the curriculum. There is rarely a curriculum
that is developed without reflecting society. Thus, to understand how the content of schooling is shaped in any society, we must understand the relationship between education and other institutions in society. In other words, to understand what is taught, how it is taught and why it is taught, we need to look at the social forces that shape the curriculum.

Knowing the social foundations of curriculum is crucial in making decisions about what
should be included in the curriculum and eventually what happens in the classroom. A
curriculum should be able to prepare students for the present and the future. In other
words, a curriculum should address the wants and needs of learners by responding to social conditions locally, nationally and globally

Historical Foundations of Curriculum

History is the creation resulting from human activities through participating in different events. In order to be certain with what will happen in the future, one has to trace back of what transpired in the past. Hence, historical foundation of curriculum addresses different phases of human development. Students recognize that events in culture and personal issues take place continually. The number of events and issues we face is so overwhelming at times that we often don’t know how to make sense out of what is taking place.

The study of history can help students gain perspective on events and issues they face. The ability to break down and analyze events is an important step in critical thinking. From historical foundation of curriculum therefore, a study on politics, economics, geography, agriculture, religion and sociocultural practices are expounded to be certain with the past and predetermine the future for the well-being of the society. Curriculum developers always ensure the historical perspective is well reflected when designing curriculum in order to capture not only the local flavor but also global historical views.

Globalization and Technology

Two other areas, however, deserve equal attention in 21st century society, but have been largely ignored—globalization and technology. Like the other four foundational disciplines, globalization and technology have a significant, yet distinct, influence over curriculum.

Globalization has allowed people around the world to exchange goods, services, and ideas more easily, which significantly changes the way they live and work. It was a process Nobel Prize winning journalist Thomas Friedman popularly foretold in his 2005 book, The World Is Flat. More recently, billionaire entrepreneur and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel argued that many unchartered frontiers remain unexplored and that only by learning to think for oneself can one develop new ideas. This kind of global perspective has already spurred growing demand for technology in classrooms — including massive open online courses (MOOC), the flipped classroom, digital literacy skills, online testing, and high-speed Internet access in classrooms. Curriculum developers, at some point, will need to acknowledge that globalization and technology are distinctly foundational to education.

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