Congruence among the Intended, Implemented and Attained “Thinking and Life Style” Curricula in the Eighth Grade

Congruence among the Intended, Implemented and Attained “Thinking and Life Style” Curricula in the Eighth Grade M. A. Jamalifar Sh. Hashemi Moghadam, Ph.D. Z. Abedi Karajiban, Ph.D. A.R. Faghihi, Ph.D. The present study was carried out to examine the congruence among the intended, implemented and attained “thinking and life style” curricula in the eighth grade. The statistical population and sample of this descriptive survey comprised: 1) the curriculum guide as well as eighth grade “thinking and life style” textbook and teachers’ guide 2) 10 subject-matter experts, 3) 155 eighth grade “thinking and life style” teachers who were selected through random cluster sampling method in Tehran, 4) 10 observers who were randomly selected to observe teachers’ performance, 5) 384 eighth graders studying in academic year 2015-2016 who were selected via random multi-stage cluster sampling method, and 6) the entire population of Tehran’s heads of educational departments (19 individuals). Results indicated that there exits low congruence between intended and attained curricula and the same holds true for intended and implemented curricula. Despite the roughly appropriate curriculum, numerous practical difficulties such as inadequate teacher training, inadequate resources, curriculum overload, and difficulty of the content are encountered. In order to bridge the observed gaps and accomplish curriculum objectives, it is recommended that the curriculum be redesigned using inter-disciplinary subjects and teaching skills be enriched via high quality in-service teacher training. Key words: intended curriculum, implemented curriculum, attained curriculum