Elements in Curriculum Design

Curriculum includes lots of elements like Bloom’s Taxonomy, the ABCD learning objectives, and the Common European Framework (CEF). These elements are essential during the whole learning/teaching process. As we have learned the Bloom’s Taxonomy classifies objectives into three different domains: cognitive, psychomotor and affective, and this Taxonomy makes easier the creation of objectives. The ABCD method helps teachers to create very clear and complete objectives, and the CEF helps to know what our students are able to do, and also it helps to plan our classes according to their knowledge. 

  To start using all these elements it is very important to have the knowledge. It is very important to study the theory of these elements. We have to keep in mind why these elements are an important part of curriculum, and also we have to keep in mind how we can use them correctly. Knowing that, we have to put into practice the knowledge. The most important aspect that we have to do before create an objective is to identify the level of English of our students. Using the Common European Framework, we can identify whether our students are A1, A2, B1, B2, or C1. Once we have identified the English level, the next step is to create the objectives by mixing the CEF with the Bloom’s Taxonomy. In other words, we have to adapt Bloom’s Taxonomy according to the English level of our students. The last step to follow is to organize the structure of the objectives using the ABCD method. In this method, we have to keep in mind that A is for Audience, B is for Behavior, C is for condition, and D is for Degree. Keeping these steps in mind our English class and curriculum will be successful.

At the beginning of my English Teaching major, I did not have clear what a curriculum was. One might think that education starts since the first day of class, but everything has a carefully planned process. Curriculum is the beginning of education where the teaching/learning process starts, and this process is not easy at all. To have successful results in our students the teacher need to have practice, creativity and knowledge about all the elements. As I mentioned, the CEF and the Bloom’s Taxonomy are the most important aspects when creating curricula and lesson plans. If we do not include all these elements in our planning process, the quality of teaching will be very low.

  In conclusion, the planning process is something that has to be carefully planned. We have to create clear objectives, but what is more important is that we have to create effective objectives. In other words, we have to create objectives that will help students to develop all their language skills, and with this they can have a better domain of the language. On the other hand, one can consider that MEP is not using these elements on their English curricula, but what can be happen is that they are not mixing these elements correctly. The problem of the low level of English in Costa Rica goes beyond the curriculum design. English instructors are not teaching the language appropriately, and they spend five years teaching the same grammar structures.

Jose Mario Ruiz
ELT Student
Costa Rica