School of Social Sciences, Business and Law

Kirsty Adams
Program Tutor: Richard Henderson

Module Title:
Curriculum Development for Inclusive Practice
EDU3055-N

LEVEL 6
ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/15
Word Count: 2793

This essay will look at curriculum design for inclusive practice and how central this is to effective learning and teaching, we will analyse and evaluate theories, principles and models of curriculum design and inclusive learning.
Curriculum design will look at the formal and informal elements of the curriculum and learners’ expectations and what this learning experience will help them achieve, inclusive practice will look at how to personalise teaching to individual learners an example of this could be to ask learners to read the lesson objects and create at least one personal objective; this way you can ensure that all individual needs are met. This essay will identify the different curriculum models and how they compare whilst analysing what type of learner these models would best suit and if they can be integrated for a better learning environment. The different models researched will be compared to one another by highlighting any positive and negative impacts associated with these whilst justifying these impacts and suggesting improvements
Inclusive learning will be researched and will look at ways of implementing this within the curriculum design whilst identifying the importance of implementing this and how to track the success of promoting inclusive practice through teaching, this essay will also look at how the hidden curriculum is incorporated in the curriculum design and which curriculum models provide flexibility to promote this through learning.
What is curriculum? The way in which we understand and theorise curriculum has changed over the years and there remains dispute as to its meaning. The word curriculum originates from the chariot tracks in Greece, the Latin meaning of curriculum is a racing chariot; and currere is to run, meaning that it was a course. Curriculum is also identified a course of learning to meet an overall aim delivered to students by the most effective methods.
According to John Kerr’s definition which was adopted by Vic Kelly, curriculum entails planned and guided learning by the school. It is carried on in either groups or individuals, within or without the school (Kelly, 2009). However this would not necessary be viable within the wider curriculum and adult learning as the introduction of vocational courses opens up new learning experiences and different learning environments.
Curriculum can be identified in many ways, Blenkin et al (1992) p23 states that there are three distinct concepts to education and the curriculum; one can view the curriculum as a body of knowledge - content and/or subjects, and education as the process by which these are transmitted or delivered by the most effective methods. Education can also be seen in the terms of its products, designed to achieve certain aims and the curriculum consisting of a statement of short-term objectives to achieve these aims. Finally education can be viewed as a process or series of processes, and the curriculum as a statement of the procedural principal of which teachers seek support to promote those processes.
In short curriculum is the activities undertaken by learners to achieve their goals, it is about the whole educational package and the facilities it provides. There are many elements and approaches that help build a curriculum with various strategies that help implement this, curriculum theory and practice can be approached in four ways; curriculum is a body of knowledge to be transmitted, this form of curriculum limits planning as this is a theoretical approach aimed at following a syllabus and is the teachers responsibility to provide lessons directed to an examination,