3.3 Curriculum-as-intended
3.3.1 Instrumental approach in the development of curriculum-as-intended
Moreover, according to Van den Akker- et al. (2012), instrumental approach advocates for a systematic design process which is formal and based on clear and measurable goals (aim and objectives) in order to address the module content. This is why Kelly (2009) believes that during the planning stages, content taught and objectives achieved are the main signals or aspects reflected on. Further to this, the intensive study done by Tyler (2013b) on curriculum design stipulates facts during the planning process. This study asserts that planning in formal curriculum should include four essential aspects, namely: objectives to be achieved, content to be taught and learnt, teaching and learning methods or procedures used, and evaluations (reflections) done by both students and lecturers. Moreover, “the aims of a module gives the broad purpose or general teaching intentions of the module, whilst the objectives gives more specific information about what the teaching of the module hopes to achieve”. This then suggests that the successful planning of a formal curriculum is attested to a clear and concise formulated aims and objectives, and they must be measurable for all authentic formal activities (Khoza-, 2015d). In other words, aims and objectives act as points of reference that guide the planning process for teaching and learning formal activities. For instance, when a lecturer is planning a formal teaching activity based on atomic structure in the Physical Science module, the aim of the lecturer might be to introduce students to the basic principles or laws of atomic structure and the objective might be to understand how to state principles of atomic structure. This indicates that aims and objectives are the main pillars of a formal curriculum and they form the nucleus of the instrumental approach towards planning all formal activities driven by formal reflection (Jesup et al., 2017; Khoza, 2013b). This then suggests
98
that instrumental approach is not worried about how (the process) teaching and learning should emerge but rather what matters most is the end product which is about working towards achieving particular goals, and this is defined as the product approach (Le Grange* & Reddy, 2017; Tyler, 2013a).
Furthermore, see the interpretive case study of twenty university students doing Bachelor of Education Honours specialising in Curriculum Studies done by Khoza* (2016b) at a South African University. The main purpose of the study was to explore the postgraduate students’ reflections on understanding of curriculum goals in teaching their subjects. The study revealed that there are three main goals to be understood by students during the planning of formal curriculum activities, namely aims, objectives, and outcomes. The study concluded that students were not aware of the goals that underpin their planning of activities of the formal curriculum. This study then suggests the third element on goals, which is learning outcomes (what is to be achieved by learners at the end of the formal activity), and learning outcomes are not emphasised in the instrumental approach. This then indicates that planning is not all about aims and objectives but it is also about learning outcomes to be achieved by learner. Be that as it may, Tyler (2013b) strictly outlines that curriculum should be driven by rationale and goal in order to address the module or subject content.
In addition to the above, Tyler (2013b) study further asserts that the attainment of module content also becomes the most vital factor in the process of planning formal activities for a formal curriculum. The study outlines that the school or the university should plan and decide on formal educational experiences (content) which will lead to the achievement of goals, and this will influence meaningful teaching and learning process. As a result, lecturers value “curriculum content as central, so that the acquisition of that content by pupil becomes the central purpose of the curriculum” (Tyler, 2013b, p. 21). Further to this, Van den Akker- et al. (2012) further support the rationale, product, and goal oriented approach by asserting facts on the third aspect of planning, namely the organisation or teaching methods. The study outlines that learning institution and lecturers should be concern about the ways in which teaching and learning process are going to be organised in order to achieve goals. Tyler (2013b) further avers that organisation has to do with teaching methods and formal activities that may be included during teaching and learning process.
99
For instance, if lecturers are driven by instrumental approach in planning any formal activities, they should know their modules’ organisation, relevant and suitable delivery methods that can be used towards achievement of stated goals. For this reason, Kelly (2009) asserts that “the organisation becomes the matter solely for effectiveness of delivery”. See the study conducted by Ensor (2016) on the recontextualising of pedagogic practise of beginning secondary mathematics teachers doing a preservice mathematics teacher education course in the university, it is argued that the recontextualising of pedagogic practise of teachers is dependent and is regulated by three important factors: access to the principles and procedures, educational biography, and school organisation. The study concluded that there is a gap between a secondary mathematics inexperienced teacher education course and secondary school mathematics teaching practise, and this is because of different contextual issues such as teaching resources, teaching location, and socio-economic factors that have an impact on the teaching and learning process. This study suggests and lays down the importance of organisation and teaching methods when planning formal curriculum activities, and the manner in which teaching methods or guiding principles play a major role towards planning of formal activities.
In addition to the above, studies by Tyler (2013b) and Hoadley and Jansen (2013) further outline that the last element on planning formal activities of a formal curriculum which is informed by formal reflections, is assessment and evaluation. These studies reveal that this element requires learning institution like universities including lecturers to be clear as to how to assess learners in order to achieve goals, be able to find ways to reflect, evaluate their teaching and learning practise.
Assessment and evaluation focuses on “the degree of attainment achieved by pupil” (Kelly, 2009, p. 21). This then suggests that planning of any formal activity should involve assessment and evaluation strategies which are guided by formal reflections. For instance, it is the responsibility of a lecturer to plan possible assessment activities like assignments and tests, and the lecturers should give evaluation forms to be evaluated by students at the end of each teaching process. This suggests that for students and lecturers to engage in assessment and evaluation, they should undergo formal reflection (Finlay, 2008; Waghid, 2010).
100
Figure 3.2: Tyler’s product approach to curriculum development (Source: Pinnar: 2010, p. 267)
Furthermore, the above discussion displays the thorough usage of instrumental approach when designing formal activities of a formal curriculum. That is the reason why Tyler (2013b) asserts that instrumental approach is influenced by product, technical, and product approach to curriculum planning and development. In summary of the above discussion, Tyler (2013b) formulated four basic questions in different stages (refer to Figure 3.2) in order to enhance a clear understanding of the planning process namely, Stage 1: Why is my educational aims and objectives (purpose);
Stage 2: What will I teach in order to achieve my purpose (content); Stage 3: How will I organise my teaching (organisation); and Stage 4: How will I determine if these purposes are being achieved (assessment and evaluation). Thus, in product approach “the purpose of the curriculum take pride of place, content selected not for its own sake but for its presumed efficacy enabling us to achieve those purpose, organisation is similarly designed with these objectives in mind, and evaluation is framed so as to assess how far those objectives have been achieved” (Kelly, 2009, p. 21). This suggests that, instrumental approach is influenced by formal reflection where teachers are taken as transmitters of prescribed content from the formal written content, in such a way that, the knowledge and skills are discovered after an intense research by module experts before they are laid down as objectives in the formal documents (Hoadley & Jansen, 2013; Schubert, 1996;
Waghid, 2005). In other words, curriculum-as-planned is informed by formal reflection which plays a major role in addressing the needs of the module in terms of goals, content, organisation,
101
as well as assessment and evaluation so that it can be easily implemented by lecturers during the use of Moodle.