Our approach to curriculum reflects our perceptions, values, and knowledge. A curriculum approach reflects a holistic position, or a meta-orientation, encompassing curriculum’s foundations (a person’s philosophy, view of history, view of psychology and learning theory, and view of social issues), curriculum domains (common, important knowledge within the field), and curricular theory and practice. An approach expresses a viewpoint about curriculum’s development and design; the role of the learner, teacher, and curriculum specialist in planning curriculum; the curriculum’s goals; and the important issues that must be examined (Ornstein and Hunkins, 2018:24). Based on this claim, it is evident that the curriculum’s approach is the aspect and goal that it is intended to emphasize. Every curriculum system is based on a specific methodology, or mode of operation, within which the curriculum is integrated. The purpose of this article is to highlight the humanistic curriculum approach, expose it, and show how it forms the cornerstone of the individualized education curriculum system.
Systems for implementing curriculum are based on five different approaches to education. These curriculum approaches assist in giving the curriculum its direction and the students it is intended for. The curricular method being used allows us to see the type of student the curriculum intends to produce.The curriculum may be driven by an academic approach where the importance of academia and educational structures and systems are a driving force of the curriculum, a managerial approach where leadership and management are emphasized and encouraged, a systems approach where the value of systemised education and societal systems are a footprint of education, or a humanistic curriculum. These curriculum ideas can be combined to function within one curriculum because some of them are related. The curriculum system is stabilized in this way.
As it is the case with the PECS, Ornstein and Hunkins, (2018), reveals that the humanistic curriculum approach became popular again in the 1970s as relevancy, radical school reform, open education, and alternative education became part of education’s reform movement. PECS is a disruptive curriculum that seeks to radically reform the curriculum into the interest of students as individuals, supporting and protecting their educational needs. Just like the birth of postmodernism, PECS is the product of dissatisfaction with the modernist curriculum system in South Africa. PECS is meant to rescue students from the monstrous curriculum that fails to implement progressivism and provide differentiated learning that suits all students. Just like progressivism in the past, PECS is a disruptive and qualitative curriculum system that aims to end the confusion around the inconsistencies of the curriculum. PECS seeks to restore the value and dignity of our education system by making it responsive to the needs of society through the liberal education-based curriculum system. This is in full concurrence as the humanistic curriculum approach holds its birth from progressivism, Ornstein and Hunkins, (2018) posit that in the 1920s and 1930s, the progressive movement moved east and was dominated by Teachers College, Columbia University, and by such professors as Boyd Bode, Frederick Bosner, Hollis Caswell, L. Thomas Hopkins, William Kilpatrick, Harold Rugg, and John Dewey (who was by then at Columbia) Humanistic curriculum approach gained further impetus in the 1940s and 1950s with the growth of child psychology and humanistic psychology (which deals with valuing, ego identity, psychological health, freedom to learn, and personal fulfilment.
The debate above not only establishes the humanistic curriculum approach as the pinnacle of the principles upheld by PECS, but it also emphasizes the importance of education in transforming students into contributing members of society. As a result, under the humanistic curriculum approach, students are more likely to be enrolled in classes that align with their personal goals than they would be under NCS Caps, which forces students to take monstrous subjects they will never use in their future careers.According to Ornstein and Hunkins (2018:25), curriculum experts who support this humanistic curriculum approach frequently favor cooperative, independent, small-group, and social learning activities over competitive, teacher-dominated large-group learning. Each kid contributes significantly to the curriculum and shares responsibility for organizing classroom instruction with parents, teachers, and curriculum professionals. When a school uses this strategy, the concepts of mentor systems and professional collegiality are more prominent, and curriculum directors and supervisors tend to give teachers more say in decisions about the curriculum. Instead of being top-down, curriculum committees are bottom-up, and students are frequently invited to participate in meetings to voice their opinions.
The goal of the personalized education curriculum system is to give students complete educational independence while providing them with a flexible, strictly applicable curriculum. The first step in resolving the issues with the South African educational system is the creation of a tailored curriculum education system and the elimination of the NCS. This answer is consistent with Anthony Blair’s prediction that “a revolution, like in politics and economy, will occur in education too; where there would be a movement against the education system that; every child at the same age has to choose from a compulsory list of subjects as his curriculum” (Glines, 2012: 176).The time for that revolution has come! The myth that has reduced the importance of education in society to little more than a set of rules to follow needs to be disproved. It is regrettable that the country’s curriculum system and what it offers are the only factors influencing the restart of the educational system. Because of this, it was argued in the previous article that a curriculum system’s structure may be subpar to the point that, rather than promoting student success, it plays a significant role in academic underperformance by disassociating students from their objectives.Furthermore, various scholars on humanistic curriculum including the DeCarvalho, 1991; Maslow, 1971; Morris, 1978; Rogers, 1969; Patterson, 1973) posits that humanistic approaches to learning are based on the principles of humanism and are founded most notably on the work of Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) and Carl Rogers (1902–1987). They centre on the learner as an individual and consider that learning is not just about the intellect, but also about educating the ―whole person, taking a person’s interests, goals, and enthusiasm into account, so that full potential can be achieved. This approach to learning is student centred, with learners encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and being intrinsically (natural, inborn), rather than extrinsically (external originating from the outside) motivated.
It is for such reasons the Personalised Education Curriculum System (PECS) was conceived as a curriculum system strictly rooted in humanistic approach, quality curriculum theory aspects, foundations of competency- oriented education, and focused on practically assessing students for relevant skills, aptitudes, and values to manoeuvre modern-day society successfully. PECS was developed to be at the forefront of curriculum relevance issues. Just like the birth of postmodernism, PECS is the product of dissatisfaction with the modernist curriculum system in South Africa. PECS is meant to rescue students from the monstrous curriculum that fails to implement progressivism and provide differentiated learning that suits all students. Just like progressivism in the past, PECS is a disruptive and qualitative curriculum system that aims to end the confusion around the inconsistencies of the curriculum. PECS seeks to restore the value and dignity of our education system by making it responsive to the needs of society through the liberal education-based curriculum system. PECS aims to give students the opportunity to gain an insight into the world of work during their school years. This makes PECS unique and highly relevant in inspiring the education community of our country, South Africa, and Africa as a whole. And we believe that the education system can be improved in this way.
Know more about PECS: https://simnandisolutions.co.za/personalized-education/
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Cite this publication: XABA, S.S. (2023). Humanistic curriculum approach is the epitome of PECS. https://simnandisolutions.co.za/post/.
Bibliography: DeCarvalho, R. (1991). The humanistic paradigm in education. The Humanistic Psychologist, 19(1), 88- 104 Maslow, A. (1971).
The farther reaches of human nature. New York: Viking Press. Morris, J. (1978). Psychology and teaching: A humanistic view. New York: Random House. Patterson, C.H. (1973). Humanistic education. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Rogers, C. (1969).
Freedom to learn. Columbus, OH: Merrill Publishing Company. Ornstein, C. Hunkins, P. (2018). Curriculum Foundations, Principles, and issues. 7th Ed. Pearson Education Limited: Edinburgh. http://daneshnamehicsa.ir/userfiles/file/manabeh/francis_p_hunkins_allan_c_ornstein.pdf.