Is It Important For Teachers To Follow The Curriculum?

By Author: Asha Infotech
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Oxford Dictionary defines ‘curriculum’ as ‘the subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college’. A lot of educationists, teachers and intellectuals have debated over the question – ‘Is it important for teachers to follow the curriculum?’ And the answer seems to be yes and no at the same time.

In a teacher training program, one learns that a curriculum is designed scientifically to meet the educational standards and requirements of a particular age group, performance of the learners and subject. Hence, it clearly defines the set of educational exchange that needs to be accomplished in a categorically stated particular period of time. In order to achieve the level of desired progress, it is important for teachers to follow the curriculum.

However, a curriculum is prescriptive in nature. It indicates the kind of subjects and topics that need to be covered in a given timeframe. However, sticking to the curriculum word by word, may not prove very effective. If a lesson taught in a classroom was not grasped and fully understood by the learners, little point remains in trying to go ahead with ...
... the next topic. In a teacher training course, one learns of the many skills of teaching. It is important for a teacher to be innovative and try out different methods of teaching a lesson to achieve better results and it may not be in accordance with the curriculum.

A teacher training program helps teachers to understand the significance of trainee psychology. It helps them to understand the problem areas of the students and the areas of improvement. A teacher in a teacher training course, learns that in order to teach effectively, it is crucial that teachers make customized lesson planning and try out different methods of teaching depending on the subject at hand or the particular trainee group.

Teaching in Nursery schools, for example, is a good point to raise in this context. A curriculum in the case of Nursery schools specifically details out the course expectations in terms of advancement of social and language skills. But teaching pre-schoolers and bringing around this level of development requires imagination and using of skills and techniques not always clearly prescribed in the curriculum. In a Nursery teacher training program, one is acquainted with the emotional, social and cognitive needs of children. Children of this age group needs to be taught in a fashion that is easy understandable to them. A teacher in a Nursery teachers training course learn that the physical energy of a child must be channelled positively for educational purposes but whether it would be games, song or dance depend on a teacher’s judgement. A Nursery teachers training program insists on teachers improvising their methods of teaching and indulging in ways, which are attractive for toddlers and help them to unleash their curiosity and enthusiasm to learn.

It can only be drawn that while sticking to the curriculum as a guidance is important, following it all the way to the last detail will not always yield the best results and teachers must improvise and use their skills to attain the goals set for them.

To know more about teaching curriculum you can visit our website at: www.teachertrainingindia.com