STRUCTURE
• Introduction
• Objectives
• Meaning of Knowledge Organisation
• Forms of Knowledge Included in School Education
• Selection of Knowledge Categories in School Education
• Agencies for Selection and Organisation of Categories of Knowledge in Schools
• Process for Developing Curricula, Syllabi, and Textbooks
– Principles of Formulating Syllabus – Characteristics of a Good Syllabus
– The Process of Curriculum Development in India
Let Us Sum up Review Questions
References and Web Links
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I
nTRodUCTIonAs a student, you must have wondered how the knowledge that you received in the schools is selected and organised.
Who does this? Do the teachers have autonomy to decide what will be taught in a particular class? Why some topics are introduced in a particular class and not in some other class? What are the various subjects that are taught in school and what is the basis of introducing a particular course in a particular class? Which are the agencies that decide about the courses? How the mechanism for evaluation of what and to what extent students have learnt is decided and which are the agencies responsible for implementing it? Whether the courses and evaluation mechanisms are same throughout the country? These are some of the questions that this chapter attempts to address.
o
bjECTIvESAfter reading this chapter, you will be able to:
• describe meaning of knowledge organisation;
• appreciate the different forms in which knowledge is organised in the school;
• explain the methodology of organising knowledge;
• enumerate the agencies responsible for developing syllabi in India; and
• explain the process of developing curriculum, syllabi, and textbooks in the country.
M
EanIng ofK
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RganISaTIonThe organisation of knowledge in schools refers to the various activities which encompass the entire varieties of learning experiences (curricular and co-curricular). It covers the syllabi, courses of studies, the teaching methods, the characteristics of teachers and students, the interactions taking place between the teacher and the taught, between taught and the environment, the textbooks, teaching aids, library, the system of evaluation, different co-curricular programmes such as morning assembly, prize giving ceremony, sports, competitions, dramas, observation of different religious or national festivals, etc. It specifies course outlines along with objectives, learning experiences, and evaluation tools
OrganisatiOnOf KnOwledgein schOOls
and follow up measures. It covers a wide and varied range of occupations, activities and experiences provided to the child for his/her integral development – physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual. As an illustration, the role of morning assembly in the integral development of the child is presented in the box given below.
Morning Assembly (Taken from National Curriculum Framework–2005, p. 97)
The day begins with teachers and children getting the school and classrooms ready for the day ahead.
Cleaning the rooms, including the toilets, putting up display boards in the classrooms, organising materials and getting equipment, all these activities convey a sense of ownership among students and teachers and foster a sense of responsibility towards the material and space they use. This also gives them time to talk to each other and catch up the events of the previous day. This reduces the need for such talk during class time.
During the general assembly, everybody sits together, and according to their classes or in lines, but the younger ones in front and the older ones behind. One day a week they listen an inspiring story. On another day they listen to music, a guest talk, or share a moving experience, read out and discuss an interesting report from the newspaper.
Then everyone goes to class.
The knowledge imparted in schools should take into account the needs and interests of the learners, nature of the living environment of the learners, and principles and the concepts proposed to be deliberated upon. The school curriculum has to vary according to the individual learner (their socio-economic background, religious and cultural traditions, disability, etc.) and the teacher. A syllabus might be prescribed by the State, a textbook might also be prescribed by the State, but the curriculum cannot be made uniform as no two teachers are identical in the method of teaching, no two children are identical in their methods of learning and no two schools have identical resources of learning environment. Ideally, organisation of knowledge should be flexible, so as to suit the requirements of the
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individual learners to enable them to grow freely, gradually bringing their innate potentialities to the surface.
Activity 1
1. Visit a couple of schools. Prepare a list of activities (curricular and co-curricular) conducted in the school.
2. Observe the efforts made by the school to organise these activities according to the needs of the individual learner.
The organisation of knowledge has different purposes. To Rousseau, it needs to give freedom to the child to pursue his/
her own pace of progress. Mahatma Gandhi believed that the organisation of knowledge in schools needs to be influenced by the social aims of education and the totality of experiences carried out through a particular craft. Tagore was of the view that the totality of experience needs to be characterised by universal brotherhood, in tune with the motto of his Viswa Bharati Yatra Visra bhabati ekanidam. To Sri Aurobindo, totality of experience covers physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual personalities of the child. In case of Froebel, this experience is the rounded whole of the knowledge and experience of the human race, achieved through play.
The organisation of knowledge in schools is a cyclic process, whose main components are: objectives, content, method, evaluation and feedback. Ideally, learners need to be consulted in deciding the content and process of organisation of knowledge. However, the amount of consultation may be comparatively less in lower classes. Organisation of knowledge in schools is an ongoing process. As the knowledge expands, many areas of the knowledge provided in the schools become familiar to the common man. A child learns many things informally from his/her environment, which his/her parents had to learn formally, through a school delivered programme.
The development of technology continuously pours more and more facts, concepts, information to the door of the common man. Hence, the agencies periodically review the knowledge being delivered in the schools and utilise the new developments to improve the same.
OrganisatiOnOf KnOwledgein schOOls
Related to this is the question as to how much time children should devote in the school. The box given below illustrates this fact.
Time on Task (Taken from National Curriculum Framework– 2005, p. 96)
The concept of time on task is an essential reckoner for taking stock of the total time that children spend actively on learning. This would include time spent on listening, reading, writing, doing activities, discussing, etc. It would not include waiting for one’s turn, copying from the board or revising. Particularly in multigrade classes, planning and designing of learning activities for children need to ensure that children’s time on task is maximised.
Total study time that is expected from students in both face-to-face and self-study or homework needs to be accounted for while planning the syllabus or course of study for students, especially as they go into higher grades.
Total homework time
Primary: No homework up to Class II and two hours a week from Class III.
Middle School: One hour a day (about five to six hours a week).
Secondary and Higher Secondary: Two hours a day (about 10 to 12 hours a week). Teachers need to work together to plan and rationalise the amount of homework that they give to children.
Learning Check 1
1. What are the school activities covered under knowledge organisation?
2. What is, in your opinion, the purpose of learning organisation?
3. Give examples to show that organisation of knowledge in schools is a cyclic as well as ongoing process.
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