Pedagogical discourse of curriculum development based on the orientation of educational practice

Abstract

Education reform that follows the needs of all students, parents and employees in educational institutions would imply goal-oriented action. The practice that promotes a concept focused on the teaching content and which does not even announce the learning outcomes in the pedagogical records confirms that the student is not a subject of the educational process and that there is a possible gap between theory and practice. However, what if we see this realization as a possibility? If we started the analysis of the quality of practice orientations and “from the end,” we would determine the factual role of all those involved in the educational process without, possibly unnecessary, polar orientations “for and against”. The aim of this paper is to examine the orientation of the curriculum present in the practice of educational institutions in order to conclude about the pedagogical discourse as the basis for change. The paper first operationalizes the concepts with regard to the types of curriculum present in educational practice, and then empirically verifies the testing of the set hypotheses. The obtained research results show that all curriculum orientations are equally represented in educational practice; classroom and subject teachers do not differ in the implementation of the educational process according to the type of curriculum and the orientation to learning outcomes and teaching goals contribute to the explanation of the open and closed curriculum. The last part of the paper explains and critically discusses pedagogical discourse as an agent for changes in the field of educational practice quality based on initial reflections on the current focus on competencies as a pedagogical standard. The contribution to the research was given by 113 educators employed in primary schools by providing answers to the created e-Instrument for the purpose of the research.