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SEMINAR ON

CURRICULUM
PLANNING,
REVISION
INNOVATION

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY

SUBMITTED ON
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SL.No Content Page No

1 CURRICULUM PLANNING
1.1 INTRODUCTION 3
1.2 DEFINITION 3
1.3 STAGES OF CURRICULUM PLANNING 3
1.4 LEVELS OF CURRICULUM PLANNING 5
1.5 ELEMENTS IN CURRICULUM PLANNING 7
2 CURRICULUM REVISION
2.1 INTRODUCTION 8
2.2 STAGES OF CURRICULUM REVISION 8
3 CURRICULUM INNOVATION
3.1 INTRODUCTION 9
3.2 NEED FOR CURRICULUM CHANGE 10
3.3 FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGE AND INNOVATION 11
3.4 ROLE OF PRINCIPAL 11
3.5 GUIDELINES FOR CHANGE AND INNOVATION 12
4 BIBLIOGRAPHY 14

CURRICULUM PLANNING
INTRODUCTION

Curriculum may be considered as a blue print of an educational program. It is the

base of education in which the teaching learning process is planned implemented.
Curriculum development is known by varied names as curriculum building,
curriculum making, and curriculum planning and curriculum construction. If it is the
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process of improving the existing curriculum, it is called as curriculum reconstruction

or curriculum rebuilding. Curriculum planning is the collective responsibility of the
school or college, statutory body and the significant others. Curriculum is planned at
the various levels. In the institutional level, the curriculum committee takes up the
responsibility in the planning curriculum. It is an ongoing activity. While planning the
curriculum, the model of educational process is considered.

Curriculum planning is the complex activity involving the interplay of ideas from the
curriculum field and other related disciplines. However the ultimate purpose of th e
curriculum planning is to describe the learning opportunities available to students.
Curriculum panning involves decisions about both the content and the process. It
involves many people and levels of operation and is a continuous process.

DEFINITION

Curriculum Planning Is a continuous process which involves activities characterized

by interrelationships among individuals and Groups as they work together in
studying, planning, developing and improving the curriculum, which is the total
environment planned by the school. (William W Ward).

STAGES OF CURRICULUM PLANNING

There are many ways in which curriculum planning may be approached. Torres and
Stanton see the curriculum process as having four main stages as follows:

 DIRECTIVE STAGE

This initial stage lays the foundation for all other stages by identifying the
beliefs. Knowledge and concepts that form the basis of the curriculum. This is
done by the systematic gathering of information from the literature and also by
the exploration of common beliefs about the nature of nursing. This leads to a
statement of the philosophy of the curriculum, which inturn serves to influence
each successive stage of the curriculum process. The specific meanings of key
terms need to be spelled out in a glossary so that everyone can see way in which
each particular term is interpreted. At this stage too, the characteristics of the
student for whom the curriculum is intended and identified, i.e., broad behaviors
that will be expected of the student by the end of the course. In addition, this
stage lays down theoretical frameworks for the selection and sequencing of the
content.

 FORMATIVE STAGE
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At this stage, the overall design of the curriculum takes and this design
should reflect the philosophy described in stage one, as well as reflecting the
nature of nursing. Objectives will be written for specific levels within the course
as well as for overall course objectives and are derived from the broad
characteristics identified in the previous stage. Content mapping is used to select
content elements for each aspect of the course and also gives staff and students
and indication f the sequencing of topics.

 FUNCTIONAL STAGE

This is the stage in which the curriculum begins to assume a more practical
form. Consideration is given to approaches by which the content can be
organized and the notion of models of nursing is employed. The variety of
teaching methods and learning experiences is also decided, to include both class
room and clinical methods. In addition, methods of validating learning are
decided, using the behavioral objectives formulated in stage two. There are 3
types of evaluation to be considered:

1. Evaluation of continued learning: this is evaluation that provided feedback for

students to improve their learning
2. Evaluation for grading: examinations designed for grading should not be
viewed as learning activity
3. Evaluation for curriculum revision: this involves assessment of the total
curriculum package and constitutes stage four.
 THE EVALUATIVE STAGE

This can occur when the curriculum is fully implemented and is thus a
summative evaluation. There are three aspects to this:

 Input evaluation: what the student bring to the course, such as

mathematical abilities, problem solving and so on.
 Throughout evaluation: all the test and activities that students undergo as
they progress through the course.
 Output evaluation: achievement of the characteristics identified in the
directive stage

The Torres and Stanton process of curriculum seems to be firmly based upon the
behavioural objectives model and is specifically tailored to the North American
university system of nursing education. However, it is a rational planning system that
could be modified to take into account the needs of a United Kingdom hospital based
curriculum.
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Having examined the process from a relatively theoretical perspective, it might be

useful to show how curriculum development occurs within the context of a school of
nursing and the basic RGN curriculum or basic BSc.N curriculum.

LEVELS OF CURRICULUM PLANNING

Professional nursing curriculum includes all the planned opportunities subject

matter, learning activities, that facilitates plans and implements in all settings for a
particular group of students for a specified period.

There are three levels of curriculum planning identified in relation to the level of
remoteness from the act of learning itself by Goodland

 Societal curriculum
 Institutional curriculum
 Instructional curriculum

SOCIETAL CURRICULUM

Societal curriculum refers to the curricula or parts of the curricula which is planned
for a large group or class of students. Eg: BSc (N).

It is planned by groups outside of an educational institution, Eg: national league of

nursing. They determine criteria which shall be used in the accreditation of schools.

They are more immediately concerned with

 Determining general characteristics of curriculum content

 Sequence
 Implementation

Which are likely to prepare the type of nurse practitioner needed to meet society’s
needs for nursing.

There is a significant relationship between curriculum and the nature of the

society which supports it and to the relative stability of the culture. In the periods of
great social change, many issues and problems arise, as curricula undergo change.
The Government should provide financial resources for training projects and for
research. It aids for enhancing and improving the curricula.

Curriculum planning in societal level can be helpful to schools, trough

stimulating, initiating and supporting curriculum studies. Guides, which have been
developed by outside groups and experts, can be planned so that they are
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sufficiently flexible to apply to different situations. The base of curriculum planning

and organization in each situation should be determined by the faculty of each
school.

INSTITUTIONAL CURRICULUM

It is planned by faculty for s clearly identified group of students who will spend
a specified time period in a particular situation.

Cooperative planning through curriculum committee within the school is obvious of

one looks at the broad base of fact, principles, understandings, skills, habits,
attitudes and appreciations that are required to prepare the student to function as a
modern professional nurse in a democratic society. More active participation of
individuals in group affairs generally brings about change and improvement, but also
because the teacher has a right to participate and the desire to find opportunity for
the growth of their capacities through contributive and constructive sharing of social
progress. Voluntary and intelligent cooperation of all concerned is needed. It
requires a high degree of self discipline, integrity of personal character and an ability
to cooperate with others.

INSTRUCTIONAL CURRICULUM

It consists of the content planned day by day and week by week by a

particular teacher by a particular group of students. The curriculum is made in the
classroom, for it is the teacher who largely determines the educational fate of her
students by what and how she teaches. It may serve as a valuable guide to the
teacher and the student in the development of a course. The way in which the
curriculum is interpreted in the particular situation will influence the importance and
the amount of individual teacher planning. If the curriculum is conceived to include
all the planned learning experiences of the student, it will include:

 Essential facts, information, concepts, meanings, principles.

 Activities that is necessary for the development of skills, habits, attitudes,
ideals and appreciations.
 Methods that is useful in teaching, supervising, guiding and evaluating results.

Instructional curriculum includes

 All the content planned by the teacher, experienced by the students to

achieve in the students the desired behaving changes implicit in the
educational objectives.
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 Nursing curriculum comprises not only, subject matter but also activities,
methods, schools and classroom organization, clinical nursing experience,
measurement and the teacher herself.
 The curriculum consists of the tools, which the teacher may use to effect
behaviour changes in the life of the student.
 The teacher must select from the abundance of available situations those
that are appropriate to the needs of the student.

ELEMENTS IN CURRICULUM PLANNING

Curriculum planning ranges from deciding the overall goals of curriculum to lesson
plan.

Planning Curriculum overall goals

Objectives
Learning experiences
Evaluation

Planning various courses Goals- objectives

Learning experiences
Evaluation

Unit planning Objectives

Learning experiences
Evaluation

Lesson planning Objectives

Learning experiences
Evaluation

CURRICULUM REVISION
INTRODUCTION
Curriculum revision means making the curriculum different in some way, to give it a
new position or direction. This often means alteration to its philosophy by way of its
aims and objectives, reviewing the content included, revising its methods and re-
thinking its evaluatory procedures.
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The three main approaches to curriculum revision are:

 Addition
 Deletion
 Recognition

In addition, new elements are added to the existing curriculum. In deletion, some
elements are deleted to modify the curriculum. In recognition, nothing added or
deleted but only restructuring of the existing curriculum is done.

The basis for any major curriculum revision is significantly to improve the existing
curriculum. Before any changes can be initiated, therefore, a complete analysis is
required of the existing curriculum to identify its strengths and weakness and areas
of compatibility with the new ideology. This analysis is usually carried out using data
acquired through the normal formative and summative evaluation of the old
curriculum. From this data, the assessment of future needs can be made along with a
determination of what needs to be changed and the selection of possible solutions to
problems and the means by which the necessary changes can be achieved.

STAGES OF CURRICULUM REVISION

Fred greaves describes the following 7 stages in revising a nursing curriculum.

STAGE ONE: if a curriculum development and evaluation committee does not exist,
one should be formed to act as co-coordinating group for implementing the planned
curriculum changes.

STAGE TWO: appraise the existing nursing and educational practices which are
representative of the currently operating curriculum. Study carefully the existing
curriculum and identify its strengths and weakness by considering its overall
intentions and purposes, including the basic values and beliefs which are currently
part of the institutes’ philosophy. Consider the extent to which the curriculum is
offering educational and training experience for the students.

STAGE THREE: make a detailed study of the existing curriculum to see whether it is
still relevant and appropriate to meet knowledge to be learned are still worthwhile
and whether the present developing conceptual frameworks of nursing knowledge
are sufficiently represented in the curriculum.

STAGE FOUR: establish criteria for decisions about what needs to go into curriculum
and what needs to come out and how the curriculum materials and methods might
be change.
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STAGE FIVE: this involves the design and writing of the new curriculum changes and
these may include the revised philosophy and aims of the curriculum including the
new intentions and purposes. It also includes the revised objectives and the
reformed content along with new teaching learning – approaches. Some of the
existing evaluation procedures would need adjustments to fall in the line with new
content and methodology.

STAGE SIX: within this stage the actual implementation of changes is put into action.
Implementing the changes successfully involves having knowledge of the change and
the securing of the participation of those people necessary to enable the
implementation. Teachers, students and other concerned people need to be well
informed with respect to the changes that are to take place.

STAGE SEVEN: following the implementation of the new changes it is important to

evaluate the effects of those changes and it is with evaluation that this final stage is
concerned. Evaluation is directed at the identification and collection of data and its
analysis, in order for the effects of changes to be measured and appropriate
decisions and judgments made.

CURRICULUM INNOVATION
INTRODUCTION
Innovation is literally the bringing in type is something new, even if it is an
established procedure nationally yet new to a particular institution. Innovation has
been defined as the “acceptance over time of some specific item, idea or practice by
individuals groups or other adopting units, linked by specific channels of
communication to a social structure and to a given system of values or culture.

An innovation is an idea of practice that is viewed as new, and this is communicated

overtime among the members of the social system.

Innovation is a deliberate, normal specific change, which is thought to be more

efficacious in accomplishing the goals of the system. (Mathew B Moles 1964).

Curriculum includes all the planned learning outcomes for which the school or
college is responsible, the attainment of the behavioural objectives and the purposes
of the programme. Today the school curriculum is in a state of fluid all over the
world. Even in the educational advanced countries like the USA where the traditional
curriculum has been radically transformed long ago under the impact of progressive
education, the content of the school or collegiate education. This widespread
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dissatisfaction with the curriculum is on account of three major developments, i.e.

explosion of knowledge, rethinking on general education and the discovery of new
dynamic and stimulating methods.

NEED FOR CURRICULUM CHANGE

Since the inception of nursing curriculum, there has been more criticism and
dissatisfaction over it, particularly its content, and the organization of its content,
which includes:

 There is too much emphasis on the subject matter without much relationship
to the student’s real needs, interest or abilities.
 There are less or little depths in the subject matter, with more emphasis on
memorization, cramming rather than understanding.
 The curriculum consists less emphasis on activities
 Nursing curricula designed onto the basis o f hospital classification system of
patients, i.e. medical nursing, surgical nursing, pediatric nursing, rather than
some educational rationale.
 Less emphasis has been given to core curricular subjects like nursing
administration, nursing education, nursing researches and advanced nursing
programs
 There is less correlation between the student’s theory courses and their
clinical learning practices/ experiences
 There is no proper or little emphasis on the selection of clinical learning
experiences on the basis of objectives rather than the service needs of the
hospital
 There is very less help given to students in explicitly applying principles form
the basic descriptive to nursing courses to clinical practice
 Students themselves receive little or no experience in assuming
responsibilities or in making choices everything in decided for them by the
teacher or by the administrator
 Learning experiences are planned and directed without sufficient regard for
what is expected in the learning process.

FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGE AND INNOVATION

There are many constraints on innovation in schools/ college of nursing, the most
obvious meaning that of resource limitation. Innovations require time, finance and
energy, if it is to be done well and nurse teachers may already be overstretched with
existing commitments. Unlike their counterparts in higher education. Nurse teachers
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spend a full 37 and half weeks on site and get only the normal vacation allowance of
some 5 weeks per year. This leaves little time for creative curriculum planning, unless
it is done outside of work and even this has problems, since people need to get away
from work related matters in order to refresh them for the next day.

Another major influence is that of the ‘health of the organization’, to use medical
metaphor and this reflects very much the style of the head of the institution namely
principal of school or college of nursing.

ROLE OF PRINCIPAL

The Director of Nursing education (DNE) or principal occupies a central position with
regard to innovation, as he or she carries traditional authority and also has an overall
perspective of the organization. This role involves one of the leadership rather than
administration, the former being concerned with the efficient running of the system.
This pivotal role of the DNE cannot be over emphasized, since the style of leadership
will profoundly affect the climate of the whole school or college of nursing.

The style of decision making of the DNE or principal is also important and four styles
of decision can be identified:

1. Tell decisions: the head makes the decision herself, either because it is so
important or so trivial
2. Sell decisions: the Head knows that there is only one course of action so she
tries to persuade others so that it will have a chance of success
3. Consult decisions: the head gets opinions from all staf concerned, but take
the final responsibility for making the decision herself.
4. Share decisions: the head allows other staff to share the decision making
process and accepts the joint decision.

GUIDELINES FOR CHANGE AND INNOVATION

We have so far considered the factors that influence innovation and here are, some
guidelines are offered for implementing innovation.

Hoyle (1976), for example, has identified three types of innovation strategy.

1. Strategy A: the innovation is made by powerful bodies such as the UKCC or

ENB and the innovation is aimed mainly at the structure of education.
Communication is one-way, from authority to professional practitioner.
2. Strategy B: The target here is the attitudes, values and opinions of a group of
teachers. The communication is two-way, between the ‘expert’ and the
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practitioners and it is nondirective. The might be such things as the DNE

attempting to alter the teachers’ attitudes to individualizes learning.
3. Strategy C: this aims to change the curriculum rather than the individual and
is backed by expertise. Communication is one way and usually consists of
films, lectures or books on innovation.

It is quite possible for a director or a senior tutor or faculty to introduce

innovation by using his or her authority but this has fundamental weaknesses.
The cooperation of teachers is essential, since it is they who will have to
implement the changes.

Innovation is more likely to be accepted if the changes are generated from

within the organization, rather than by outsiders, particularly if it follows a
curriculum analysis. This aspect was highlighted as one of the advantages of a
curriculum-study group, where the service personnel had input to the curriculum.
Innovations also likely to be acceptable if it involves a reduction in workload, or
an emphasis toward something that the teacher desires. For example, if a
curriculum innovation is planned that provides more time for clinical involvement
by the teacher, than it is likely that most teachers would accept this willingly.

Group discussion is vital if the innovation is to be accepted and sufficient time

must be allowed for this. Opportunity for teachers to put their points of view and
for questions to be asked is essential steps in the innovative process. It is useful
to attempt to meet in a place other than the school of nursing in order to discuss
such issues since this gets people away from their traditional roles and
associations and allows them to be more themselves.

Resistance to change can rise out of peer group norms; it is interesting to see
that new nurse teachers, when they leave the teacher-training institution is keen
to make innovations but within a year or so of being in the ‘real world’ most of
this has evaporated’.

Georgiades and Phillimore (1975) talk about the myth of the hero-innovator.

“The idea that you can produce, by training, a kninghin-shining armour who,
loins girded with new technology and beliefs, will assault his organizational forces
and institute changes both in himself and others at a stroke. Such a view is
ingenuous. The fact of the matter is that organization such as schools or hospitals
will, like dragons, eat hero-innovators for breakfast.”

They offer six guidelines for changes as follows.

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1. Try to work with those supportive forces within the organization, rather than
against those who are resistant to change.
2. Aim to produce a self-motivated team of workers who get power for within
themselves.
3. Work with the ‘healthy’ parts of the system, i.e. those who have the
motivation and resource to be able to improve, rather than on lost causes.
4. Ensure that the people you are working with for change have the freedom and
authority to implement the proposed changes.
5. Try to obtain involvement of key personnel in the change program, but make
this realistic and appropriate.
6. Protect team members from undue stress and pressure.

It would seem from the foregoing discussion that the successful manager of
change and innovation requires a combination of personal qualities and
expertise. She needs to have good interpersonal skills in order to manage the
staff and minimize anxiety, yet should be prepared to be unpopular if this is
necessary to implement decisions. She needs to feel secure enough to allow staff
to be involved in some of the decisions about change and be prepared to
question assumptions when difficulties arise. Management of change requires
vision and belief in oneself, but at the same time the manager must keep her feet
on the ground if she is to put her ideas into practice. It is extremely important
that the manager of change should avoid getting enmeshed in the finer details of
the system; her role is to be able to have a ‘birds-eye view’ of the whole thing to
ensure a holistic outcome.

So far discussed the concept of curriculum change and innovation form a

number of perspectives on curriculum innovation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 D. Elakkuvana Bhaskara Raj, Nima Bhaskar (2013) Textbook of Nursing
Education (1st edition) Emmess medical Publishers, Rajajinagar, Bangalore.
Page no. 369-370
 B. Sankaranarayan, B. Sindhu, (2009) Learning and Teaching Nursing (3 rd
edition) Brainfill Publishers, Calicut. Page No. 69-71, 73-74
 Carroll L. Iwasiw, Dolly Goldenberg, (2009) Curriculum Development in
Nursing Education (2nd Edition) Jones and Bartlett Publishers New Delhi. Page
No. 240-245
 BT Basavanthappa[2011] Nursing Education [2nd edition] Jaypee brothers
medical publishers, Haryana