PRACTICUM I

PROBLEM BASED LEARNING SCENARIO

How Do Philosophies Influence Curriculum Reforms

and How Do People React to It?

The Kerala school education system has been witnessing continuous up gradation of curriculum for more than a decade. These reform attempts have currently reached the university stage. Started in the middle of nineties with the Learner- Centered Approach, the school curriculum has embraced dimensions like Activity-Oriented Approach, Constructivist Approach, Social Constructivism, Critical Pedagogy and Issues-Based Pedagogy. Different sections of our society like teachers, parents, media, and students’ organizations responded to these reform attempts in a variety of ways.

Through this practicum we are looking into the dynamics of curricular reform attempts. What really prompted these changes? To what extend Educational Philosophy influenced these reforms? How do people look at these changes? How do these reform efforts affect the lives of their wards? In a broader sense let us focus our enquiry on this essential question;

How Do Philosophies Influence Curriculum Reforms and How Do People React to It?

Student teachers are requested to start their enquiry on the following lines.

I. Search online and library resources for understanding the philosophical foundations of the various approaches mentioned above in the problem scenario. How do these new approaches differ from other schools of philosophy?

II. Meet various sections of our society and collect their opinion about the recent curricular reform efforts

School Textbooks and Teachers Handbooks will be a good source for first hand information.