Curriculum Development Process Models

By: Anjenette S. Cañete

Curriculum is a dynamic process involving many different people and procedures. In curriculum
development, there are changes that occur that are intended for improvement. To do this, there are
models presented to us from well-known curricularists like Ralph Tyler, Hilda Taba, Galen Saylor, and
William Alexander which would help clarify the process of curriculum development.

1. Ralph Tyler Model:

- One of the best-known curriculum models is the Tyler Model introduced in 1949 by Ralph
Tyler in his classic book Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction in which he asked 4
questions or the Four Basic Principles Also known as Tyler’s Rationale.
- The curriculum development model emphasizes the planning phase. He posited four
fundamental principles which are illustrated as answers to the following questions:
a. What education purposes should schools seek to attain?
b. What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these purposes?
c. How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?
d. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained or not?
● Tyler’s model shows that in curriculum development, the following considerations should be
made:
1. Purposes of the school
2. Educational experiences related to the purposes.
3. Organization of the experiences
4. Evaluation of the experience

2. Hilda Taba Model: Grassroots Approach

- Hilda Taba improved on Tyler’s model.
- Inductive Approach- Teacher’s Approach
- She noted that teachers have major input in curriculum development unlike Tyler Model
who in her opinion was of Administrative Model.
- She argued that there was a definite order in creating a curriculum.
- She believed that teachers, who teach the curriculum, should participate in developing it
which led to the model being called the grass-roots approach.
- As a grassroot approach Taba begins from the bottom, rather than from the top as what
Tyler proposed. She presented seven major steps to her linear model which are the ff:
a. Diagnosis of learner’s needs and expectations of the larger society – The teacher
who is also the curriculum designer starts the process by identifying the needs of
students for whom the curriculum is planned. For example, the majority of students
are unable to think critically.
b. Formulation of learning objectives- After the teacher has identified needs that
require attention, he or she specifies the objectives to be accomplished.
c. Selection of learning contents- The objectives selected or created suggest the
subject matter or content of the curriculum. Not only should the objectives and
 content match, but also the validity and significance of the content chosen needs to
be determined. Example, the relevance and significance of content.
d. Organization of learning contents – A teacher cannot just select content, but must
organize it in some type of sequence, taking into consideration the maturity of
learners, their acadamic achievement, and their interests.
e. Selection of learning experiences – Content must be presented to students and
stduents must be engaged with the content. At this point, the teacher selects
instructional methods that will involve the students with the content.
f. Organization of Learning activities- Just as content must be sequenced and
organized, so must the learning activities. Often, the sequence of the learning
activities is determined by the content. But the teacher needs to keep in mind the
particular students whom he or she will be teaching.
g. Evaluation and means of evaluation- The curriculum planner must determine just
what objectives have been accomplished. Evaluation procedures need to be
designed to evaluate learning outcomes.
h. Checking for balance and sequence- After completing unit by unit and the whole
curriculum, it is necessary to check the overall consistency among its parts or
individual aspects. Every aspect needs to be checked-whether the core ideas are
reflected in the content, whether the suitable learning experiences are planned for
the content and whether the overall achievement of objectives is planned for the
overall progress of the topic.

3. Galen Saylor and William Alexander Curriculum Model

- Galen Saylor and William Alexander (1974) viewed curriculum development as consisting of
four steps.
- Curriculum is “a plan for providing sets of learning opportunities to achieve broad
educational goals and related specific objectives for an identifiable population served by a
single school center.
a. Goals, Objectives and Domains.
▪ This model indicates that curriculum planners begin by specifying the major
educational goals and specific objectives they wish to accomplish. Each major goal
represents a curriculum domain and they advocate 4 major goals or domains:
personal development, human relations, continued learning skills and specialization.
▪ Curriculum planning considers the school vision, mission and goals. It also includes
the philosophy of strong education belief of the school. All of these will eventually
be translated to classroom desired learning outcomes for the learners.
b. Curriculum Designing
▪ Once the goals, objectives, and domains have been established, planners move into
the process of designing the curriculum. Designing a curriculum follows after
appropriate learning opportunities are determined and how each opportunity is
provided.
▪ Curriculum designing is the way curriculum is conceptualized to include the
selection and organization of the content, the selection and organization of learning
 experiences or activities and the selection of the assessment procedure and tools to
measure achieved learning outcomes.
▪ A curriculum design will also include the resources to be utilized and the statement
of the intended learning outcomes.
c. Curriculum Implementation-
▪ A designed curriculum is now ready for implementation.
▪ Curriculum implementing is putting into action the plan which is based on the
curriculum design in the classroom setting or the learning environment.
▪ The teacher is the facilitator of learning and, together with the learners, uses the
curriculum as design guides to what will transpire in the classroom with the end in
view of achieving the intended learning outcomes.
▪ Implementing the curriculum is where action takes place where learning becomes
an active process.
▪ Teachers then prepare instructional plans where instructional objectives are
specified and appropriate teaching methods and strategies are utilized to achieve
the desired learning outcomes among students.
d. Evaluation
▪ The last step of the curriculum model is evaluation.
▪ Curriculum evaluating determines the extent to which the desired outcomes have
been achieved. This procedure is on-going as in finding out the progress of learning
(formative) or the mastery of learning (summative). Along the way, evaluation will
determine the factors that have hindered or supported the implementation.
▪ A comprehensive evaluation using a variety of evaluation techniques is
recommended. It should involve the total educational programme of the school and
the curriculum plan, the effectiveness of instruction and the achievement of
students.
▪ Through the evaluation process, curriculum planner and developers can determine
whether or not the goals of the school and the objectives of instruction have been
met.
▪ It will also pinpoint where improvement can be made and corrective measures,
introduced.
▪ The result of evaluation is very important for decision making of curriculum
planners, and implementors.
How are the models different?

Tyler’s Taba’s Saylor and Alexander

Tyler’s model is different Tyler’s model does not only focus o

from Taba’s model because it goals, objectives, and domains a
starts the steps of curriculum consideration on curriculum
Tyler’s XXXXXXX development from the top. development but also the experience
in relation to the purpose of th
curriculum unlike Saylor an
Alexander’s model.

Taba’s grassroot approach Taba’s model is different from Saylo

begins from the bottom and Alexander’s model becaus
rather than from the top Taba’s model has specified each ste
for which Tyler proposed. toward developing a curriculum unlik
Saylor and Alexander’s model tha
Taba’s XXXXXXXX
directly submits the goals an
objectives to curriculum designin
without identifying the content an
possible experiences that the learner
attain.

The two models are Saylor and Alexander’s model

different from each other is different from Taba’s
for Tyler considers model for it directs the steps
Saylor &
experiences while the to the four major steps but XXXXXXXXXXXX
Alexander
latter does not. Taba’s give attention to
anything that may interfere
the learning of the students.

The experience in school The model has specified each The model identifies the domain
and its purpose has been step essential in designing a objectives, and goals and follows b
given attention. curriculum. curriculum designing, implementing
Comments
and evaluating which are the fou
major step in curriculum
development.