Essay Sample on Curriculum Change

Introduction

Change is inevitable in any normal society. However, caution has to be taken when going about these changes. A change should be effected if only it has a positive impact on the society. When it comes to education, there must be tremendous changes in the curriculum to match the technological advancements of the current world. The curriculum does not only involve the content given to students but also the planning and of the subject and the lessons as well as other activities that students take part in. Changing of the curriculum is never an easy task, and in most cases, it is met with resistance from conservatives. It is upon the curriculum manager to deal with the waves and come up with what they think is good for the students (Pound, 2011). Unfortunately, this can never be possible without involving other heads and stakeholders in the education department. Similarly, the change must be meaningful else it will fail terribly (Gosper & Ifenthaler, 2014).

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Before talking about changing the curriculum, one has first to develop a new curriculum incorporating the areas that need some changes. This is only possible by incorporating aspects of curriculum design which in turn describe the specific contents of the subjects and the curriculum in general (Romiszowski, 2016). Developing of such a curriculum calls for multiple steps most that are very engaging. For anything to be changed, it must be having some defects. The same case applies to the curriculum. For the curriculum to be changed, there have to be loopholes evident in it. Before even developing a plan for developing a new curriculum, the manager has to, first of all, prove that there is a defect in the existing one. For example, the current curriculum has all its efforts invested in scientific research. This means that sociology is not given the weight it deserves. That is the reason why in the recent past, America has been producing excellent scientist some of who have even toured the moon while there is no one to offer counseling in times of need due to lack of specialist in sociology.

Immediately the problem of the existing curriculum is stated, the next step is to come up with the corrections to be made. This is done by following a certain process. It all starts with the statement of goals and intended results. Before even the proposed changes are put into the context, the manager has to explain the intentions of the intended plan. In the case stated earlier on, the intended purpose of the change is to promote social sciences just like the way applied sciences are promoted. This not to mean that social sciences have an upper hand over the applied, but then there has to be a balance between the two. It is unfortunate that a vast number of resources are directed to applied sciences living sociology with little. The learning outcomes expected is to encourage the students to venture into sociology as well. Every society needs social experts to deal with matters of counseling and the like.

The next step is the statement of the content. Contents of the desired change in the curriculum are then put into the record. These shows show best the intended change can be put into practice without many struggles. The content is then assessed to determine whether it makes sense or not. Once the contents are analyzed, the resources required regarding people and other facilities are put into consideration. For a change in curriculum to be put into practice, there must be enough resources to support the same. Human resource is a limiting factor as well. There must be enough facilitators to help in teaching sociology. In case there is no enough personnel who can handle sociology, it means that it is impossible to effect the change. Additionally, cost implications can be another barrier towards a change. Nevertheless, aspects of time are considered to ascertain that the change is positive. Failure to meet any of the above features means that the change is unacceptable. When the proposal passes that test, planning for the responsibilities, have to be done. Education changes can occur without having people to oversee the specific changes. This is to imply that the manager in charge of the curriculum change has to come up with a team that will help in the implementation of the proposed changes. All the manager has to do is to come up with a group of sociology specialist and assign them roles as far as implementation of the changes is concerned (Mann & Filler, 2003). The individuals originate from different areas for efficiency. Soon after the implementation of the changes, an evaluation team has to be sent to the field to check whether the changes are practical. Once there is a positive response from the evaluation team, the change is officially incorporated into the curriculum.

Different philosophers have different perspectives when it comes to education (McGraw-Hill education, 2002). The Perennialists believe that education is meant to make children understand more about western civilization (Canadian Philosophy of Education Society, 2006). Western civilization can never be understood when sociology is not given the respect it deserves. Other than teaching on morals and psychology (Brennen, 1999), sociology has aspects of the relations between countries. Essentialists, on the other hand, argue that there is a common knowledge that should be given to children in a systemic manner (Kumar, 2015). Progressivists (Chennault, 2007) argue that education should focus on the child rather than the content of the tutor. Basing the arguments on the philosophers' arguments, there is no philosopher who favors a specific branch of study. Education is meant to help the learners and not the teacher.

One of the crucial steps when it comes to effecting a change in anything is educating the individuals on the importance of the change. Kurt Lewin is a known psychologist as well a professor and a philosopher (DANIEL LOCK Consulting, 2014). He is famous for his change model. Lewin used technical terms as symbolism for what entails change. He used the term unfreeze to mean to educate those concerned on the importance of change. The second is to incorporate and then to refreeze meaning to set the new change as the minimum requirement. Nevertheless, he gave some conditions that must be met before a change is effected with minimal hostility. First, the people to be affected by the change have to be involved in the planning. The same case applies to changes in curriculum. For a successful review of the curriculum, stakeholders from the education department, parents, teachers, and students have to be involved in the whole process. Failure to include the parties in the planning raises the probability of resulting in some resistance. The students, for example, have to be engaged to counter check whether incorporation of sociology in their syllabus would have any effect on them. The teachers as well can never be ignored as they are the ones mandated to pass knowledge to students.

Conclusion

Change should be gradual. It is not possible to dictate on the desired changes regardless of the effects they have on pupils (ACARA, 2012). It is not possible for a curriculum manager gazette all changes at once. They are bound to fail due to technicalities that develop in the process. Similarly, a change should be planned and not a sudden occurrence. Sudden occurrences have consequences in that the possibility of engaging those affected is minimal. It is impossible to review or change the curriculum suddenly with no prior notice on the students and teachers. A change is only healthy if it is effected through the right procedures.

According to learning theories, students have different ways through which they absorb whatever they are taught. Some do it through emotions; others must have the practical part for them to understand and so much more. All these have to be put into consideration when reviewing a curriculum to incorporate sociology. Sociology is more of theory and hence lacks the practical touch preferred by most learners. It is therefore advisable to engage the students and involve them in the planning. That way, they will be prepared psychological and thus no hostility making it easy to effect the change.

References

ACARA. (2012, April 4). Curriculum development process. Retrieved from http://www.acara.edu.au/_.../ACARA_Curriculum_Development_Process_Version_6.0_-_

Brennen, A. M. (1999, August). Philosophy of Education. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/090c/22b802b7b897c789e47aca09e94f8d0fca7d.pdf

Canadian Philosophy of Education Society. (2006). Paideusis: the International Journal of the philosophy of education. Burnaby: Canadian philosophy of education society.

Chennault, R. E. (2007). PRAGMATISM AND PROGRESSIVISM. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1015729.pdf

DANIEL LOCK Consulting. (2014). Kurt Lewin's Change Model. Retrieved from http://daniellock.com/kurt-lewin-change-model/

Gosper, M., & Ifenthaler, D. (2014). Curriculum Models for the 21st Century: Using Learning Technologies in Higher Education. New York, NY: Springer New York.

Kumar, D. (2015). UNIT I PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION. Retrieved from https://www.cukashmir.ac.in/departmentdocs_16/PHILOSOPHY%20AND%20EDUCATION%20-%20Dinesh%20Kumar%20K.pdf

Mann, H., & Filler, L. (1983). Horace Mann on the crisis in education. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

McGraw-Hill education. (2002). Philosophy of education. Retrieved from https://www.mheducation.co.uk/openup/chapters/9780335226702.pdf

Pound, L. (2011). Influencing early childhood education: Key figures, philosophies, and ideas. Berkshire, England: Open University Press.

Romiszowski, A. J. (2016). Designing instructional systems: Decision making in course planning and curriculum design.