In view of the above question confronting curriculum planners, societal interest or needs variability is never an exceptional issue discussed while planning curriculum suitable for learning environment. This is because engaging any course content topic suitable for any society as we have it here in Nigeria, the need to check the variability of language structure, cultural tiles and tradition, religion, political practices, and the institution and colleges must be taken into cognizant as the case may be. That is why we in turns acknowledge authors with different perceptions, that curriculum must be brought in view to match learners wider range of understanding with some basic intricacy of the concepts of any subject introduced across every learning exercise.
In view of the above question confronting curriculum planners, societal interest or needs variability is never an exceptional issue discussed while planning curriculum suitable for learning environment. This is because engaging any course content topic suitable for any society as we have it here in Nigeria, the need to check the variability of language structure, cultural tiles and tradition, religion, political practices, and the institution and colleges must be taken into cognizant as the case may be. That is why we in turns acknowledge authors with different perceptions, that curriculum must be brought in view to match learners wider range of understanding with some basic intricacy of the concepts of any subject introduced across every learning exercise.This is on a more reason why, Farrant (1980:24) defines curriculum as "all that is taught in a school including the time tabled subjects and all those aspects of its life". If a curriculum is going to be relevant it must respond to the charges in society. The relevance and effectiveness of a curriculum which will be good for school instruction must thus take into consideration the changes in society; society should be given an opportunity for inclusion of its aspirations. It becomes important that the curriculum is constructed in light of the factors that are present in society and how these factors change over time such as the culture and the availability of resources and the ideology of a nation. This essay will thus discuss the view that effective curriculum must respond to changes in society (John Kombe, 2015).
One of the factors that an effective curriculum must consider is the ideology of a society or nation. An ideology is a way of thinking which forms a basis for an economic or political system. The ideology of the nation will determine the curriculum a country will offer and this will change the way people perceive things. Ideology can be described as the strong beliefs and ideas that a society possesses. Changes in ideological perspectives in society also influence the effectiveness of a curriculum and thus must be considered in any well-meaning curriculum planning, development and implementation process. Kelly (2006:99) agrees with this and says "Curriculum planning must be a commitment to an ideology of knowledge, of education, of society and of humanity". Thus society's needs and aspirations must be considered in an effective curriculum, a curriculum must respond to the needs and challenges that society is faced with. What people believe, their ideas and goals must be taken care of by the curriculum planners. For example, in the early when Zambia gained her independence, humanism the ideology of the new government was embedded in the education curriculum system.
Secondly, in 1990 the transformation of the country to a multi-party system, privatization and liberalization was the new government ideology and so it was included in the curriculum in accordance with the shift from the former humanistic ideological philosophy that existed before. Such a consideration does help in the effective implementation of a curriculum that must consider such a critical change in society.
Political changes in society must also be considered in order to formulate an effective curriculum. Politics is a science of governing people. David (1992:41) states that "As education and training have moved up the political agenda, we have witnessed the entry of industry and politics into 'secret garden' of education. Indeed politics does find itself influencing the effectiveness of education in a great deal. Politics of a nation does determine the curriculum to be followed and this is usually dependent on the political situation in the country at any given time. Such a political influence would affect the education system. Declarations by political parties in power influence the curriculum. For example, the revised curriculum dubbed the ‘two pathways' curriculum that is being piloted in technical secondary schools proposed by the new Zambian ruling party, the Patriotic front (Mulenga 2014). This education system is aimed at providing two pathways as the name suggests. One will be an academic stream aimed at nurturing the learners who are academically gifted and biased and the other a vocational stream for those who might not be academically gifted but are gifted with hands-on skills. Such changes have been necessitated by the political situation prevailing in the nation and will continue to affect the curriculum.
Societal changes also influence the curriculum and must be considered as such. A society is an organization of people with particular interest or purpose. The particular interest people have determines a curriculum to follow. For example, the people of North-western province value pineapple production thus the emphasis on the production of pineapples in the agriculture would be more appropriate there.
Religion is yet another determinant whose change influences the effectiveness of the curriculum. For example, Zambia was declared a Christian nation on 29th December, 1991 and that change has continued to influence the curriculum (AOSIS, 2010). Christian values are emphasized in the curriculum because of that religious change and it will continue to influence the Zambian curriculum and embrace Christianity as long as that close stays in the constitution.
Institutions or colleges are another factor in the effectiveness of the curriculum. It is also seen that the organization of each individual school and which collectively make up the culture of the school are a factor in the effectiveness of a curriculum (The ministry of education, 1996:32). So a curriculum must respond to Institutional changes such as the changes in course emphasis do affect the curriculum and so must be considered to take care of those changes. Kelly (2006:121) argues that "a teacher's understanding, support and approval is crucial in any innovation, including curricula. Changes in the way schools are run and managed influence the effectiveness of a curriculum and so the curriculum must take this factor into light as the planners attempt to formulate and implement the curriculum. Teachers run institutions and so must be considered in the formulation of an effective curriculum. A particular institution will follow a curriculum of what it feels should be offered to foster its current or reviewed strategy.
Cultural changes in society also influence the effectiveness of a curriculum. Society's values and norms determine the standard of behaviour in a given society and thus influence how effective a curriculum will be. By upholding good morals, this inevitably promotes good values and norms not only in the school but the community as a whole.
The availability of resources do also influence the effectiveness of the curriculum. These resources can either be human or material resources. The changes in the quality and availability of resources at any given time must be considered in the formulation of the curriculum because its success is affected thus. For curriculum to be implemented in a given institution, the resources both physical and human should be available. Availability of qualified teachers, suitable infrastructure and materials such as text books do affect the success of curriculum development.
All in all, a meaningful curriculum must take care of the changes in society in areas such as: ideology, culture, institution and religion. These and other determinants must be taken into consideration in relation to the society in which a curriculum is to be implemented. Curriculum planners must carefully study the changes in society so as to come up with a curriculum that is considerate of the needs of a given society for which a curriculum is intended.
References
John Kombe bba (2015), An effective curriculum Must be Respond to Changes in Society, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/316693