FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION ABEOKUTA

PDE 5202 ASSIGNMENT

BY:

MATRIC NUMBER: PDE/19/0136

NAME: MORAKINYO, Olayemi A.

Q. WHAT ARE THE MAJOR CHALLENGES IN CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION?

EXPLAIN KEY ELEMENTS IN CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR CHALLENGES IN CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION?

Definition of Curriculum Implementation

Curriculum implementation entails putting into practice the officially prescribed courses of
study, syllabuses and subjects. The process involves helping the learner acquire knowledge or
experience. It is important to note that curriculum implementation cannot take place without the
learner. The learner is therefore the central figure in the curriculum implementation process.
Implementation takes place as the learner acquires the planned or intended experiences,
knowledge, skills, ideas and attitudes that are aimed at enabling the same learner to function
effectively in a society.

Viewed from this perspective, curriculum implementation also refers to the stage when the
curriculum itself, as an educational programme, is put into effect. Putting the curriculum into
operation requires an implementing agent. Stenhouse identifies the teacher as the agent in the
curriculum implementation process. She argues that implementation is the manner in which the
teacher selects and mixes the various aspects of knowledge contained in a curriculum document
or syllabus. Implementation takes place when the teacher-constructed syllabus, the teacher’s
personality, the teaching materials and the teaching environment interact with the learner.

Curriculum implementation therefore refers to how the planned or officially designed course of
study is translated by the teacher into syllabuses, schemes of work and lessons to be delivered to
students

Factors That Influence Curriculum Implementation

 Curriculum Implementation Influence on Teachers

 Curriculum Implementation Influence on Learners

 Curriculum Implementation Influence by Resource Materials and Facilities

 Curriculum Implementation Influence on Interest of Groups

 Curriculum Implementation Influence on the School Environment

 Curriculum Implementation Influence due to Culture and Ideology

 Curriculum Implementation Influence through Instructional Supervision

 Curriculum Implementation Influence by Assessment

The Teacher

As Whitaker (1979) asserts that the teachers view their role in curriculum implementation as an
autonomous one. They select and decide what to teach from the prescribed syllabus or
curriculum. Since implementation takes place through the interaction of the learner and the
planned learning opportunities, the role and influence of the teacher in the process is
indisputable. You could be thinking, “I understand that teachers are pivotal in the curriculum
implementation process, but what is their role in the curriculum planning process?” If the teacher
is to be able to translate curriculum intentions into reality, it is imperative that the teacher
understand the curriculum document or syllabus well in order to implement it effectively. If the
curriculum is what teachers and students create together, as Wolfson (1997) states in Curriculum
Implementations, the teacher must play a more significant role in designing the curriculum.
Teachers must be involved in curriculum planning and development so that they can implement
and modify the curriculum for the benefit of their learners. An untrained or

The Learners

Learners are also a critical element in curriculum implementation. While teachers are the arbiters
of the classroom practice, the learners hold the key to what is actually transmitted and adopted
from the official curriculum. The official curriculum can be quite different from the curriculum
that is actually implemented. The learner factor influences teachers in their selection of learning
experiences, hence the need to consider the diverse characteristics of learners in curriculum
implementation. For example, home background and learner ability can determine what is
actually achieved in the classroom.

Resource Materials and Facilities

No meaningful teaching and learning take place without adequate resource materials. This
applies to curriculum implementation as well. For the officially designed curriculum to be fully
implemented as per plan, the government or Ministry of Education should supply schools with
adequate resource materials such as textbooks, teaching aids and stationery in order to enable
teachers and learners to play their role satisfactorily in the curriculum implementation process. In
Curriculum Implementation, it is suggested that the central government must also provide
physical facilities such as classrooms, laboratories, workshops, libraries and sports fields in order
to create an environment in which implementation can take place. The availability and quality of
resource material and the availability of appropriate facilities have a great influence on
curriculum implementation.

Interest Groups

Can you identify interest groups in your country that could influence the implementation of
curricula? A number of these groups exist in almost all societies. These include parents, parents’
and teachers’ associations, religious organizations, local authorities, companies and private
school proprietors. These Groups can influence implementation in the following ways:

 Provide schools with financial resources to purchase required materials.

 Demand the inclusion of certain subjects in the curriculum.

 Influence learners to reject courses they consider detrimental to the interests of the group. It is
therefore important to involve these groups at the curriculum planning stage.

The School Environment

One other factor that influences curriculum implementation concerns the particular
circumstances of each school. Schools located in rich socio-economic environments and those
that have adequate human and material resources can implement the curriculum to an extent that
would be difficult or impossible for schools in poor economic environments.
Culture and Ideology

Cultural and ideological differences within a society or country can also influence curriculum
implementation. Some communities may resist a domineering culture or government ideology
and hence affect the implementation of the centrally planned curriculum.

Instructional Supervision

Curriculum implementation cannot be achieved unless it has been made possible through the
supervisory function of the school head. The head does this through:

 deploying staff,

 allocating time to subjects taught at the school,

 providing teaching and learning materials, and

 creating an atmosphere conducive to effective teaching and learning.

As stated in Curriculum Implementation, the head “monitors and guides curriculum

implementation through ensuring that schemes of work, lesson plans and records of marks are
prepared regularly”. The head teacher maintains a school tone and culture that create the climate
of social responsibility. Effective curriculum implementation does not take place in a school
where the head is incapable of executing supervisory functions.

Assessment

Assessment in the form of examinations influences curriculum implementation tremendously.

Due to the great value given to public examination certificates by communities and schools,
teachers have tended to concentrate on subjects that promote academic excellence and little else.
This action by the teacher obviously can affect the achievement of the broad goals and objectives
of the curriculum.
The government

The government policies that change per tenure or time affect implementation of good
curriculum, inconsistency in the long run affects the school system, hence making the curriculum
implementation tough.

References

Andre James M. Curriculum Development for the Year 2000: A case Study of the Process of
Curriculum Revision in a Professional school. Dissertation Abstracts International, 1991, 3612-
A.

Chantal J. Gervedink Nijhuis, Jules M. Pieters and Joke M. Voogt, Influence of culture on
curriculum development in Ghana: an undervalued factor. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 2013,
OI:10.1080/00220272.2012.737861.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curriculum.implimentation

http://www.tki.org.nz/r/health/curric_devt/lit_review/pe/ litrev_pe7_e.php

Tichafa J. Chikumbu, Curriculum theory, design and assessment, Ministry of Education, Sport
and Culture Masvingo, Zimbabwe. The Commonwealth of Learning, 2000.
KEY ELEMENTS IN CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

There are five key elements of curriculum development , according to  Tyler “it is essential as a
part of comprehensive theory of organization to show just what are the elements will serve
satisfactory as organizing elements.” According to Herrick and Tyler, following are the
components and elements of curriculum development

1. Situational analysis
2. Formulation of objectives
3. Selection of content, scope and sequence
4. Activities, strategies and method of teaching
5. Evaluation

Situational Analysis
Situational analysis means the analysis of different conditions such as emotional, political,
cultural, religious and geographical condition of a country. This will help the curriculum
planners in the selection of objectives, selection of organization of learning materials and in
suggesting appropriate evaluation procedure.

Formulation of Objectives
There are four main factors for formulating the objectives of education. These are 
1. The society
2. The knowledge
3. The learner
4. The learning process
All of these factors are to be considered while selecting and formulating the educational
objectives.

Selection of Content
One of the important elements is the selection of content for a subject. At the time of subject
matter selection, the following factors are to be kept in mind:

1. Available sources and resource

 2. Demand of the society
3. International needs
4. Level and age of the learner or student
5. Methods of content organization
6. Number of courses offered
7. Quantity and qualification of teaching staff
8. Scope of subject matter
9. System of examination
10. Type of society and culture

Strategies and Method of Teaching

These are strategies and methods of teaching adopted by the teachers during instruction and
learning experiences. This will certainly not fair to ask a teacher for achieving certain objectives
without giving any guidelines. In most of the countries curriculum development is a centralized
process. Teachers are not directly involved in this phase. Most of the teachers do not know the
process of achieving desired goals. After determining the goals and objectives the next problem
is the selection of strategies and methods of teachers. What we should give to our students.
Should a curriculum be fixed or flexible, constant, common or differentiated?

Evaluation
Evaluation is one of the dynamic process, which needs a continuous research and evaluation for
its betterment in order to cope with the variable demands of the society and bring about desirable
changes. Curriculum evaluation is not a student evaluation. It is a broader term being used to
make judgment about the worth and effectiveness of it.  With the help of evaluation phase
experts can modify the curriculum by bringing about desirable changes.