Population Education for non-Formal Education programs of Out-of-School Rural Youth (2024)

"Every Journey Begins With TheFirst Step."

The curriculum development processsystematically organizes what will be taught, who will be taught, and how itwill be taught. Each component affects and interacts with other components. Forexample, what will be taught is affected by who is being taught (e.g., theirstage of development in age, maturity, and education). Methods of how contentis taught are affected by who is being taught, their characteristics, and thesetting. In considering the above three essential components, the following arewidely held to be essential considerations in experiential education innon-formal settings:

Essential Considerations for Curriculum Development:

1. issue/problem/need is identified (issue � what),
2. characteristics and needs of learners (target audience � who),
3. changes intended for learners (intended outcomes/objectives � what the learners will be able to do),
4. the important and relevant content �(what),
5. methods to accomplish intended outcomes �(how),
6. evaluation strategies for methods, content, and intended outcomes �(What works?).

The CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT MODEL on the next page (Figure 1)shows how these components relate to each other and to the curriculumdevelopment process. It begins when an issue, concern, or problem needs to beaddressed. If education or training a segment of the population will help solvethe problem, then curriculum to support an educational effort becomes apriority with human and financial resources allocated.

The next step is to form a curriculumdevelop-ment team. The team makes systematic decisions about the target audience(learner characteristics), intended out-comes (objectives), content, methods,and evaluation strategies. With input from the curriculum development team,draft curriculum products are developed, tested, evaluated, and redesigned -ifnecessary. When the final product is produced, volunteer training is conducted.The model shows a circular process where volunteer training provides feedbackfor new materials or revisions to the existing curriculum.

(Insert Curriculum Development Modelhere)

Figure 1

Figure 2

PHASES ANDSTEPS IN CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT (See Figure 2on the previous page) further illustrates how the 12 essential steps progressfrom one to the next. It also shows the interaction and relationships of the fouressential phases of the curriculum development process: ( I) Planning, (II) Content and Methods, (III) Implementation, and (IV) Evaluation and Reporting. It isimportant to acknowledge that things do not always work exactly as depicted ina model!

Each phase has several steps or tasksto complete in logical sequence. These steps are not always separate anddistinct, but may overlap and occur concurrently. For example, the curriculumdevelopment team is involved in all of the steps. Evaluations should occur inmost of the steps to assess progress. The team learns what works and what doesnot and determines the impact of the curriculum on learners after it is imple­mented.Each step logically follows the previous. It would make no sense to designlearning activities before learner outcomes and content are described andidentified. Similarly, content cannot be determined before learner outcomes aredescribed.

In the experience of the author, andconfirmed by other curriculum specialists, the following curriculum developmentsteps are frequently omitted or slighted. These steps are essential tosuccessful curriculum development and need to be emphasized.

EssentialCurriculum Development Steps Needing Emphasis

1. Needs assessment: if notconducted, wonderful curriculum could be developed, but the appropriate needsof the target audience may not be met.
2. Involving youth: the target audience andvolunteers (or staff) who will be the implementors of the curriculum must be involved (i.e., theyparticipate as full members of the curriculum development team).
3. Recruiting and training volunteer facilitators: competent and skilled curriculum implementors arecritical (the printed word cannot teach experiential group process, itdoesn't provide feedback).
4. Evaluating and reporting on the impact of thecurriculum: is critical for securing human andfinancial support from key policy decision makers and for assessing whether thecurriculum has achieved the intended outcome.

Two types of evaluation are includedin the Phases and Steps illustration: (1)Formative provides feedback during the process of developing thecurriculum, and (2) Summative answersquestions about changes (impact) that have occurred in learners because oftheir learning experiences. Summative evaluation provides evidence for whatworks, what does not work, and what needs to be improved.

In every step of the curriculumdevelopment process, the most important task is to keep the learner (in thiscase, youth) in mind and involve them in process. For example, the curriculumteam members, who have direct knowledge of the target audience, should beinvolved in con­ducting the needs assessment. From the needs assessmentprocess, the problem areas are iden­tified, gaps between what youth know andwhat they need to know are identified, and the scope of the problem isclarified and defined. The results may prompt decision makers to allocateresources for a curriculum development team to prepare curriculum materials.

A briefdescription of each of the curriculum development steps is described below.After reviewing these descriptions, you should have a very clear idea of howthe steps occur in each of the phases and what each step includes.

"Nobody plans to fail but failure results from afailure to plan."

The planning phase lays the foundationfor all of the curriculum development steps. The steps in this phase include:

(1) Identify Issue/Problem/Need

The need for curriculum developmentusually emerges from a concern about a major issue or problem of one or more target audience. This sectionexplores some of the questions that need to be addressed to define the issueand to develop a statement that will guide the selection of the members of acurriculum development team. The issue statement also serves to broadlyidentify, the scope (what will be included) of the curriculum content.

(2) Form Curriculum Development Team

Once the nature and scope of the issuehas been broadly defined, the members of the curriculum development team can beselected. Topics covered in this section include: (1) the roles and functions of team members, (2) a process for selecting members of the curriculumdevelopment team, and (3) principles of collaborationand teamwork. The goal is to obtain expertise for the areas included in thescope of the curriculum content among the team members and develop an effectiveteam.

(3) Conduct Needs Assessment and Analysis

There are two phases in the needsassessment process. The first is procedures for conducting a needs assessment. A number of techniques are aimedtoward learning what is needed andby whom relative to the identifiedissue. Techniques covered in this section include: KAP - Knowledge, Attitude,and Practice Survey; focus groups; and environmental scanning.

Analysis,the second part of this needsassessment step, describes techniques on howto use the data and the results of the information gathered. Included are:ways to identify gaps between knowledge and practice; trends emerging from thedata; a process to prioritize needs; and identification of the characteristicsof the target audience.

"As the twig is bent, so grows the tree"

Phase II determines intended outcomes(what learners will be able to do after participation in curriculumactivities), the content (what will be taught), and the methods (how it will betaught). Steps include:

(4) State Intended Outcomes

Once the issue is defined, thecurriculum team is formed, the needs assessed, analyzed and prioritized, thenext step is to refine and restate the issue, if needed, and develop the intended outcomes or educationalobjectives. An intended outcome states what the learner will be able to doas a result of participating in the curriculum activities.

This section includes: (1) a definitionof intended outcomes, (2) the components of intended outcomes (condition,performance, and standards), (3) examples of intended outcomes, and (4) an overviewof learning behaviors. A more complete explanation of the types and levels oflearning behaviours is included in the Addendum as well as intended outcomeexamples fromFAO population education materials.

(5) Select Content

The next challenge in the curriculumdevelopment process is selecting contentthat will make a real difference in the lives of the learner and ultimatelysociety as a whole. At this point, the primary questions are: "If theintended outcome is to be attained, whatwill the learner need to know? What knowledge, skills, attitudes, andbehaviours will need to be acquired and practiced?"

The scope (breadth of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours) andthe sequence (order) of the contentare also discussed. Intended outcomes of population education with contenttopics is provided in the Addendum section as an example andapplication of how intended outcomes are linked with content.

(6) Design Experiential Methods

After the content is selected, thenext step is to design activities (learning experiences) to help the learnerachieve appropriate intended outcomes. An experiential learning model and it'scomponents (i.e., experience, share,process, generalize, and apply) are discussed in this section.

Additional topics include:

1. learning stylesand activities appropriate for each style;
2. a list of typesof activities (with descriptions);
3. an activitydesign worksheet for facilitators; and
4. briefdiscussions on learning environments and delivery modes.

Tenpopulation education sample activity sheets along with tips for facilitatorsworking with youth and dealing with sensitive topics are included in the Addendum.

(7) Produce Curriculum Product

Once the content and experientialmethods have been agreed upon, the actual production of curriculum materialsbegins. This section includes: 1) suggestions for finding and evaluatingexisting materials; 2) evaluation criteria; and 3) suggestions for producingcurriculum materials.

(8) Test and Revise Curriculum

This step includes suggestions toselect test sites and conduct a formative evaluation of curriculum materialsduring the production phase. A sample evaluation form is provided.

(9) Recruit and Train Facilitators

It is a waste of resources to developcurriculum materials if adequate training is not provided for facilitators toimplement it. Suggestions for recruiting appropriate facilitators are providedwith a sample three-day training program.

(10) Implement Curriculum

Effective implementation of newlydeveloped curriculum products is unlikely to occur without planning. Strategiesto promote and use the curriculum are discussed in this step.

(11) Design Evaluation Strategies

Evaluation is a phase in thecurriculum development model as well as a specific step. Two types ofevaluation, formative and summative, are used during curriculum development.Formative evaluations are used during the needs assessment, productdevelopment, and testing steps. Summative evaluations are undertaken to measureand report on the outcomes of the curriculum. This step reviews evaluationstrategies and suggests simple procedures to produce valid and reliableinformation. A series of questions are posed to guide the summative evaluationprocess and a sample evaluation format is suggested.

(12) Reporting and Securing Resources

The final element in an evaluationstrategy is "delivering the pay off (i.e., getting the results into thehands of people who can use them). In this step, suggestions for what and howto report to key shareholders, especially funding and policy decision makers,are provided and a brief discussion on how to secure resources for additionalprogramming.