Foundation, Model, Principles of Curriculum Development

Foundation, Model, Principles of Curriculum Development – ​​Education is an important field for advancing a nation including the Indonesian nation where education is guaranteed by laws and other regulations. Moreover, in the preamble of the 1945 Constitution there is the state’s goal, namely to educate the life of the nation, which means that education is the key to making it happen.

The progress of society in a country can be seen from the quality of education that has been prepared by the government or related parties. Quality education can be identified through curriculum development which aims to form a comfortable learning environment so that learning objectives can be achieved. When students can learn comfortably, they can absorb what the teacher or educator conveys well.

Curriculum development is a process of planning and developing a curriculum by the government, schools or parties concerned to be able to achieve national education goals. The curriculum plays a strategic role in education, so that in its preparation and development, no one can do it haphazardly.

Its implementation must be based on values ​​that aim to build the character of students such as religious, moral, political, social, and cultural values. Besides that, other aspects must also be considered starting from the needs of students, the development of the times, and the readiness of teachers or education. There needs to be a correct and mature process so that the output or result will be as expected by all parties.

Curriculum Development Foundation

To carry out curriculum development, the developer must be based on a clear guideline so that the curriculum can be well directed. If it does not have a foundation, the consequences will be on the results of the curriculum itself, namely human resources cannot be formed optimally. There are four foundations used in its implementation.

1. Philosophical Foundation

The foundation of the first curriculum development is the philosophical foundation, which is related to the nature of philosophy as well as education. Philosophy or outlook on life in the world of education aims to provide direction for students in learning.

When having a clear learning direction, students can exploit the abilities that exist within them so they can achieve their best results. With regard to philosophy, every nation or group of people has different goals. Therefore, the direction of education is often not the same, but the result will be the same, namely to form the character of students well.

Indonesia has a clear curriculum development foundation, namely Pancasila. Therefore, the aim of Indonesian education is to form human beings who can live in the state, nation and society guided by Pancasila values.

The education system in this country has also been listed in Law Number 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System (National Education System). The existence of these laws, the implementation in Indonesia must be based on these regulations so as not to deviate from the direction that should be achieved.

2. Psychological Foundation

Behavior is an inseparable part of learning. Interaction between individuals will occur in the learning environment, namely the physical environment and the social environment. Changes will be created in individuals to reach maturity in life starting from physical, emotional, mental, intellectual, social, and moral maturity. Education is indeed a process to change individual behavior for the better, but not all of these changes occur because of learning.

There are other factors outside that have the potential to change it, namely the maturity of each and the surrounding environment. There needs to be a curriculum development system that is used to be able to achieve the goals of education in changing student behavior.

The psychological foundation must be the basis for curriculum development to determine how a teaching system can work properly. So a developer can be based on two branches of psychology, namely educational psychology and learning psychology.

Educational psychology is the science of psychology that studies how individuals are able to receive stimuli or stimuli from outside to change themselves towards maturity in life. The approach in providing the right stimulus or stimulus can shape the character of students according to what is desired. There are three kinds of approaches used in educational psychology, namely cognitive, behavioristic, and humanistic approaches.

Developmental psychology is also the basis because it can understand the process of individuals reaching behavioral maturity through a coherent process. Maturity in a person can be achieved because he can complete developmental tasks in the phase of his life.

The stages of psychological development of students are divided into three, namely pre-school age, elementary school age, and middle school age. After all, understanding students is important because the evaluation of the curriculum that has been prepared can be done well. The evaluation material referred to is the ability that can be achieved, the method of delivering the appropriate material, and the preparation of learning evaluations.

3. Sociological Basis

What are the reasons why curriculum development must be based on sociological factors? This is because students are social individuals who are closely related to interactions in the surrounding social environment in the form of society. The values ​​obtained during the teaching and learning process must be in accordance with the values ​​that develop in society in building life.

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Because, when the individual has finished completing his education he will plunge into the life of the community to apply what he has learned while studying. The cultures that develop in the surrounding environment and the social life system are the basis or foundation of the curriculum that runs in the world of education.

Curriculum development is not only based on skills, but is more global and technological because the times are constantly evolving. Changes in culture and social values ​​that continue to occur are a consideration, where now people’s needs are experiencing many changes.

The needs of people in urban areas will be different from rural communities and traditional communities will be different from more modern societies. A curriculum that is developed without regard to culture or community values ​​will create human resources that cannot build a better life.

Especially in solving various kinds of complex problems, graduates who are qualified and understand community problems can provide solutions that are solutions.

4. Scientific and Technological Foundation

Today, the development of science and technology has undergone many changes compared to when it was first developed several centuries ago. Today’s science and technology is largely based on inventions in the Middle Ages by well-known figures in certain fields.

These changes have a considerable influence on education, especially in the industrial world. Education is expected to be able to form people who are skilled and reliable in applying their knowledge in the industrial world. Curriculum development in accordance with the needs of science and technology must be arranged as well as possible.

The use of various equipment that supports teaching and learning activities is also necessary considering that recent technological developments have become increasingly sophisticated. What are the demands of teachers or educators and education implementers to be skilled and proficient in using it so that they are able to transfer it to students.

Considering that education is a place to prepare humans for the future, curriculum development must be based on science and technology. The development of science and technology has an indirect impact including the development of content or learning materials and media.

Education is indirectly required to equip individuals to be able to solve various problems in life with the knowledge and technology they have. That way, students are able to change life towards a clearer direction and describe existing problems.

Curriculum Development Model

In practice, curriculum development can be done through 7 models. The models in question are the Administrative Model, the Grass Roots Approach, the Beauchamp Model, the Demonstration Model, the Problem Solving Model, the Rogers Model and the Reverse Taba Model.

1. Administrative Model (Top Down Approach)

The first model is administrative where this model is carried out by parties who have the authority or related policies. The flow is from top to bottom, meaning that the government is in charge of preparing learning plans. The design will later be carried out by the education unit in the government area and the operation will be carried out by the teachers in learning.

All kinds of processes starting from the general concept, the foundation used, needs analysis, curriculum formulation are all carried out by the government. Related parties only act as executors at the lower level to be applied to students later.

2. The Grass Roots Approach Model

This model is the opposite of the administrative model, where curriculum development in the administrative model is fully carried out by the government. In the grass roots approach model, educational units or schools develop learning models to be applied in the learning process.

Usually this arises because schools or teachers feel that the curriculum set by the government is not in accordance with the needs and conditions that occur in the field. As a consequence, schools must be able to develop innovative ideas and have responsibility for the implementation of teaching and learning activities. Openness to input and suggestions from outside must also be owned by the school so that in future preparation it can run better

In practice, curriculum development can be carried out as a whole or for certain subjects only. This depends on the needs of the educational unit involved in it. Development can also be done for other aspects such as learning strategies and methods, learning objectives, vision and mission, and others.

3. Beauchamp models

As the name implies, this model was developed by Beauchamp who is an expert in the field of curriculum. He stated that there are 5 stages of curriculum development, the first is to determine the scope of development. At first it can be done in the classroom, then it can be expanded to schools, then it can be expanded again to the regional or even national level.

The second is the determination of the parties involved in which there are curriculum experts. The third is the formation of a council as a coordinator with the task of being an assessment team of the implementation of the previous curriculum, selecting materials, and writing the new curriculum.

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The fourth stage is the implementation of the curriculum with the task of establishing a new curriculum that has been determined. The last is an evaluation of the ongoing implementation, whether it is in accordance with the objectives or not. This model can be a suitable alternative because it involves curriculum experts.

4. Model Demonstration

The demonstration model is actually similar to the grass roots model, that is, they both come from the education unit or from below. In it there are teachers who will work closely with experts in conducting curriculum development. However, its scope is limited to only a few schools in the vicinity. This model is considered the simplest because of its small scale.

5. Problem Solving Model

Social change is the basis of the problem solving model. In the process, this model involves all parties to be equally involved, namely students, parents, and the school itself. Involving student guardians can indirectly help solve problems that exist in the community because student guardians are part of the community.

There are two steps taken in compiling this model curriculum. the first is to conduct an in-depth study of the data obtained as a basis for compilation. The data in question must be valid and reliable so that there is a strong basis for decision making.

Weak data results in making wrong decisions so that they cannot solve problems. The second is the implementation of the decisions that have been taken and if there are problems it can be used as evaluation material.

6.Rogers models

The Rogers model is the brainchild of Carl Rogers, a psychologist. He is of the view that humans actually have a lot of potential that can be developed, but they have obstacles in developing it.

Humans individually need other people in order to overcome the obstacles in them. He applied his thoughts in the teaching and learning process so that individuals were able to achieve self-actualization.

Rogers suggested that there are four stages of curriculum development. The first is the formation of a team or group to jointly discuss problems with problematic systems. The second is to describe the problems faced by each person in the team so that they can share experiences.

Furthermore, meetings with a wider scope involving the community (students and parents) to discuss the problems faced. The last is to hold a meeting once again so that a solution to the problems described earlier emerges.

7. The Taba Reverse Model

This model has another name, namely Taba’s Inverted which was created by Hilda Taba. Curriculum development is generally deductive in nature, namely compiling a system and conducting an evaluation at the end of implementation. Taba believes that this method is not suitable and cannot provide innovation.

Taba introduces a development method that begins with searching data and experimenting with existing theories and then implementing them. It aims to match the theory that has been used so far with practice in the field.

The stages of this model are divided into five. The first determines the needs related to materials, teaching materials, and assessments to be arranged in a curriculum unit. Furthermore, trials were carried out to find out what the strengths and weaknesses were.

Third, revising the weaknesses encountered during the curriculum trials. The fourth is developing a theoretical framework and finally establishing a new curriculum.

Principles of Curriculum Development

In curriculum development, there are seven principles that must be fulfilled in its implementation. The seven principles in question are as follows.

  1. The curriculum is structured based on the principle of finding potential in students so they can achieve their best abilities. In addition, it must also pay attention to the interests and needs and demands of the environment.
  2. Paying attention to the diverse characteristics of students ranging from religion, socio-culture, customs, gender, and so on. There is no distinction for this diversity.
  3. Adjusting to the development of science and technology in order to adapt to the changes that exist.
  4. Able to meet the needs of the community as a solver of various problems faced in life.
  5. Comprehensive and continuous, meaning that every lesson given to students is in accordance with their level of education and continues to a higher level.
  6. The curriculum is structured so that humans can learn throughout life. This is intended so that humans do not stop to learn new things that are useful for life and the development of the times.
  7. National interests must be balanced with regional interests. This means that there should be no conflicting objectives between parties in accordance with the ideals of the state.

Curriculum development must be prepared based on a solid and clear foundation so that the objectives of implementing education can be achieved. In order for the curriculum to function properly, the developer can choose a model that is appropriate to the conditions of society in general. The hope is of course one, to create human beings who are able to solve various kinds of problems faced by society.