Evaluating the Alignment of the Intended and Enacted School-based Social Studies Curricula Using Seitz’s Methodological Framework

This study determined whether Seitz’s Methodological Framework could be used to evaluate the alignment between the intended and enacted school-based curricula of Araling Panlipunan 3 or Social Studies 3 in the Philippine setting. In the intended curriculum, the cognitive processes called for by the learning competencies were determined using the Delphi Method while for the enacted curriculum, data was gathered using classroom observations, teacher survey, lesson plans, and teacher interview. The results of the study showed that for the content dimension, there was 100% alignment between the intended and the enacted curricula, and for the cognitive process dimension, there was only 57.89% alignment between the intended and the enacted curricula. Through this study, the usefulness of Seitz’s Methodological Framework was examined using the following parameters: process, achievement of goal, and ease of use or practicality.

Developing curriculum design for the 21st century – Balancing the need of character building and meeting other emerging needs of the future

21st century is a challenging time both in the technological sphere as well as in education and social front. The advent of Industrial Revolution 4.0 with the seemingly unstoppable rapidly advancing and proliferation of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of things, 3D printing infiltrating our everyday living brought forward the need to keep abreast of latest inventions as it was repeatedly emphasized that future jobs hinges on knowledge and skills in these inventions and skills. However, surfacing at the same time is the changes in the social fabrics and social cohesion as well as family values and belief systems. Fast changes creates more social inequality and confusion in our traditional value system. Society is increasingly plague with dichotomy and conflicts, the line between just and injustice as well as rights and wrongs is blurring. As education is preparing the learners for the future, educators grapple with a future which is rather unknown and try to figure out the perceived needs of this century ranging from technological skills, cognitive skills, learning skills, literacy skills, life skills, social skills to intrapersonal skills. There is an urgent need to determine our priority, how should we package all these knowledge and skills into school curriculum? Should the curriculum design be more humanistic or retain the largely behaviouristic one embraced in the last century. Competence based curriculum proposed by UNESCO IBE seems to be a preferred curriculum design in many countries. Competence based curriculum which has been used widely in technical courses is widening its scope to include values and ethics. Could values and character building be stated sufficiently in the form of competence? It is my view that character building and values is best look upon from the practice and ethics perspective and this requires strategic and deep thinking. A thinking based curriculum cannot be void of these character building and values components, it should be enhanced by them. Core competences required to fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals in the UNESCO 2030 agenda has an undertone of values and ethics and should be the focus of the curriculum design of the 21st century. Truly in this century the need to develop the future generation of learning to be, learning to live together, learning to know, and learning to do, the four pillars uphold by UNESCO is so much relevant and needed. There is a need to harmonize humanistic curriculum design with behaviouristic curriculum design as we embrace transformation in the way we do things and we live our everyday life brought about through Industrial Revolution 4.0. We need to look inward spiritually and to develop the inner being so that we can live in peace with ourselves, with others and make decisions for the common good of all. Any content oriented curriculum do not need to be void of character building if we adopt pedagogies requiring students to think through ethical dilemmas and propose best course of action in the face of conflicting choices (Chowning & Fraser, 2007; Kelley, & Knowles, 2016). At the same time, future curriculum need to break away from the present subject based design but to look beyond, moving into more multidisciplinary, trans-disciplinary where the lines between subjects are blurring, where big ideas are being explored and where learning can be more holistic and meaningful.

The Essential Ingredients of a Future Curriculum Design

The advent of industrialization and the advancement of technology at a rapid rate has been a concern for countries that aim to meet the demands of globalization and future job markets. The stability of a country’s economy is the aspiration of politicians as opposed to equipping individuals with survival skills to live in a sustainable world as human beings capable of solving problems. What are the essential ingredients for our future generation? The curriculum should produce individuals who can solve problems in the future regardless of the circumstances or a generation equipped with knowledge for future jobs, which are non-existent now. The targeted product should be a human being who is able to balance the demands of modernization through knowledge of artificial intelligence or a holistic individual who can balance mind and matter to thrive in a sustainable world for the common good of our planet and its citizens. This paper attempts to study the right ingredients needed for a future curriculum design by examining what is lacking now and recommending a design suited for sustainable economic and ecological living.

Innovations in Program Evaluation to Improve School Leadership: How Can We Perform One?

This paper describes a number of innovative approaches in conducting a program evaluation for school leadership. It also discusses the factors driving program evaluation innovations and the factors enabling innovations to occur in program evaluation. Furthermore, the paper defines what qualifies as innovations in program evaluation and the criteria that should be met to be considered innovative. The article ends with a detailed discussion on some of the program evaluation innovations and how to apply program evaluation innovations.

Parents’ Beliefs on Philippine Educational and Curriculum Practices: What Educators Can Learn from Them

Parents are part of the school community. However, schools have neglected to tap parents’ opinions and perceptions of new programs for implementation (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2009). Upon this background, Dodd (1988) conducted her research to gain a better understanding of the curriculum and practices parents favored, including their underlying beliefs about teaching and learning high school English. This study replicated Dodd’s (1998) research to explore the understanding of educational practices that Filipino parents prefer in the light of curriculum innovations, particularly the K to 12 Junior High School English subject. Key informant interview (KII) was used as the main data-gathering technique following Dodd’s (1988) interview protocol. The KII information was subjected to thematic analysis to gather the major ideas that are essential in answering the research questions. The findings revealed that parents’ beliefs are based on their own and their children’s experiences and their children’s well-being. Thus, their approval of the curriculum and educational practices are largely dependent on how these will affect and benefit their children based on their understanding of policies and practices. They further place a significant value on teachers’ role in the implementation of the curriculum as facilitators of learning and academic leaders who could help their children maximize their potential. Parents can also help identify problems concerning curriculum implementation, teachers’ roles and duties, teacher-parent and teacher-student relationships, and school environment. In this regard, home-school partnerships can be strengthened to gain parents’ support and obtain valuable insights on how curriculum and educational practices affect their children. Therefore, cultivating parent involvement is ultimately beneficial for schools as this provides essential feedback on the introduction and implementation of curricular reforms and the improvement of practices.

An OBE-centered Development Procedure for a B. S. Architecture Curriculum: Insights on its Application

This paper provides a report on a curriculum design procedure developed by the authors from an understanding of the prescriptions of Outcome-Based Education, particularly as discussed by William Spady (1994). The procedure was applied to the revision of an undergraduate architecture program in the Philippines. The procedure is described and insights on the OBE procedure that arose from faculty discussions during its implementation were identified. The insights centered on the quality of appropriateness of OBE to an architecture curriculum and to the curricula of arts-based disciplines in general.

Evidence-Based Medicine: An Overview of Available Evaluation Instruments

The paradigm shift to evidence-based medical education was introduced many years back, driven mainly by the voluminous amount of medical literature available to both the medical student and practitioner as well. In essence, it provided a process for critically appraising available information for the purpose of obtaining the “best available evidence.” Presently, as we continue to teach evidence-based medicine (EBM), we find it most useful to evaluate its effectiveness by devising ways to evaluate the performance not only of the students but, of medical practitioners and teachers of EBM as well. Performance evaluation of students involve evaluating the ability to ask answerable questions, perform a systematic search of literature, critically appraise the evidence and, integrate evidence and patient’s values. A step further is to ask whether what we have learned has been translated into better clinical outcomes. Finally, we evaluate the teaching of EBM. This would necessitate much introspection as teachers ask themselves whether they have taught EBM effectively. Several evaluation instruments have already been developed over the years, but studies have shown that better tools still need to be developed.

The Power of EFL Teacher’s Beliefs to Drive Practice

In a test-driven instructional development such as that in Indonesia, teachers spend most of his time, energy, and thoughts to strive for his students’ excellent performance in the final test. This is due to the indicator used to judge the success of a school. One particular teacher of English is, however, different. I have collected data on his class and conducted an in-depth interview with him. The results of data analysis revealed that the teacher is creative and innovative as he strives to help his students of different levels and types of abilities to make as high achievements as they can. In other words, he strives to enable their students to reach their full potential development. He is also very productive, with more than 180 books as his works and creative and innovative in his teaching, enabling his students to speak English fluently in communicative situations evidenced in their performance in the final test of speaking witnessed by the students’ parents. This particular teacher is a rare asset in the development of English language teaching. More importantly, he confessed that his strong beliefs in students have driven him to do his best to facilitate his students’ learning. This is in line with the findings of numerous research studies. This implies the importance of developing and strengthening the teachers’ beliefs through redesigning the English language teacher education curriculum, both pre-service and in-service.

Curriculum Evaluation and Transformation: Policies, Perspectives and Challenges

To date, the vast majority of developmental programs have had to be satisfied with assessing students’ learning within the confines of their programs. Although there were opportunities for indirect assessments, with graduate surveys or surveys of supervisors/employers, response rates tended to be low. Even when responses were received, they often came from people with little expertise in learning, making it difficult for educators to translate the feedback into actionable program improvements. The United States (US) Air Force has, however, decided to attempt what other learning institutions have not – arguably cannot. It is attempting to leverage its competency-based approach to performance assessment to enhance program evaluation. Because of the closed nature of this learning environment, where students graduate from US Air Force programs and go on to work in US Air Force jobs, there is a unique opportunity to assess learning as it is actually being applied in the workplace. Leveraging a competency-based force-development paradigm, the US Air Force has constructed a “foundational competencies” model for common knowledge, skills and abilities, complemented by occupational competencies specific to individual jobs, positions and specialties. These competencies are mapped to performance descriptions that determine levels of mastery. These performance descriptions are, in turn, mapped to rubrics that guide performance evaluations. Shortcomings in performance can be identified, quantified, and fed back to the developmental program for potential program modification or, for special updates to the force, to ensure Airmen perform their duties properly and achieve desired levels of mastery. This approach has been approved but is not yet fully implemented. The new Foundational Competencies Model has been developed and validated through a criterion-sampling methodology. In addition, many technical careers have created “occupational competencies” models delineated the specific knowledge, skills and abilities specific to their jobs. The full range of supporting assessment mechanisms, however, are still in the process of being designed and dispatched to facilitate ease of use and centralize data-gathering. This article overviews the US Air Force’s approach and its progress to date.

Factors that Shape and Determine the Social Studies Curriculum in Philippine Basic Education (1980s–2010)

This study analyzes the process of curriculum development in Social Studies in Philippine basic education from 1980 to 2010 and argues that the curriculum, as a product, is shaped and determined by political contexts and results from the deliberations and decisions of a group of people tasked to craft it. Analyzing primary documents such as memos, reports, curriculum documents, and teacher’s guides, and drawing from interviews with curriculum writers and consultants, this study is able to identify socio-political factors that influence the articulation of curriculum objectives and content. Teachers, consultants, and staff from the Department of Education, who constitute the curriculum writing team play different roles and representations as the curriculum document is produced. In the process, they each wield levels of power in influencing the curriculum.