TRANSFORMATIVE CURRICULUM

i. INTRODUCTION
Transformative Education is an education that empowers a lot more concern on the whole being of the learners. This Curriculum Education does not only develop the mere intellect of the learners but rather, the personal and social transformation has also taken into account. As English writer G.k. Chesterton once said, “every education teaches a philosophy of life, if not explicitly, then by suggestion, by implication, by atmosphere. If the different parts of that education do not cohere or connect with each other; if the educational process as a whole does not combine to convey a coherent view of life; if, in the end, it does not empower and transform, then, it is not education at all.” A transformative education is one in which the student is incrementally invited to engage life, to reflect upon it and, then, to be of service to our world.
By transformation, we mean to bring about changes, changes that carry out the individual to be a better person of himself and a functional member of the community and the society. Transformative Education is really of big help in molding the totality of all the learners. Thus, there's no doubt that this Curriculum is learner centered. The needs, interests, and the desires of the learners are considered to ensure that to learn is not that dull and boring for the learners. In this Curriculum, we can view the learner as an active recipient of knowledge since there is a great interaction between teachers and the learners. The teacher is not the only one who delivers the lesson and transmits knowledge to the learners but rather, learners also have the role of sharing their perspectives in each lesson that should be discussed.
Transformative Education is not fixed and rigid, but rather, it has the characteristic of being flexible and dynamic. Adjustments can be done and can be carried out unlike that of the traditional or non transformative education, making it more advantageous.

ii. PRESENTATION PROPER
TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION
CURRICULUM
Objectives go beyond providing necessary skills, knowledge, values and beliefs.
It provides the students with the capacity for critical thinking, social awareness, and commitment to empowerment for social action.
It is not simply a grocery of 3R's and must be's. It starts with envisioning the responsible, free, active citizen as the final product and looks at the curriculum as defining comprehensive (and complicated) process that molds the youth into this kind of person.
 It goes beyond the didactic process of lessons to be learned and excuses to be accomplished, but encompasses a lot more in the formation of the individual.
 It has to be interdisciplinary, so that learning is extended to other discipline for a holistic formation of an individual.
 It should go beyond the classroom and include the learning processes derived from peer sharing and the students look forward to every school day and where much of the student's formations occur.
AN EMERGING VIEW OF CURRICULUM DEVELPOMENT
The features below highlight the centrality of teachers:
• COLLABORATIVE: Practitioners and researchers engaged in collaborative action work together as a group continually defining and redefining the purpose of research.

• CRITICAL: Underlying assumptions and beliefs are acknowledged; curriculum trends, policies, and practices are seen to be problematic and contestable; and further action is tied to critical frameworks which focus on social justice and empowerment for all.
• ACTION-ORIENTED: Demanding direct involvement and influence from the real world experience of practitioners where the problems of practice are framed, possible solutions are determined, solutions are enacted, and results are reviewed, reflected upon, and reconstructed.
• HONEST: Generating high levels of trust and relationship building among all the participants.
• CONTRIBUTING: Roles are negotiated not imposed, and responsibilities are clearly defined and self determined.
• COMMUNICATIVE: Interaction among group members occurs.
• REAL: Realistic expectations are set regarding time lines, and what's possible in particular contexts.
• EQUITABLE: Power and authority over design, process and outcomes are shared.
• MEANINGFUL: Teachers are valued as persons not as research objects, they are actively involved in the research process, and they can tell their story.
• REPRESENTATIVE: Acknowledgement of the professional, social, and emotional needs of teachers takes place.
• SUSTAINED: Time for reflection and reconstruction is an integral feature of the process.
• TRANSFORMATIVE: Empowerment to make change happen and not just to explain or understand it is of utmost importance.


CRITICAL THINGKING: A MAJOR SKILL
It is the ability to discuss and analyze independently in order to judge correctedness, to see the ability and willingness to reflect on or oversee one's own mental functioning and to assess their own performance.
It is also the ability to reflect on and regulate one's thought and behaviors.
It uses metacognitive strategies for understanding. Metacognitive skills include taking conscious control of learning, planning and selecting strategies, monitoring the progress of learning, correcting errors, analyzing the effectiveness of the learning strategies and changing learning behaviors and strategies when necessary.
Without those guarantees, this freedom of conscience, this right to think freely for each child or youth in the school, a student cannot leave to think critically and become developed as a whole person. What prevails is just pouring of knowledge, or parroting what the teachers say. It's a mere spoon feeding technique.
This is developed through monitoring progress of learning, correcting errors, analyzing effectiveness of learning strategies and changing behavior when necessary, training in scientific logic and method that allows each person to recognize independent truth and reality.

iii. CRITIQUE

The Transformative Education has the content and objectives that will suit the learner's needs and expectations. It definitely aims to bring about a total transformation for the learner to be a well developed, rounded individual. For a curriculum that aims for transformation, there is a great possibility that the learners will gain what they have to gain and they also can share what they have to share.
When we look on the traditional or non-transformative education, it shows a lot of differences from that of the transformative one. Traditional education is just simply pouring of knowledge to the individual and the learner himself is a passive recipient because the teacher is the only one who keeps on transmitting knowledge to the learner. Thus, the learner doesn't have the opportunity of sharing his/her thoughts and perspectives. But when we look on the transformative education, learners are then given an opportunity to be actively engaged in the class discussions and activities. Allowing them to explore and discover things on their own and reflect on their works and criticize it afterwards.
Collaboration between the teacher and the learners is present in a transformative education. A harmonious atmosphere that allows the teacher and the learners to interact with one another helps a lot in letting the learners be exposed to different views, opinions and perspectives allowing them to reflect and to criticize, developing the learners to be a critical thinker that let them think and analyze things deeply and thoroughly.
Transformative education is learner centered rather than content oriented. The curriculum aims to provide the learners' needs and expectations so that a better
individual can be molded up. Teaching students while considering their needs and desires makes a curriculum a lot better rather than just merely focusing to teach on what the content says by not even considering the learners' needs and expectations.
To implement this educational approach, there are certain factors that must be considered. One of the factors is the teacher. Teachers are the one who are going to be the mentors and the facilitators of the learning process. They are the one who delivers the lessons and interacts with the learners. In this connection, teachers must have the necessary qualities and skills that can deal with the diverse situations in the learning process. Another important factor is the learners themselves. A school couldn't exist without them. With the succession of the transformative education's goals and objectives, learners must show willingness to participate in the said curriculum.

iv. CONCLUSION
Transformative Education therefore is an Education which aims to develop the learners' totality. It brings about change that makes the individual transform into a better person. It shapes not only the intellect but also the character and attitude of the learners. It includes collaboration and partnership between the teacher and the learners. Transformative education develops skills for critical thinking that they may understand, analyze and think deeply in every way possible.
It is a curriculum that molds and makes a learner a "human being" by being a human not only in words, but also in actions. It produces a product that can be proud of. Learners are molded to be responsible so that they can be effective members of the community and the society; thus, making a personal and social transformation.
Transformative Education sees the teachers as the facilitator of the learners that guides the learners all throughout and not by a mere source of knowledge that only makes a transmission and not giving guidance to satisfy the learners' needs and cravings to learn things. Transformative Education sees learners as an active participant of the teaching and learning process that allows them to actively engage themselves to class discussions and activities. In this way, learners are more motivated to learn more and crave for more discoveries and explorations because they are given an opportunity to look out things and share their own perspectives.
In Transformative Education, we expect one word that will absolutely define this kind of curriculum and that word is to bring about "Change".

v. BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Salana, J., Bernales, R. (2008).Curriculum development. Mutya publishing house, Inc.
 http://alumni.luc.edu, (2010).Transformative education. retrieved from:http://alumni.luc.edu/site/DocServer/Transformative_Education.pdf?docID=3141
 Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, (2010).Transform. retrieved from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/