How Should Schools Design a Comprehensive Curriculum for Students?

Designing the curriculum is not easy for any academic institution. The curriculum is meant to enlighten students in more than one ways. The responsibility of shaping responsible and knowledgeable citizens of tomorrow is shared by the schools along with the parents. Thus, one needs utmost precision and awareness of current trends and needs to create a wholesome curriculum that imparts value.

Here’s a look at the steps for designing a curriculum for primary schools in India:

1. Principles and purpose

Schools should begin to design the curriculum after establishing their curriculum principles. The principles should reflect the school’s values, mission, pedagogy, context, and needs. The schools should be able to deliver their intent through the curriculum.

2. Enrichment and entitlement

Once the principles and purpose of the curriculum are set, the school must set out the pupil’s entitlement. It means how the school intends to enrich the curriculum by introducing extra-curricular activities, educational visits, and specific entitlements. For example, all students in the school are entitled for two educational visits in year.

3. Developing content of the curriculum

Schools need to arrange the content of the curriculum into a range of interesting themes and projects. It should help the school in delivering its curriculum’s principles and entitlement. A school needs to make strategic decisions about what it covers, how it covers, and how much depth to achieve. The choices and decisions create a school’s structure of curriculum and a long-term plan.

4. Teaching narrative

The next step in designing the curriculum once the long-term goals are decided is o plot the narrative of the projects. The narrative needs to be cohesive and vibrant detailing the starting point for every project showing how it will develop and outline the significant outcomes. The process creates a medium-term plan which can be used as a starting point for the short-tem plans.

5. Resources

The schools need to figure out the resources which they require for infusing life to their curriculum as well as enhance its coherence. An excellent curriculum demands good quality resources. These resources consist of human resources, environments, practical equipment, and teaching resources.

6. Review and evaluate

Once you have established the curriculum, the school will need to review its effect on teaching and learning quite regularly for making any adaptations or changes for betterment. It will help in considering the original curriculum principles and purpose and focus on areas which need correction. The schools also need to take into account the staff at their school and their experience along with the children’s passions, interests, and creativity.

Explore the web for more information and suggestion on designing the curriculum for middle school in Delhi.

Shikha Ahuja works for one of the best education management companies and she is the head of the department for designing curriculum for middle school in Delhi.