Objectives in Curriculum Planning

Objectives are statements that describe the end-points or desired outcomes of the curriculum, a unit, a lesson plan, or learning activity. They specify and describe curriculum outcomes in more specific terms than goals or aims do. Objectives are also the instructions or directions about what educators want the students to be able to do as a result of instruction. Considered essential to goal setting and planning curricula, objectives aid students, teachers, and parents by specifying the direction of the curriculum and goals. Typically written by school districts, schools, and individuals, objectives also help ensure that educational processes are aligned and that instructional activities are directed toward the defined outcomes or learning.

There are several criteria for ensuring the appropriateness of objectives. Objectives must be developmentally appropriate and attainable by students within a short period. They must be properly sequenced so that prerequisite skills are accomplished before those objectives that require more complex skills. Objectives must be in harmony with the overall goals of the curriculum as well as with the goals and philosophy of the institution.

Objectives are generally considered the most specific aspect of the curriculum following the philosophy, aims, and goals. The philosophy of education is the mission of the overall curriculum or content area, and aims identify the overall direction of the curriculum. Goals are broad statements that indicate the long-term outcomes that educators hope to achieve. For example, a school may state that its long-term goal for first graders is that they will be able to read. A corresponding objective might be that first-grade students will be able to read a 100-word developmentally appropriate passage orally with five or fewer mistakes. Thus reading instruction might be developed around enhancing the students' decoding skills, sight-word recognition, and developing oral fluency. In this manner, objectives indicate the lesson outcomes and help communicate the intention of the teacher's instructional strategies. Objectives also assist educators by helping them (a) focus instructional planning, (b) plan appropriate instructional activities, and (c) create or develop valid evaluation procedures. Objectives also signify to students what behavioral changes or observable actions teachers expect them to demonstrate as a result of the student-teacher interactions. Objectives may also provide a rationale about why particular learning activities are used.

Objectives can specify behavioral or nonbehav-ioral outcomes. Behavioral objectives are written in terms of specific and observable behaviors. Supporters of behavioral objectives favor observable behaviors because they are measurable, unambiguous, and useful toward guiding instructional activities. Behavioral objectives easily and clearly communicate desired target behaviors. These types of objectives are written using verbs that indicate measurable or observable behaviors such as “state,” “recognize,” “evaluate,” or “create.” Behavioral objectives guide the development and design of the [Page 616]curriculum planning by suggesting a sequenced, precise, and compartmentalized approach to actions and outcomes. Nonbehavioral objectives are written using such words as “know,” “understand,” and “appreciate.” Nonbehavioral objectives allow for a more open-ended curriculum and integration of subject matter.

Those who oppose the use of preformulated objectives claim that behavioral objectives limit learning opportunities and activities to only those that can be measured and, thus, ignore the affective and spiritual dimensions of the students. For example, not all educational activities, such as a field trip to swim with the manatees have prefor-mulated objectives, yet this does not mean that this experience was not fruitful or educative.

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