TVET Curriculum Development

Curriculum Development can be defined as the systematic planning of what is taught and learned in schools as reflected in courses of study and school programs. These curricula are embodied in official documents (typically curriculum "guides" for teachers) and made mandatory by provincial and territorial departments of education.

The primary focus of a curriculum is on what is to be taught and when, leaving to the teaching profession decisions as to how this should be done. In practice, however, there is no clear distinction between curriculum content and methodology - how a topic is taught often determines what is taught. For this reason, and for others, there is need to distinguish the official or planned curriculum - the formally approved program of study - from the de facto or lived (sometimes called hidden) curriculum - the "lessons" that are actually learned.

Curriculum Development Models

Curriculum developed for vocational training should not only meet the goals and objectives of training but also be implemented effectively. There have been a variety of models that have been tried in the past and hence curriculum development has either been in the subjective or objective mode. But recently the trainers and educationalists have developed competency based curriculum which can be implemented using multi-media educational resources that have now become available. Such an approach allows open entry/open exit philosophy of Curriculum implementation to be adopted to allow the trainees to learn at one's own pace in the most flexible way.

In the competency-based individualised and multi-mediat curriculum development, the subject matter has been divided into modules. The modules are studied through workstations. The learning process is student-centred and not teacher-centred. The modules are sub-divided into learning elements. These are learnt by carrying out tasks which help to acquire employable skills. This approach of curriculum development, obviously, assumes the availability of resources for its implementation. Is it always true - remains to be verified? The industrialised nations can afford such a capital investment but it may be a problem for the developing countries.

Links

• Using National and State Skill Standards for Vocational-Technical Education Curriculum Development (http://www.vtecs.org/documents/Using%20Skill%20Standards.pdf)Charles L. Losh, ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, 2000
• International Workshop on Curriculum Development in Technical and Vocational Education (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0009/000963/096334E.pdf)held at the ILO international training centre, Turin, Italy 30 August - 3 September 1993, FINAL REPORT
• Vocational Needs Assessment and Curriculum Development (http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/2f/d9/75.pdf)American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences (pages 78)

Related Articles:

• DACUM (Developing a Curriculum)

category:Curriculum