ONLINE ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC:

KERALA CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK

SUBMITTED BY,

MEENU S

B.Ed. ENGLISH OPTIONAL

REG NO: 16514300008

GCTE, THYCAUD.

INTRODUCTION

Education is considered as a powerful tool for liberation. It

equips a society to encounter all kinds of suppression. It also

enables liberation from one’s personal lethargy and

prohibitions imposed by traditions and superstitions. We

should ensure an educational system which enlightens our

vision. With these broad objectives in view, an action plan for

strengthening the school curriculum in Kerala has been

undertaken. School curriculum has to be designed and

developed in the light of past experiences, the general world

and visions for the future.

As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults. A curriculum is prescriptive, and is based on a more general syllabus which merely specifies what topics must be understood and to what level to achieve a particular grade or standard. In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses and their content offered at a school or university. A curriculum framework is an organized plan or set of standards or learning outcomes that defines the content to be learned in terms of clear, definable standards of what the student should know and be able to do.

Content

The new curriculum envisions the aim and methodology of

learning as construction of knowledge. Learning, according to

the constructivist paradigm is a process of constructing

knowledge. Every experience of life is the cause of developing a

new idea. The ideas acquired in this manner are added to

previously acquired/shaped ideas. This means that the child

constructs knowledge by interacting with his/her environment

continuously. This is a natural and continuous process. Thus:

●learning is construction of knowledge.

●learning involves problem solving.

●learning is the product of a natural process.

The curriculum should also enable students to:

● Think logically

●Understand the world

●Promote aesthetic sense

● Maintain communicative efficiency

● Develop the ability to work and take part in the economic

process

Kerala’s effort to develop a curriculum framework is a turning point in the history of the state. It is for the first time that the state is making such an exercise and it is rooted on the ideas articulated in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) -2005. Whenever curriculum reforms were taken up at the national level, the state responded to them in the past. After the formation of NCERT in 1961, Kerala has been following all the curriculum reform efforts initiated at the national level. For instance, the state initiated the process for reforming its curriculum following the National Curriculum Framework -1975.The state also took steps to implement NPE- 1986 and the Programme of Action (1992). It was in 1997, that an effort for the formulation of a comprehensive curriculum focusing on the process of teaching and learning was attempted in Kerala. Rooted in the emerging methodology and strategies, an integrated method of learning, a process- oriented-activity-based approach, viewing learner as a constructor of knowledge, recognizing the role of society in knowledge construction and the idea of continuous and comprehensive evaluation came into effect. However, the state’s curriculum reform effort gained further impetus with the formulation of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) -2005. Kerala could display the active working model of a learning process that has its foundation in the principles of Constructivism and a learner-centered, activity-based and process-oriented pedagogy. Based on the National Curriculum Framework 2005, efforts to revise

the Kerala School Curriculum began in August; 2006.The National Curriculum Framework 2005 sowed the

seeds for many reforms in the field of education in India. Subsequently, NCERT prepared textbooks for various subjects based on NCF 2005. Later the, Kerala Curriculum Framework 2007 was formed and the curriculum up to high school level was revised. The Right to Education Act of 2009, Prof. P.O.J.Labba Committee Report related to Higher Secondary Education and Dr. P.K.Abdul Aziz Committee Report related to a comprehensive curriculum revision - all pointed towards the necessity of curriculum reform. The beginning of Higher Secondary Sector was a distinctive stage in the history of education in Kerala. Higher Secondary education became widespread and popular with the delinking of Pre-degree course from the Department of Higher Education and making it apart of the General Education Department. The Directorate of Higher Secondary Education was formed in 1990 in Kerala and the higher secondary course was started by upgrading 31 Government High Schools. Initially, textbooks as per the Pre-degree syllabus of Calicut University and some of the NCERT textbooks were used for Higher Secondary Education. In the 1990s, a new curriculum with comprehensive changes in learning and pedagogy was introduced at the primary level. Based on this activity-based, process-oriented and learner-centred curriculum, Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) and

grading system was implemented. The idea of constructivism put forth by NCF 2005 is the basis for the Kerala School Curriculum2013 too. In constructivism, learning is the process of the construction of knowledge. Subsequently, this method was introduced at the Higher Secondary level too. However, a comprehensive revision of curriculum had not been implemented at the higher secondary level, though textbooks for certain subjects, Sourcebooks and Edumates for all subjects were prepared by SCERT. To ensure quality education at the Higher Secondary level, the Government continues to implement several Comprehensive Teacher Transformation Programmes. Subject-based teacher clusters help to discuss the problems experienced in the teaching-learning process and to plan learning activities. The first phase of the revision process is culminated by the publication of the Kerala Curriculum Framework 2007. It has been made a reality through the process detailed below: • The plan of action for curriculum revision was prepared and was subject to the Consideration of the NCERT and the Kerala State Government. • The Malayalam version of National Curriculum Framework 2005 was printed and distributed . • A two-day workshop comprising curriculum committee members, experts in the field of education, representatives of the state advisory committee for

education and SCERT faculty was conducted to form the plan of action .subject areas were fixed and 14 subject groups were formed. A 30-member core group and 14 focus groups with 230 members were proposed to be formed. • The first meeting of the core group that was formed by the Kerala Government was held at SCERT. A combined workshop for all the 14 focus groups was planned. The curriculum revision process was sanctioned. • A three-day workshop was conducted, including the focus group members and the core group members. Dr. M. A. Khadar, the head of the curriculum group of the NCERT, Dr. Anita Rampal, from the curriculum division of Delhi University and Dr. Manjula Rao from the evaluation department of the Regional Institute of Education attended the workshop. • A three-day workshop was organized to form a general approach for curriculum revision. • A three-day seminar was organized for a detailed study of the problems in different fields. • A meeting of DIET principals was held to unify the district level activities. • A web portal titled www.kerala.gov.in was formed to facilitate interaction with the public. • An interim evaluation of the activities of the focus groups was conducted. • The position papers were brought for discussion in a three-day workshop attended by curriculum committee members and the members of the core group. • Based on the suggestions in the position papers, the Kerala Curriculum Framework was formed.

• This Framework was presented for discussion and approval before the Kerala society. As a part of this, the main suggestions therein were presented at the district, panchayat, municipality and school levels. The suggestions made in these discussions have been consolidated at the district and state levels. On the basis of these suggestions as well the curriculum framework was prepared. Thus the curriculum revision programme in Kerala was launched as part of an endeavor to strengthen the Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary school education in Kerala.

Many National study reports as well as approaches, from the Dr. Radhakrishnan Commission Report (constituted soon after the Independence), to the National Curriculum Framework 2005, have influenced the school curriculum revision of our state. The Secondary Education Commission headed by Dr.Lakshmanaswami Muthaliar explicated the importance of secondary education. The report entitled 'Education and National Development' submitted by the Commission led by Dr.D.S.Kothari brought under study, various stages of education from the primary level to the higher education level. The 10+2+3 pattern was first proposed by this Commission. The National Policy on Education, 1986 approved this pattern. It was on the basis of this pattern that higher secondary education came into existence in Kerala. The 1990sthus saw a shift from the teacher centred

curriculum to learner centred as well as activity-based curriculum.

As per the rules of the RTE Act, the idea of learning outcomes was introduced in the Kerala School Curriculum 2013.A learning process based on constructivism is the foundation of the curriculum. Areas such as awareness of humanitarian and constitutional values, attitudes that strengthen social life and growing social commitment are the prime concerns of the curriculum. Some of the aims of the curriculum:

● is to present perspectives on consistent

development and create a comprehensive awareness about environment,

● is to establish a democratic approach through

democratic platforms.

●The curriculum must be-activity oriented.

● Respectful attitude to one's cultural heritage and

history is one of the aims envisioned by the curriculum.

●the values and objectives that are upheld by our

Constitution have to be reflected in the curriculum and all the activities must develop self-confidence, work experience and self-sufficiency in the learner.

● Learning outcomes are the aims to be achieved by

the learner during the various stages of school education. Precise and accurate statements based on the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values etc. to be acquired by a learner in a particular subject-area are called Learning outcomes.

Kerala School Curriculum (2013) - Chief characteristicsof the curriculum

It is learner-centred, process-oriented, activity- based and value oriented.

It gives stress to the learning outcomes that a learner imbibes at the cognitive, social and emotional levels.

It lays stress on the skills to be attained by the learner in values and attitude.

It is based on the philosophy of constructivism.

It gives teachers freedom to choose and employ

logical and varied learning strategies for the transaction of curriculum. It is flexible to implement various teaching -

learning strategies recognizing the learning outcomes, nature of the content and the different levels of the learners. Discovery learning, Concept attainment model, Inductive method, Meta cognition, Cooperative learning, Collaborative learning,

Reflective learning, and giving opportunities to individuals and group learning etc. are taken into consideration.

It ensures free and universal education to all

learners. It is comprehensive and takes into consideration

the various stages from the pre-primary level to the higher secondary level.

It is used as an effective tool for the transaction

of various subjects. It designs innovative learning strategies as well

as assessment activities for children with special educational needs. It ensures a Continuous and Comprehensive

Evaluation (CCE) focused on learning outcomes. It stresses Health and Physical Education, Art

Education and Work Education.

It help to prepare at the higher secondary level, textbooks that are the need of the hour.

It lays stress on Right-based Education in the light of Right to Education Act, 2009.

Itprovides an opportunity to the learner to

experience necessary safety, care and security both at school and in the classroom by raising the teacher to the level of a mentor.

It lays stress on the Code of Professional Ethics for schoolteachers.

It helps to acquire new learning skills which

enable the learner to face contemporary challenges. It is intended to inculcate human values in the

learners. It ensures equity and equality among the

learners.

It ensures the harmony of head, heart and hand and aims at a comprehensive development envisioned to make learning natural. The striking features of the curriculum transaction approach are: i. Activity - based ii. Process- related iii. Ensure learning iv. Focus to attain learning outcomes v. Environment- friendly vi. Highlights development areas vii. Suitable for the nature of the learner viii. Integrates learning and assessment

Conclusion Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which the knowledge, skills, and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through teaching, training, or research. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of others, but may also be autodidactic. Any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts may

be considered educational. Education is commonly divided into stages such as preschool, primary school, secondary school and then college, university or apprenticeship. Therefore there is a general demand to explain the social aims of a curriculum. A student who completes his/her school education is expected to be able to face any real life situation boldly and should be equipped to get employed at the time of completion of his course. This is the purpose of general education and not a mere internalization of academic subjects.

REFERENCE 1. www.scert.kerala.gov.in 2. Teachereducationindia.blogspot.com 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curriculum_framework 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education#Curriculum