The Presentation describes the Recent Trend in Mathematics Curriculum Development

1. Recent Trend in
Mathematics Curriculum Development
Gautam Kumar
Assistant Professor
University Department of Teacher Education
Utkal University, Bhubaneswar

2. Etymology
Etymologically, the term curriculum has been derived from a Latin root
which means ‘race course’. The word ‘race course’ is suggestive of
• the course, i.e., the path; and
• the time (suggested by the prefix race) in which the path could/must be
covered.

3. Traditional View on Curriculum
• totality of skills and topics to be taught in the schools.
• “Curriculum is that body of subjects or subject matter prepared by the teachers for
the students to learn”. It was synonymous to the “course of study” and “syllabus”
• Till 1950 there was no formal document in the name of ‘curriculum’
• The term ‘curriculum’ came into general use with curriculum movement in 1950s
gained momentum

4. Definition and Concept of Curriculum
• The concept of curriculum is as dynamic as the changes that occur in
society.
• In its narrowest sense, curriculum is viewed merely as a listing of
subjects to be taught in school.
• In a broader sense, it refers to the total learning experiences of
individuals not only in school but in society as well.

5. Definition and Concept of Curriculum
• Taba (1962) defined curriculum as “a plan for learning”.
• Good (1973) defined curriculum as “a general overall plan of the
content or specific materials of instruction that the school should offer
the student by way of qualifying him for certification”.

6. Definition and Concept of Curriculum
• MacDonald (1987) and Portelli (1987) pointed out that curriculum should comprise
learning experiences and not be a mere ‘plan for learning’. Definitions of curriculum
formulated during the 1980s therefore contained:
i. curriculum plan and outline;
ii. instructional material to be used by learners and teachers such as text-books,
workbooks, teacher’s guides, teaching aids, enrichment material, remedial learning
material etc.;
iii. teaching-learning activities to be carried out to realise the curriculum plans;
iv. previous learning experiences and background of learners;
v. levels of achievement or mastery level of curricular objectives to be achieved by the
learner; and
vi. scheme of evaluation, along with suggested procedures and tools.

7. Definition and Concept of Curriculum
• A curriculum is all of the experiences that individual learners have
in a programme of education whose purpose is to achieve broad
goals and related specific objectives, which is planned in terms of a
framework of theory and research or past and present professional
practice (Glen Hass, 1987).

8. Definition and Concept of Curriculum
• Sanskrit equivalent of the term ‘curriculum’ is ‘pathyakram’.
Dewal (2004), has explained the term to mean the sequence of
course o study including the content and its process. According to
Dewal (2004), 'pathyakram encompasses the content, its processes,
a sequence of study pertinent to the stage of education'. The word
'path' in his opinion has a similar meaning to the words 'vidya' and
'shiksha'.

9. Recent Trend in Mathematics Curriculum Development
• The paradigm shift from ‘behaviourism’ to the ‘constructivism’ as
advocated at by NCF-2005
• The four major components in any educational process are
curriculum, teachers, students and the contexts

10. Recent Trend in Mathematics Curriculum Development
• This approach to curriculum lays more emphasis on content in comparison
to learners and teaching process.
• The needs and interests of the child has no / less place in this curriculum.
Here, teachers’ role is very crucial who are expected to transact the
curriculum with a view to help students to learn different subjects. A
child has to learn the subjects in a time bound manner. They are expected to
learn and memorise facts, concepts, processes, skills etc, and reproduce them
at the time of examination.
Subject-Centred Approach

11. Recent Trend in Mathematics Curriculum Development
• Behaviouristic Approach believes in learning is modification of behaviour as
a result of experience.
• Here curriculum starts with a plan, called blueprint.
• Blue print consists of goals and objectives of learning of the particular
subject.
• The topics, contents and activities are to be planned on the basis of these pre-
determined objectives.
• The duty of the teacher is to provide for the activities specified for realising
these objectives.
Behaviourist Approach

12. Recent Trend in Mathematics Curriculum Development
• The student assessment, basically in the form of written knowledge and tests,
needs to be conducted to know how far these objectives have been achieved.
• This approach suggests that teacher should disseminate information in a
sequential way and demonstrate how to solve a problem, how to derive a
formula, and how to construct a shape, followed by independent practice by
students.
Behaviourist Approach

13. Recent Trend in Mathematics Curriculum Development
• Constructivism believes that each and every child has inner potential and
capacity to construct their own understanding and knowledge about
phenomena or object through experience and reflection
• It is based on the premise that whenever a child encounters a new experience,
he/she can either easily connect it with the existing knowledge or can make
some changes in the existing knowledge to accommodate the new
experience.
Constructivist Approach

14. Recent Trend in Mathematics Curriculum Development
• Piaget, a famous constructivist psychologist, had an opinion that
Mathematics is a subject, which may be very difficult to teach; instead, it has
to be ‘constructed’ by the child. For this purpose, the child should be
provided with various types of activities, which are essential for building
mathematical schemas.
Constructivist Approach

15. Recent Trend in Mathematics Curriculum Development
• Vygotsky, another psychologist, also known as social constructivist argued
that it is as a result of the social interaction between the growing child and
other members of the society that the child acquires the tools of thinking and
learning. Constructivism holds that prior knowledge forms the foundation on
which new learning is built. Because people and their experiences are
different, they arrive at school with varying levels of proficiency.
Constructivist Approach

16. Learner-Centred Curriculum
• the needs and interest of learners are paramount
• of student will be that of an active participant in the learning process, and
therefore, it necessitates that the teacher should know well each child.
• helps the child to enjoy Mathematics, to make him realise its beauty, and to
remove the fear of difficulty of the subject.

17. Activity-Centred Curriculum
• premise that child loves to play and activity will help to create motivation.
• Learning of the prescribed material included in the curriculum takes place
through appropriate activities
• students are active participants in the process of learning.

18. Discussion