LESSON 11

SCHOOL POLICIES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

By:

MAEDA L. KADTONG, Ed.D.

 Overview
 Schools are institutions motivated by a shared vision.
Necessarily, school must have policies for them to realize
their vision and mission. These policies are a reflection of the
values of the people who created them. Whatever policies
are formulated must redound to the improved teaching-
learning of learners which is the very reason of the existence
of schools. In this Chapter, we will focus on school policies
that govern school community partnership.
 Schools are institutions motivated by a shared vision.
Necessarily, school must have policies for them to realize
their vision and mission. These policies are a reflection of the
values of the people who created them. Whatever policies
are formulated must redound to the improved teaching-
learning of learners which is the very reason of the existence
of schools. In this Chapter, we will focus on school policies
that govern school community partnership.
Learning Outcom
At the end of the lesson, the
students can:
explain the importance of school
policies in school operation;
list down at least 2 school
policies and explain the purpose
behind the policy; and
differentiate administrative leads
and instructional leader.
Learning Content
Importance of Policies
 Schools in partnership with their community have their
own picture of what they want to be (vision statement)
and so must offer services and must do what they are
supposed to do (mission statement) in order to realize
what they envisioned themselves to be. For these to
happen, policies must be in place. Observance of these
policies ensures everyone in the school community to
tow the line. If conditions are ideal like when all members
of the school community are perfect-school heads,
teachers, students, parents, non-teaching personnel and
other members of the outside community – there may be
no need for a policy. The truth is conditions in the school
community and in this world are far from ideal and
persons that make the school community are far from
perfect and so the need for policies.
One may wonder as to why the
Department of Education has issued
very stringent policies and guidelines
for PTAs in matters of collecting
contributions. Even engaging in any
partisan political activity within school
premises in written as one prohibited
activity. There must a history to that.
Perhaps malversation of funds and
other forms of abuse happened in the
past.
1. Curriculum Intent is the
term used by Print (1993) to
mean the direction that
curriculum developers wish
to take as a result of
participating in the
curriculum. It includes the
aims goals, and objectives
found in any curriculum
documents,
Aims -- are the broad
statements of social or
educational expectations.
Aims include what is hoped to
be achieved by the entire
curriculum, are statements
more specific than aims.
Goals are general
statements of what concepts,
skills, and values should be
learned in the curriculum.
Objectives —are specific
learning outcomes.
Objectives include what
specific concepts, skills, and
values should be learned by
the students, Usually,
objectives are used in
making decisions or
planning about instruction.
 These topics are based
on the curriculum intents.
Contents may include
values, concepts, or skills
that are important for the
learners to learn.
2. Learning experience-
include all instructional
strategies that are useful for
the implementation of the
curriculum. These may
appear in the form of
activities, strategies, method,
or approaches that are useful
in implementing the
curriculum or in teaching the
content.
3. Evaluation — includes the
different ways and tools used
for evaluating whether or not
the curriculum intents were
realized. Evaluation tools are
also used to evaluate the
performance of the learners
after they have undergone
the curriculum.
Hilda Taba (1962) observed that all
curricula, no matter what design they
have, are composed of certain
elements. A curriculum usually
contains a statement of aims and
specific objectives. It indicates some
selection and organization of content.
It either implies or manifests certain
patterns of learning and teaching,
whether because the objectives
demand them or because the content
organization requires them. It
includes a program of evaluation of
the outcomes.
 Three Approaches to
Curriculum

Content or
Body of Curriculu Curriculu
Knowledg m as a m as a
e Process Product
Curriculum can be approached
or seen in three ways such as:
Content or body of knowledge
to be transmitted
Process or what actually
happens in the classroom
when the curriculum is
practiced
Product or the learning
outcomes desired of learners
Curriculum as a Content or Body of Knowledge

Itis quite common for traditionalists to

equate a curriculum as a topic outline,
subject matter, or concepts to be
included in the syllabus or a books.
Example:
Primary School Mathematics:

four fundamentals operations, distance,

weight and many more
Secondary school science:

biological science, physical science,

environmental science, earth science
There are four ways of presenting the content in the curriculum.
These are:

1. Topical approach, where much content is

based on knowledge, and experiences
are included;
2. Concept approach with fewer topics in
clusters around major and sub-concepts
and their interaction, with relatedness
emphasized;
3. Thematic approach as a combination of
concepts that develop conceptual
structures, and
4. Modular approach that leads to complete
units of instruction.
Activity – Pick one
and discuss with
your group the
topic you chosen.
( 10minutes)
 Criteria in the Selection of
Content
by: Scheffer, 1970 in Bilbao, et al
1. Significance 2009
Content should contribute to ideas,
concepts, principles and generalization
that should attain the overall purpose of
the curriculum. It is significant if content
becomes the means of developing
cognitive, affective or psychomotor
skills of the learner. As education is a
way of preserving culture, content will
be significant when this will address the
cultural context of the learners.
2. Validity
The authenticity of the
subject matter forms its validity.
Knowledge becomes obsolete
with the fast changing times.
Thus there is a need for validity
check and verification at a
regular interval, because
content which may be valid in its
original form may not continue
to be valid in the current times.
3. Utility
Usefulness of the content in the
curriculum is relative to the
learners who are going to use
these.
Utility can be relative to time.
Consider the following questions:
Will I use this in my future job?
Will it add meaning to my life as
a lifelong learner? Or will the
subject matter be useful in
4. Learnability
The complexity of the contents
should be within the range of
experiences of the learners. This
is based on the psychological
principles of learning.
Appropriate organization of
content standards and
sequencing of contents are two
basic principles that would
influence learnability.
5.Feasibilty
Can the subject be learned within
the time allowed, resources
available, expertise of the
teachers and the nature of the
learners?
Are there contents of learning
which can be learned beyond the
formal teaching-learning
engagement?
Are there opportunities provided
6. Interest
Will the learners take interest in
the content? Why? Are the
contents meaningful? What value
will the contents have in the
present and future life of the
learners? Interest is one of the
driving forces for students to
learn better.
Guide in the Selection of the
Content in the Curriculum
1. Commonly used in the daily life.
2. Appropriate to the maturity levels
and abilities of the learners
3. Valuable in meeting the needs and
competencies of the future career.
4. Related to other subject field or
discipline for complementation and
integration.
5. Important in the transfer of learning
to other disciplines.
BASIC Principles of Curriculum
Content

Balance
Articulation
Sequence
Integration
Continuity
 Balance
Content should be fairly
distributed in depth and
breadth. This will guarantee
that significant contents
should be covered to avoid
too much or little of the
contents needed within the
time allocation.
 Articulation
As the content complexity
progresses with the educational
levels, vertically or horizontally,
across the same discipline
smooth connections or bridging
should be provided. This will
assure no gaps or overlaps in the
content. Thus, there is a need of
team among writers and
implementers of curriculum.
 Sequence
The logical arrangement of the
content refers to sequence or
order. This can be done
vertically for deepening the
content or horizontally for
broadening the same content. In
both ways, the pattern usually is
from easy to complex, what is
known to the unknown, what is
current to something in the
future.
 Integration
Content in the curriculum does not
stand alone or in isolation. It has some
ways of relatedness or connectedness
to other contents. Contents should be
infused in other disciplines whenever
possible. This will provide a wholistic or
unified view of curriculum instead of
segmentation. Contents which can be
integrated to other disciplines acquire
a higher premium than when isolated.
 Continuity
Content when viewed as a
curriculum should continuously
flow as it was before, to where it
is now, and where it will be in the
future. It should be perennial
(lasting or existing for a long or
apparently infinite time). It
endures time. Constant
repetition, reinforcement and
enhancement of content are all
elements of continuity.
 Activity
There are six (6) criteria in
the selection of
knowledge/subject matter.
Interview at least five (5)
teachers, the indicators for
each of the criteria by
answering the given
question.
Criteria Questions Indicators
1. Significa How do you know the
nce significance in the content of
the curriculum?
2. Validity How do you know if the
curriculum is valid?
3. When do we know that the
Usefulness curriculum is useful?
4. When do you know that the
Learnability content is within the range of
your learner’s experience?
5. When do you know that the
Feasibility content is within the time,
resources and expertise of
teacher and experience of
the learners?
6. Interest When do you know that the
learners are interested in the
content?
Our Insights
 Shukran and
Salam.
Allah rewards you
all for listening…