unit 6:curriculum implementation - Commonwealth of Learning

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• Communication to schools regarding academic
requirements is easy, since the Ministry of Education is
directly involved.
• Learning materials can be mass-produced, making them
less expensive for both producers and consumers.
• Institutions can be well staffed and richly serviced
because they draw from a national pool of expertise and
resources.
Disadvantages of the Centralised Pattern of Curriculum Design
Some of the disadvantages of centralising the development of
the curriculum are listed below.
• The process takes a long time before the final document
is produced.
• The design is insensitive to the needs of some groups
within the country.
• There are coordination and communication problems
when parastatals are involved in curriculum design.
• There is limited participation by various members of the
community, resulting in little commitment during the
implementation stage.
• It stifles creativity and initiative on the part of the
teacher and other community members.
• Generally, the centralised pattern stresses content,
mainly knowledge, at the expense of the development of
attitudes and skills. There is a scramble for certificates,
with little regard for the development and demonstration
of productive skills.
Self-Assessment 2
Give the composition and the roles of members of the
curriculum design group at the cluster level or similar levels in
your country. In Zambia and Malawi, a cluster level is referred
to as a zonal level.
Possible answers to this activity are provided at the end of this
unit.
Decentralised Pattern of Curriculum Design
The decentralised pattern of curriculum design occurs when
the local authorities or individual states draft their own
curriculum. This type of designing is common in developed
countries. However, some developing countries with large
populations and states, such as Nigeria, use the decentralised
pattern of curriculum design.
Module 13, Unit 5: Designer of the Curriculum 44