(According to Tanner and Tanner as cited in Marsh, 1986), A curriculum which is freedom from teacher dominant, freedom from the millstone of subject matter, freedom from adult imposed curriculum goals.”
The child centered curriculum is the type of curriculum in which the learners’ needs, interests, mental level and talents are given focused while making a curriculum. In child centre curriculum the child has a central role to play and the teacher facilitates the learning process. Teacher’s role is that of a facilitator in learning and development.
According to Dewey (as cited in Ornstein & Leuine, 1984), Child center curriculum is the type of curriculum which combines the subject matter with the needs and interest of the children equally. This concept was developed by Rousseau (as cited in) that the child should be taught to live. Some other proponents of this theory say that curriculum should be developed according to the mental level, age level and talents of the students.
Progressive educators believe that when the interest and needs of learners were incorporate into the curriculum, intrinsic motivation resulted. This does not mean that child centre curriculum is dictated by the whims of the learner. It is also believe that learning is more successfully if the interest and needs of the learner are taken into account.
According to Hawes & Hawes as cited in Aggarwal (1997), “An education theory or system that emphasizes the pupil and his or her individual characteristics as central in conducting instruction instead of focusing on subject matter, external authority and educational requirements. Curriculum is constructed according to the pupil interests and needs.”
According to Sidhu (1988), A curriculum which fulfill the child’s present and future needs his interest and aptitudes and difficulties, have to dominant even the most significant aspect or actively of the educational progress.
The above definitions emphasizes that a curriculum that everything has to be made to suit the child. Every detail of the curriculum worked out in relation to the expected responses of the child. Simply a curriculum is meant for the child’s uplift and welfare and it is subordinate to him. Child centre curriculum stresses the needs for taking care of the child its growth and development. It requires individualization of approach so that teacher must study each child carefully, keep observation over a period of time, study the growth and development in sensory motor area, intellectual area emotional area, language area and so on.
b)
It is obvious that all the approaches to instruction are intended to help the learner to achieve their goals. The foundation of learner centered approach or child centre approach to instruction is cognitive views as well as constructionist approach to learning (Eggan & Kauchak, 1999). Constructionist approach is a view of learning in which the learners take actively part in the construction of their knowledge (Woolfolk, 1998).
Child centre learning is based on following strategies.
Experience learning:
It is learning approach in which the learner learns from their experiences and subsequent reflections on their experiences (Arends 2004, Long, McBeath & Hobert 1995). These reflections help the students to develop the meta-cognitive skills. These reflective skills help the students to think about their needs, goals, weakness and strengths during their learning process. The students often select their best work and they explain why the work is valuable and important to them (Santos, 2005).
Cooperative learning:
It is the arrangement of the learners in such a way that the students work with each other cooperatively for the achievement of a common goal. These students are put in the cooperative learning groups on the basis of mixed ability group (Woolfolk, 1998).
Inquiry Learning:
It is a teaching and learning approach in which the teachers’ present a problem or a puzzle and the students solve the problem by gathering relevant data and drawing the conclusion from the data (Woolfolk, 1998, Arend, 2004). It develops the problem solving skills critical thinking skills and helps the students to evaluation the solution of a problem (Kindsvotter, Wilen & Ishler as cited in Woolfolk, 1998).
Discussion learning:
Discussion is made of teaching and learning process the students are engaged in a verbal interchange and expression of thought on a particular subject. This teaching strategy helps the students to develop interchange of ideas among the students. It is a strategy to stimulate higher level thinking skills involves all the thinking skills such as application, analysis, evaluation and create something (Bloom as cited in Woolfolk, 1998, Gage & Berliner, 1992).
Discovery learning:
It is a child centre approach in which the learners actively participate in the process and discover their own ideas and derive their own meaning of a problem or a situation (Arend, 2004) It is a strategy that provides students with information which they use to construct their knowledge. The learning ensures the autonomy and initiation of the students (Eggan & Kauchak, 1999).
Individual learning:
Individual learning is also referred to a independent learning. Self directed study and self teaching related to any problem an individual undertakes to improve himself/ herself. This form of instruction can be adopted to meet the specific needs of the students. This depends on the varying of the time available for the learning and the varying of learning activities and instruction material (Eggan & Kauchak, 1999).
Reasons for each approach
On the bases of above learners’ centre approaches if it is compared with the scenario of Pakistan schools there is not any approach like above learner centre approaches. In very few schools they implement these above mentioned approaches (Karachi Grammar School, Aga Khan Schools etc). But majority of Pakistani population are getting education from Government Schools and other private schools. They all follow the same traditional approaches such as teachers’ dominant approaches. Teachers are not providing facilities to the students to enjoy the learning by experiencing the situation. Schools are not allowing students to involve in learning process. But in experiential learning learners’ do their best when they are personally involve. In real context of Pakistan schools there is not any such type of experiential learning.
One of the unique method in learning is cooperative learning. In schools environment there is not any concept of cooperative learning. Teachers are dominant and teach according to their will. These types of learning help students to learn easily. Such type of learning also develops high order thinking skills and deep thinking within the given subject.
In the real scenario of Pakistan schools, there is not any concept of inquiry learning. That student solves their problems on a given situation or puzzle. This type of learning develops analytical skills. Again, most of the schools do not emphasis such type of learning.
Discussion learning very few schools in Pakistan uses this approach but majority are not. In this method, students interchange of ideas among the students and learn easily. Such types of learning stimulate high order thinking. Unfortunately, in Pakistani context there is no concept of such learning.
The schools are not encouraging students to actively participate in the learning process and discover their own ideas. Very few schools may encourage the discovery learning. But majority of students are getting education from Govt. schools. They do not encourage such learning.
The Pakistan schools are not encouraging such type of learning because in this approach teachers just help the students to develop the independent learning skills and habits among the students. Teachers are not giving any chance to the students to increase their skills and habits.
By the above approaches in real practice it could be seen that in Pakistani schools the curriculum is not child centre. It is teacher centre curriculum because students are not focus in teaching and learning process. The dominant figure in the teaching and learning process is the teacher.
C)
To make present curriculum into child centre curriculum it is important to change the content, teaching methods and evaluation methods of existing system.
The teaching method which is frequently used in Pakistan schools is lecture method. According to Sidhu (1988), lecture method importing information through a speech. It is the method of depicting everything in words. The speaker speaks and listeners listen. It is one way traffic, like flow of ideas. The speaker gives ideas and listeners take them. Teachers are dominant what else he has knowledge he pour into learners’ head.
To make the teaching method into child centre curriculum the education system should initiate learner centre approaches. Marsh cited as in Brady & Kennedy (1999), Identifies these teaching methods to make the child centre curriculum: discussion, demonstration, problem solving/ inquiry, role playing/ simulation and independent self directed learning. These methods are very essential because all the students are not learning efficiently by the same method. These methods are improving students high order thinking. These higher order thinking skills involves all the high level thinking skills such as application, analysis; evaluation and create of something.
Application:
At the application level of thinking the student use their acquire knowledge to solve a general problem. Students put various sources of information together and apply this to understanding and address problem.
Analysis:
At the analysis level of thinking the students break a concept into different parts to see it form different dimensions. Students can use concepts and information to critique statements to understand complex situations.
Evaluation:
The students at the evaluation level of thinking can give their judgement and decisions about a situation or an issue.
Create:
The students can integrate various sorts of information together to formulate original explanations of situations.
These learning approaches encourage the learners with different learning styles to construct their own meaning of a situation and apply these learning in new situations to solve they confronted in the new situation. By the above reasons it can be easily conclude that the teaching method should be change and adopt the learner centre approaches.
In the scenario of Pakistan schools the performance is checked once a year. It is checked through tests but test can not determine the exist outcomes of the students. According to Brady & Kennedy (1999), evaluation involves making judgements of worth based on the information provided by the assessment process. These judgment leads to decision making relating to the student, the curriculum or the both. Evaluation should be done throughout the year, not once a year and used other tools to check the students’ performances. The following tools are suggested to evaluate for learners centre curriculum.
Anecdotal records:
These involve the systematic recording of every day observations of students (Brady & Kennedy (1999). By this method it can be easily judge the students’ performance because it can be done on the daily basis (Brady & Kennedy, 1999).
Checklist:
Involve the identification of students’ behaviour that can be observed and used as evidence to determine the achievement of outcomes. These type of assessment helpful in record keeping approach and encourage fragmented approaches to teaching (Brady & Kennedy, 1999).
Portfolio:
Collection of students’ work or evidences of students’ work those demonstrate learning. It is often used by teachers to report to students and parents and by school exemplify to teachers and parents work samples that demonstrate particular outcomes (Brady & Kennedy, 1999). This is a new method to evaluate students’ performance. It also help teacher to show the students performance to their parents.
Dairies:
It involves record of completed activities that may be kept by the students, teachers or both. By this method a student can be able to judge his own performance in the class (Brady & Kennedy, 1999).
Above tools should be used to check the students’ performance. These tools are useful for learners centre curriculum because by using these tools for evaluation every student is involved directly. Traditional method of evaluation should be replaced into the above modern evaluation tools.
The content in the present curriculum selected only on the ground of the interest of the government, on the basis of the tradition and beliefs and history of the majority of the people who are involved in the curriculum development. The curriculum includes different branches of knowledge, known as subject like language, mathematical and subjects are introduced according to different levels like psychology is introduced in higher secondary classes since a period but the growing needs and changing of the age is not focused. The content is equated directly with knowledge. Many educators believe that content consist only of the facts, concepts and generalisation or the knowledge related to a particular subject or theme (Print, 1997). While the child- centered curriculum provides only a small content to help the child to carry out any activity or to solve the problem in which he is involved and it is necessarily the child’s needs and interests oriented. For the child centre curriculum the content should be activity based. Content should be full of avidities, students love to do such activities and when they do their own they learn easily and quickly. The students learn the content themselves there is need of teacher only to facilitate the structure. The activity base content is more appropriate for the student understanding.
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