“Curriculum Change and Innovation” Curriculum Change: Hoyle (University of Zimbabwe, 1995: 58) defines change as embracing the concets of innovation, develoment, renewal and imrovement of a c!rric!l!m" #!rric!l!m change is dictated by the changes in the economic, social and technological asects of a society" #hange has magnit!de and direction and occ!rs within a definite time frame"
Curriculum Innovation: Harris et al" (University of Zimbabwe, 1995: $%) describes innovation as &an intentional and deliberate rocess to bring o!t desired effects and change'" #!rric!l!m innovation refers to ideas or ractices that are new and different from those that eist in the formal rescribed c!rric!l!m" c!rric! l!m" esterly esterly (19$9) and *ichar *ichard d (19$5 (19$5)) (cited in Univ University ersity of Zimbabwe, 1995: $1), state that curriculum innovation, is any imrovement that is deliberate, meas!rable, d!rable and !nli+ely to occ!r fre!ently" -t is the creation, selection, organi.ation and !tili.ation of h!man and material reso!rces in ways that res!lt in higher achievement of c!rric!l!m goals and ob/ectives" 0he difference between innovation and change lies in the fact that innovation is always lanned while change may occ!r in resonse to eternal events" or any c!rric!l!m innovation innov ation to be meaningf!l meaningf!l and effective, effective, it m!st be lann lanned ed and orga organi.ed ni.ed"" -t is ossib ossible le that other tyes of changes may occ!r when they are not lanned" 2ccording to 2daorah (3%13) c!rric!l!m innovation connote as a modification of what was eisting before the develoment of ideals, ractices, belief that are f!ndamentally new" Sources of Curriculum Change and Innovation:
2t the nation national al level, level, c!rric! c!rric!l!m l!m change change and innova innovatio tion n arise arise from from delibe deliberate rate olicy olicy decisions" -n most 4o!thern 2frican co!ntries, nothing haens within the ed!cation system !ntil the central a!thority decides to adot a new idea" 0his change is !s!ally initiated thro!gh a circ!lar or stat!tory instr!ment" Another impetus for change and innovation is the desire of authorities at various levels levels to deliber deliberate ately ly change change establ establish ished ed practi practices ces in order order to addre address ss exist existing ing problems or identify new problems and ways of dealing with these problems. The introduction of new technology can also lead to curriculum change and innovation. For example, computers are being used in almost every endeavor of our society. The education system and its c!rric!l!m m!st adat to this new reality" -t m!st not only !se
com!ters for administrative !roses, b!t also ma+e the com!ter and related technological advancements art of the c!rric!l!m" Types of Change:
#hange can be categori.ed into two tyes" Hardware Types:
0hese changes are introd!ced by additions to facilities s!ch as new classrooms, e!iment, boo+s and lay gro!nds" Software Types:
0hese affect the content and range of the c!rric!l!m itself" 0hey may be related to the methods of delivery recommended by c!rric!l!m initiators, designers and develoers" Forms of Change:
#hange can occ!r in the following forms (University of Zimbabwe, 1985: $9): Substitution:
-n this change, one element relaces another revio!sly in !se" amles are new tetboo+s, new e!iment or the relacement of teachers and administrators" Alteration:
0his involves change in eisting str!ct!res rather than a comlete relacement of the whole c!rric!l!m, syllab!s or co!rse of st!dy" Addition:
0his is the introd!ction of a new comonent witho!t changing old elements or atterns" 6ew elements are added to the eisting rogram witho!t serio!sly dist!rbing the main str!ct!re and content of the rescribed c!rric!l!m" 0hese co!ld be s!ort in!ts s!ch as a!dio7vis!al aids, wor+shos and e!iment" Restructuring:
0his involves the rearrangement of the c!rric!l!m in order to imlement desired changes" -t may also involve the sharing of reso!rces among a gro! of schools or instit!tions" Strategies and Models for Curriculum Change and Innovation
-n order for change and innovation to s!cceed, the strategies for imlementing the c!rric!l!m m!st be considered caref!lly" 2 strategy of innovation refers to the lanned roced!res and techni!es emloyed in the !est for change" Harris et al" (198), as cited in & Curriculum Implementation”, develoed some models to elain how this ta+es lace" Strategies:-
0his strategy foc!ses on the !sers, their needs and how they satisfy these needs" 0he system identifies and diagnoses its own needs, finds its own sol!tion, tries o!t and eval!ates the sol!tion and imlements the sol!tion if it is satisfactory" 0he emhasis is on local initiative" Planned Linkage:
-n this model, the intermediate agencies, s!ch as schools, bring together the !sers of the innovation" oercive Strategies:
0hese strategies oerate on the basis of ower and coercion by those in a!thority, !sing laws, directories, circ!lars and so forth" inistries of d!cation !s!ally !se these strategies !pen "nput Strategies:
0hese are oen, fleible, ragmatic aroaches that ma+e !se of eternal ideas and reso!rces"
Models: 0anner and 0anner (198%: 3$3), as cited in & Curriculum Implementation”, emhasi.e three rincial models which ill!strate how change ta+es lace" 0hese are o!tlined below" 1. The Research !evelopment and !i"usion #rocess $pproach%model:
0he *, and model forms the basis for m!ch of the research activity in ederal government deartments and research laboratories" 2ccording to this aroach, research is /!stified beca!se it creates new +nowledge" 0his view of technology transfer is based on the idea that ;if the +nowledge is there, a !se will be fo!nd for it"' 0his aroach is !ni!e beca!se of its reliance on a decentrali.ed networ+ of co!nty agents to diff!se information on new technology and facilitate adotion" 0he * and aroach has not always rod!ced effective res!lts in other agencies" itho!t a networ+ for diff!sion and feedbac+ from !sers, it is diffic!lt to !nderstand the needs of otential !sers or erform relevant *, and " 6ormally, little is +nown abo!t needs of !sers, since few systematic efforts are cond!cted to match !ser needs with available technology" -n this model, an innovation is conceived at the head or center and then fed into the system" 0his views the rocesses of change as a rational se!ence of hases in which an innovation is: i" ii"
-nvented or iscovered, eveloed,
iii"
iv"
isseminated 0o 0he User" 0he *= model loo+s at the whole rocess of change from the ersective of the originator or develoer who form!lates a sol!tion in resonse to an identified !ser need (>len+in
line with emirical7rational strategy with s!b stages as: basic research@ alied research@ develoment and testing of rototyes@ mass rod!ction and ac+aging@ lanned mass dissemination and receit by the !ser" 0his model has rogressive develoment of activities and reresents the center7erihery model of change" -vowi (3%%8) elains that the idea or innovation is conceived at the center" 0his center according to him may reresent c!rric!l!m develoment centers li+e d!cational *esearch and eveloment #o!ncil (*#) where it is researched, develoed and then diff!sed into the ed!cation system" 4!bstantiating this view of -vowi, +a and -.!agba (3%%?) hyothesi.e that innovations follow this attern" 0hose agencies li+e *#, #42#, among others develo new c!rric!la based on the national ed!cational needs, available theories and research findings" -n the whole rocess, the schools are located at the erihery and the teachers are more of assive agents" -n line with what other a!thors erceive abo!t the model, 6d!anya (198$@ 1991) observes that * = model is a se!ential order of solving an ed!cational roblem th!s: *esearch@ eveloment@ iff!sion and 2dotion" 0his he f!lly reresents in a table" 0his model was !sed in the #arnegie
*= obvio!s advantages ma+e it o!lar: -t is solely based on established research findings" aterials are ade!ately tested before !se -t rovides an easy oort!nity to train and re7train c!rric!l!m imlementers" -t !ses roven c!rric!l!m develoment rocesses" -t has aroriate method of selecting secialists and eerts in the trial testing of c!rric!l!m
materials before installation in schools" &. #ro'lem-Solving Model:
0his model was earlier originated by Aiit, later Haveloc+ wor+ed on it" 0he roblem solving change model also called 6eed *ed!ction odel is regarded as a !ser friendly model by Haveloc+ (191), who f!rther wor+ed on it"
0he first two models of his earlier disc!ssed
ass!me that an innovation eists that have been f!lly develoed and disseminated to a assive !ser" 0he <"4" model according to +a and -.!agba (3%%?) rests on the ass!mtion that an innovation is art of a roblem solving rocess, which begins with a need that is translated into a roblem" 0he roblem they said, need to be diagnosed and sol!tions roffered" Haveloc+ associated this model with the normal roblem solving rocess that encomasses all the main stages in the need elimination rocess, !nli+e the social interaction model" 0his imlies that once a need is felt, it is instantly erceived as a roblem that needs to be solved" -n the rocess of searching for the sol!tion, alternative choices are rovided and the best is selected to solve the roblem" 0his last stage according to Haveloc+ is the adotion of sol!tion # 0his model is b!ilt aro!nd the !ser of the innovation, who follows the stes below" i" ii"
etermine the roblem" 4earch for an innovation"
iii"
val!ate the trials"
iv"
-mlement the innovation" >len+in et al (195) echoed that the model is !ser friendly beca!se, the !ser is the initiator rather than the reciient of the change" 0hey osit that an eternal erson or gro! coming in the rocess will serve in cons!ltative or collaborative caacity" Haveloc+ claims that the <"4" model favors ed!cational ractitioners" +a and -.!agba (3%%?) identify three ma/or advantages of the <"4" odel: a" 4ince teachers who will imlement the said changes or innovations are active articiants, they are li+ely to be more committed in their imlementation@ b" 0he model is so fleible that it can aly to vario!s asects of the c!rric!l!m li+e teaching methods and materials" c" 2s the innovation is school based, it is designed in s!ch a way that it will be able to meet the need of the school in !estion (. The Social Interaction $pproach:
0he second model of Haveloc+ eamined is the 4ocial -nteraction odel which lays emhasis on the diff!sion of an innovation thro!gh a social system" *ogers and Aion berger in 6d!anya (1991) originated this model that was f!rther develoed by Haveloc+" 2naele (3%%8) states that this model involves the transmission of +nowledge by individ!als, along informal
networ+s of rofessional colleag!es and friends" He reiterates that the 4"-" model is s!b/ected to the infl!ence, /!dgments and oinions of eole aro!nd" He emhasi.es that the model relates to the rocesses of diff!sion of new ideas, ractices or rod!cts" 6d!anya (1991) ma+es it clear that the first stage of this model tries to create awareness of a need which will motivate the interest of the social gro! involved" He now elains that the gro! involved will move to st!dy the roosed change closely (eval!ation) and then try it o!t and if it wor+s, the innovation will be adoted" rom their own oint of view, +a and -.!agba (3%%?) osit that the 4"-" model deicts a rocess of lanned or !nlanned social interaction to sread new ideas or ractices" 0hey described the !nlanned rocess as the sread of new ideas or ractices thro!gh contacts between and among teachers within a school, among schools, between teachers and s!ervisors, among others" 2s a lanned social interaction, the a!thors state that the diff!sion rocess can be +ic+ed off thro!gh co!rses, conferences or wor+shos organi.ed by agencies" 0hese activities according to them rovide the initial s!orts and in7service training re!ired" 2t the stage of dissemination, the agencies will lanBimlement their transmission strategies@ and this can be done thro!gh organi.ing co!rses, demonstration and cons!ltancy services" -t concentrates on the diff!sion of innovations thro!gho!t social systems in which ersonal comm!nication lays an imortant role" #oncets s!ch as oinion leader, early adoters, etc" are associated with this aroach" 0his aroach to diff!sion and !tili.ation has received considerable attention over the ast ?5 years" 2s its name imlies, this aroach emhasi.es analy.ing the interaction between eole in order to better describe information flow" *eso!rce and !ser organi.ations constit!te the formal str!ct!re, and gro!s of individ!als ma+e ! the informal str!ct!re" 0he interlay between formal and informal str!ct!re deends on the intensity of interersonal echange of information" 0he greater the echange, the more effective the networ+ will be" 0his aroach describes how individ!als echange information rather than how organi.ations can increase the adotion of innovations. 0he model stresses the imortance of interersonal networ+s of information, oinion, leadershi and ersonal contact" -t is based on the following: i"
2wareness Cf -nnovation
ii"
-nterest -n 0he -nnovation
iii"
0rial
iv"
2dotion for
innovation vision@
0he 4"-" model is fleible beca!se social interaction occ!rs in diverse forms, formally or
informally@ so it gives room for more diverse ways of disseminating and adoting an innovation" 0he rocess is nat!ral as it deals with the formal comm!nication attern of man+ind"
). The *in+age Model ,*:
0his is the fo!rth innovative model of Haveloc+ in the change rocess which tends to integrate the three models so far disc!ssed" 2naele (3%%8) reiterates that the lin+age model attemts to !nify and integrate the three receding models by emhasi.ing the need to lin+ roced!res and agencies in a harmonio!s way" 0his, he said, co!ld be done by connecting agencies that can offer reso!rces to !sers, and lin+ them ! with more remote reso!rce agents" He elains f!rther that these reso!rces co!ld consist of c!rric!l!m materials from a central agency, cons!ltancy or information abo!t other !sers with related eeriences or interests" 2greeing with 2naele, +a and -.!agba (3%%?) add that the lin+age model draws !on the strengths of the first three models above, and tries to overcome their wea+ness" 0he a!thors analy.ing the wor+ of Hoyle (199D) concerning this model, state that the lin+age rocess is based on the lin+ between the school and the vario!s seciali.edBcentrali.ed agencies" 0hat the agenciesE wor+ is to hel locate !sef!l h!man and material re so!rces that will be needed to solve any roblem in the school setting" 2ccording to +a and -.!agba, the lin+age centers /!st li+e 2naele has s!ggested, may be in form of
Planning and Executing Change: or the change to be imlemented in the c!rric!l!m, a rocess has to ta+e lace" 0his rocess involves fo!r ma/or factors" 2ccording to >isho (198$), cited in & Curriculum Implementation”, these factors incl!de: T$e c$ange agent:
0he change agents incl!de teachers, school heads, local a!thorities or the inistry of d!cation" 0he agent initiates the innovation or c!rric!l!m change in general" T$e innovation
0his involves eec!ting the change itself@ that is, !tting it into !se or oeration" T$e user system:
0his relates to the erson or gro! of eole at which the innovation is directed, s!ch as st!dents and teachers"
Time:
-nnovation is a social rocess, which ta+es lace over a eriod of time" 0hese factors interact with change and are changed by each other d!ring the rocess of innovation" -t is also imortant to note that the c!rric!l!m change agent is involved with the rocess, the lanning and the strategies, and is fre!ently the !ser of the innovation"
The Innovation Process: -nnovation and change generally follow several logical stes: a" -dentify a roblem, dissatisfaction or need that re!ires attention" b" Fenerate ossible sol!tions to the identified roblem or need c" 4elect a artic!lar sol!tion or innovation that has been identified as the most aroriate" d" #ond!ct a trial" e" val!ate the roosed sol!tion" f" *eview the eval!ation" g" -f the innovation has solved the identified roblem, imlement it on a wide scale" h" 2dot and instit!tionali.e the innovation or search for another sol!tion"
Innovation #lanning: ffective lanning for innovation cannot ta+e lace !nless the following elements are considered in the rocess (University of Zimbabwe, 1995: 8D): a" the ersonnel to be emloyed b" the secification of the act!al tas+ c" the strategy or roced!re to be !sed to !nderta+e the tas+ d" the e!iment needed e" time involved f" se!encing of activities g" rationale for !nderta+ing the innovation
Conditions for Successful Implementation of Innovations: hat conditions are necessary for !sers to imlement the c!rric!l!m change or innovation s!ccessf!llyG
0he innovation m!st be relevant to them" -t m!st be feasible in their artic!lar organi.ational contet" -t m!st be comatible with the ractices, val!es and characteristics of their system"
iv"
-t m!st be seen as osing little or no threat to the !ser gro!Es identity, integrity and territory" 0he innovation m!st be shown to be tolerable and non7threatening"
v"
0he innovation m!st yield material or non7material benefits" Fains in social stat!s or recognition co!ld be some of the non7material benefits"
Need to Change the Curriculum:
0o restr!ct!re the c!rric!l!m according to the needs, interests or abilities of the learner"
0o eliminate !nnecessary !nits, teaching methods and contents"
0o introd!ce latest and !date methods of teaching and content, new +nowledge and ractices"
0o add or delete n!mber of instr!ctional ho!rs"
0o correlate between the st!dentEs theory co!rses and clinical learning ractices"
0o select learning eeriences base on the ob/ectives rather than on the service needs of the instr!ctional"
0he st!dents themselves receive little or no eerience in ass!ming resonsibilities or in ma+ing choices@ everything is decided for them by the teacher or the administrator"
*imitations of curriculum change 0here are many constraints on revision of the c!rric!l!m" 4ome of these are:
Aimitations of reso!rces s!ch as time, finance and energy"
Aac+ of motivate to change the c!rric!l!m"
Conclusion: #hanges in the c!rric!l!m will rovide a new osition or direction to o!r rofession in the modern world" -t is !nli+ely that the rate of change will ever slow down to give the stable eriods that were common in the ast, so the imlication is that we have got to get !sed to living with raid change and ad/!st accordingly"
*eference:
htts:BBwww"academia"ed!B3DD?81$9B#!rric!l!mchangemodels
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