A Conceptual note on Curriculum Revision for Sri Ramakrishna Vidya Kendra, ShivanahalliEducation is in a state of flux in our country. People from all walks of life have taken cognizance of the need to change the system. Schools have failed to equip children adequately for life. Although ‘wholistic’ education is being bandied about for quite a long time as the goal of school education, the reality is different. Adequate time and opportunities are not given to children for meaningful understanding of the content they learn, leave alone developing non-cognitive abilities. However, the scenario is poised for a change in the near future. Networking and dissemination of information by committed individuals and organizations have helped identify best practices across the country. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme of the Government of India, and earlier the District Primary Education Programme have brought about tremendous quantitative and to a lesser extent qualitative improvements in Government schools. There have always many pockets of excellence among private schools. The Sri Ramakrishna Vidya Kendra (SRVK), Shivanahalli is one such school. Run by the Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, it caters to children of villages in and around Shivanahalli, a small hamlet near Bangalore. The medium of instruction is Kannada and the school runs classes from Nursery to class 7. For the past six years, the school has been following the Man Making and Character Building (MMCB) Curriculum, compiled by Late Dr. T.K. Jayalakshmi. The curriculum is based on Swami Vivekananda’s philosophy and the content for subject knowledge is drawn from the Karnataka State Syllabus. The focus of the MMCB curriculum is activity based teaching and contextual learning. Its aim is to produce morally upright, emotionally stable and intelligent individuals. Accompanying textbooks have been prepared for classes 3 to 6. There are no textbooks for classes 1 and 2 while students of class 7 use textbooks prepared by the State Government.
The Present RevisionCurriculum development is a dynamic process. Periodic revisions are essential, if it is to remain meaningful. While this has been our primary motive for undertaking the current revision, previous experiences of major stake holders of SRVK school have pinpointed the following lacunae in the existing curricula:
1. Integration of values with subject teaching did not happen as envisaged.
To overcome them, values have been listed along with learning outcomes across all subject areas. In the next stage, we shall help each subject teacher plan activities to inculcate these values. In order to reduce gaps in the subject content of Mathematics and Science, we have attempted to map out the National Curriculum Framework’s (NCF) Syllabus for Classes at the Elementary Level (NCERT, New Delhi 2006) along with American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) Benchmarks for Science Literacy (Oxford University Press, New York; 1993), National Research Council’s National Science Education Standards (National Academy Press, Washington DC; 1996), and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ (NCTM) Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, USA; 1989). To rule out excessive dependence on textbooks, we are experimenting with doing away with textbooks altogether. Instead, workbooks would be prepared for children. The workbooks would contain a variety of activities, exercises and worksheets.
Aim"We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one’s own feet" - Swami Vivekananda. The aim of the curriculum is to attain Swamiji’s vision for ALL children leaving school at the end of class 7.
Curriculum StructureThe present curriculum has been developed for Classes 1 to 7. It has been structured under the following areas of study:
- Kannada - English - Hindi Although curriculum is being structured across classes, under different areas, the focus would be on integration of learning experiences provided.
Teaching / Learning ProcessWe work by the dictum that every learning experience at school must be meaningful and the teacher should constantly strive to satiate children’s innate curiosity and need to learn. The focus of the teaching / learning process would be construction of knowledge through an inquiry based approach. Accordingly, for every unit, a variety of activities and projects that are pedagogically and psychologically appropriate for every child, would be developed along with the teachers of the school. Resources for the activities would be drawn from the surroundings. In addition, teaching/learning materials would be provided where necessary. Also, the school is equipped with an excellent collection of resource materials, both in the print and digital form. Flexibility in planning and time allocation would be provided to all teachers. This is to enable them both to organize activities as well as to improvise upon them, depending on their children’s requirements. Assessments would be part of the teaching learning process, at every stage. Assessment tasks and criteria for assessment would be developed along with planning for activities. These assessment tasks would be given at three stages for every unit of study:
1. Prior to instruction of the unit to identify children’s initial understanding and abilities
In addition to performance and outcomes-based assessment, assessment of values and attitudes would be an integral process to the assessment procedure. Steps are on to put in place a monitoring and evaluation team, while implementing the revised curriculum from the coming academic year onwards (2007-08). Careful documentation and action research would be integral to implementation. We plan to take up yearly revisions, based on stakeholders’ feed back. We solicit opinions and suggestions on the revised curriculum as well as the syllabus. Your response may kindly be sent to:
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