Planning, implementation and evaluation

Whatever the syllabus that is chosen, it has to take into account the needs of the learners and their particular learning context
Policy
1. The first stage (policy making) attempts to provide a general statement of curriculum philosophy and may be preceded by some kind of fact-finding stage
2. National curriculum policies tend to be enshrined in official reports and policy statements
3. Absence of a concrete statement about policy does not indicate that goals are totally missing. Dubin and Olshtain (1986)
4. Curriculum policy of private language schools is inferable from their publicity
Needs analysis
1. The selection and ordering of items in a communicative syllabus would benefit from knowing what the learner needed to do with the language
2. There are at least two ways of interpreting the idea of needs. Brindley (1989)
  1. The first is based on what could be termed the "narrow" or "product oriented" interpretation of needs
    1. Seen solely in terms of the language learners will have to use in a particular communicative situation
  2. The second interpretation of needs known as the "broad" or "processed oriented
    1. Sees needs primarily in terms of the needs of the learner as an individual in the learning situation
3. Distinction is also phrased as a difference between objective and subjective needs
  1. Objective needs can be assessed by finding out facts about what language the students use or will use in their particular language-using contexts
  2. Subjective needs are derived from finding out the student´s opinions, attitudes and learning style
4. TENOR (Teaching English for No Obvious Reason) to identify learner´s motivational, attitudinal and cognitive needs
5. It is in ESP (English for Special Purposes) and EAP (English for Academic Purposes) courses that the need for needs analysis is particularly acute
  1. Questions to discover learner´s special purposes are:
    1. Who is the learner? Information regarding learner´s age, sex, nationality, mother tongue, etc.
    2. Purpose and domain: What is the reason for needing English?
    3. In what kind of settings? Academic, formal or informal
    4. With what kind of people? Co-equals, superiors, strangers
    5. By what means? Written or spoken?
    6. For what communicative skills and functions does the learner need English? Socialising, negotiating
    7. To what degree of proficiency? Elementary, fluent, native speaker
6. A curriculum that aims to take into account learner´s needs, narrow and broad, will need to provide opportunities for both consultation and negotiation
Goal Setting
1. General statements of the intended outcomes of the programme
2. The goals may be derived from educational, philosophical and political beliefs and are an extension of the general policy motivating the curriculum reform
3. Goal statements tend to be very broad and general
4. They can be more concrete in the form of objectives
  1. Objectives are typically stated in terms of either knowledge, or behaviours/skill/competencies
5. Qualities of objectives that specify behavioural outcomes (sometimes called performance objective) Richards (1990)
  1. They must:
    1. Unambiguously describe the behaviour to be performed
    2. Describe the conditions under which the performance will be expected to occur
    3. State a standard of acceptable performance
6. Skill-based objectives
  1. Statements of ability in a particular language skill, but without reference to specific situations of tasks
  2. Coursebooks often provide a statement of objectives framed in terms of a standard of proficiency to be reached over a given time period
Materials choice and design
1. In some situations teachers design schemes of work based on the coursebook, or whatever other materials are available
2. In the case there are not published materials, teachers may base instruction around materials they produce themselves
3. The decision as to which coursebook to use may be made by the policy makers, administrators, or teachers
  1. Coursebooks are chosen according to their degree of fit with curriculum goals and objectives
    1. Criteria for coursebook choice: Sheldon (1988)
      1. Rationale
      2. User definition
      3. Layout/Graphics
      4. Accessibility
      5. Selection/Grading
      6. Appropriacy
      7. Sufficiency
      8. Cultural bias
      9. Educational validity
      10. Flexibility
      11. Guidance
4. Not all materials used in classrooms come from published ELT sources
  1. Teachers commonly use authentic materials and also write their own material
    1. Dubin and Olshtain´s advice to teachers involved in a joint materials writing project:
      1. Conceptualization
      2. Objectives
      3. Congruence
      4. Internal format
      5. Sequencing/Grading
      6. Ancillary
      7. Evaluation
Methodology
1. One of the most important issues in curricular innovation is its effect on classroom practice, that is on Methodology
2. Methodology can be characterized as the activities, tasks and learning experience selected by the teacher in order to achieve learning, and how these are used within the teaching/learning process
3. Methodology refers to what the teacher does in class
Managing curriculum innovation
1. Curriculum innovation is:
  1. A change of syllabus, or of coursebook, or the introduction of different timetables of new technology
2. Stages in implementing a curriculum change. White (1988) quotes Trump´s (1967) model for a five step sequence:
  1. Analyse co-operatively reasons for present practices
  2. Discover what people want that is different from what they are doing
  3. Make tentative decisions about the priority of proposed changes
  4. Plan the innovation carefully in terms of teacher preparation, procedures to be followed and the anticipated effects of the innovation
  5. Determine the time and techniques for evaluation
Evaluation
1. It is a wider concept than simply testing
2. Sharp (1990) points out: Tests may provide diagnostic evidence about student´s work, but evaluation is meant to provide a basis for future decisions about course planning and implementation
3. Evaluation of the curriculum is usually thought of as involving two types:
  1. On-going (or formative)
    1. Brown (1989) argues that: the on-going program evaluation is the glue that connects and holds all of the elements together
      1. At each stage of Brown´s evaluation process, the following questions need to be asked:
        How effective is this stage of the curriculum?
        How efficient is this stage of the curriculum?
        What are attitudes like?
  2. Final (or summative)
4. Product-based evaluation aims to decide whether the goals of the programme have been attained
5. It is felt that intrinsically-motivated evaluation is more effective, since those who are responsible for making the curriculum work are directly involved
  1. One advantage of this kind of evaluation as MacKay (1996) points out is that the information:
    1. Can be presented in an appropriate and summarized form to meet the interests and concerns of the bureaucracy.
Conclusion
1. The best laid plans of curriculum designers can be subverted by teachers and students once the classroom door is closed and the lesson is underway.

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