Richards Chapter 5

Richards, J. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Planning
goals and learning outcomes (pp. 112-144). New York: Cambridge University Press.

This chapter covers varies theories and debates about planning goals and
outcomes in educational curriculum literature. It states that that the goals,
aims, and objectives of a curriculum are what the educational planners
believe are essential for learner development. The chapter lists some
issues that range from academic rationalism, social and economic efficiency, learner-centeredness, social reconstructionism, and cultural pluralism.

From reading this section of the chapter, I have a clearer understanding of writing objectives. I agree with the criticism that objectives should included meaningful and worthwhile learning experiences. From taking the SIOP class last semester, I’ve learned that having language outcomes and nonlanguage outcomes are worthwhile to include in the objectives. Having these will help the teacher and the student from swaying away from the content objective, and it helps for the student to concentrate on the goal of the lesson.

After reading the chapter, it gave me an insight of what curriculum planning involve, and that it is complicated. There are so many issues to think about when planning a curriculum. It is not only what you want your students to learn. It involves the background of where your students are coming from, politics, government, standards, student engagement, and so many to list.