Health Professionals Curriculum in Context

Following a recent presentation (to a validating panel) of the curriculum "Health and Social Care Course for Learners with English as a Second or Alternative Language", this assignment will provide commentary to accompany the presentation and will address; The rationale behind the creation of the curriculum including influencing external factors, such as; social, economical, cultural and technological influences; examining STEEP and SWOT factors, how the curriculum will be integrated into proposed host organisations and how it will be marketed, the assignment will also demonstrate the supportive theory and literature used to underpin the curriculum issues and it will conclude with a reflective evaluation upon the practical effectiveness of the curriculum.The curriculum "Health and Social Care Course for Learners with English as a Second or Alternative Language" consists of a three-tier course that address' health and social care education, literacy and numeracy (skills for life) and the education of emigrant workers (See appendix One). The course is progressive in levels and commences with a beginner course followed by a common induction course and finishes with an advanced course.

Each course lasts ten weeks in length and progresses in levels of difficulty.Kelly (1999) defines curriculum as "all the learning which is planned and guided by the school.." This definition is focused on compulsory education so does not really have bearing on the curriculum presented here for the further education sector, however, I like the definition because it states that curriculum is about learning and not just a syllabus which many people still relate the curriculum to. Smith (2000) extends the notion that a syllabus can be regarded as the contents of treatise and will not generally include the importance of its topics or the detail upon which they should be delivered. Therefore it would be wrong to marry curriculum and syllabus together as the same category.

Curzon (1985) strengthens this argument by suggesting that those who compile a syllabus will follow a textbook approach and will produce an order of contents, Smith (2000) argues that curriculum is a body of knowledge-content and or subjects.He believes that those who compile a curriculum will produce an illustration of the way the body of knowledge, content or subjects will be delivered to students by the most effective methods that can be devised. Considering these explored notions, I feel that the FEU (1989) definition is very apt "The curriculum is more than merely a set of subjects, a syllabus or course; it is also more that the content of a particular learning programme. Curriculum involves all those processes, which facilitate, or if they go wrong, inhibit learning..

." Gray et al (2000) extend this notion further by categorising curriculum into two forms; Broad and Narrow. They explain that a broad curriculum is an educational view of learning, which includes all factors involved in learning and a narrow curriculum, is a planned curriculum to bring about certain learning outcomes in the context of formal or public provision. Nursing, and the curriculum I have presented, both fall into the definition of a narrow curriculum as they have been designed to provide educated and skilled workers for public provision. I have witnessed the provision of skilled workers (for the National Health Service and for the private sector) go through dramatic changes in the last five years.

A decline in the numbers of nursing (both professional and auxiliary) personnel led to crisis in British hospitals and private establishments and so recruitment of overseas began. The current situation finds wards and care homes staffed with a surplus of overseas nurses and axillaries, for which English is a second or alternative language. Although they may be very experienced and highly trained in their native country, in my experience I have found that they lack knowledge of the culture and social laws of Britain. This identified a gap in the market for heath and social care education.

I compared my curriculum to STEEP factors (Stenhouse 1975) and SWOT factors (Humphrey 1965) to identify the value of setting up a course targeting this group of learners.Stenhouse (1975) cites the five steep factors to consider when looking at influences to curriculum design. It is vital to consider these factors to illustrate the benefit of implementing the curriculum or highlighting any potential downfalls.