The Australian curriculum aims to develop confident learners who take an active role in their learning. It is a flexible curriculum that enables teachers to tailor their instructions based on students’ needs. The curriculum targets children from one to ten years. Students learn throughout their first years of school through teacher-student interactions, exploration, experimentation, and play in the school community. It prepares learners for the 21st century. The foundation year learning areas include English, mathematics, health and PE, languages, science, arts, humanities, and technologies. 

 

 

 

Mark Battersby (1999) of the Learning Outcomes Network states that learning outcomes are more than a few lines annexed onto curricula. He believes that learning outcomes within a unit of instruction influence learning and improve student engagement. Rather than concentrating on covering the information, the learning outcomes express how students may use the material, both in the classroom setting and more widely (Duke, 2002). Learning outcomes are guiding tools that direct students to the intended course objectives. Additionally, they demonstrate and assist teachers in determining the path to be taken and make students conscious of what they will achieve at the end of the unit (Singh & Mahajan, 2017). When the learning outcomes are included in the curriculum, both instructors and students will determine the best educational path. The learning outcomes are similar to the GPS that guide us to a certain destination without getting lost. The MOE ECE curriculum is missing a vital component that can lead to student success. As a part of this curriculum, including the learning outcomes is a must, as students need to be informed about the path they will follow during the lessons, courses, and units. Students need to become aware of the knowledge, attitudes, qualifications, and behaviors they must accomplish (Kinta, 2013). In one of our previous teaching practicum experiences, an incident was evident where an MST forgot to explain the learning outcomes for the students before introducing the topic. After that, some students asked about the lesson by saying: “Teacher, what are we going to do?” This incident proves the importance of highlighting and mentioning the learning outcomes professionally in the curriculum. The learning outcomes must be measurable and based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Bloom's Taxonomy describes the learning process and has thus proven to be a valuable instrument for developing the learning outcomes (Singh & Mahajan, 2017).

 

Mahajan and Singh (2017) stated the below points as the factors that must be followed when writing learning outcomes:

 

According to Serevina and Muliyati (2018), in achieving several goals, evaluating young children is essential because it offers information so administrators, curriculum creators, and educators may better understand the development and status of children and how well they learn (Serevina & D, 2018). It allows early childhood program staff to determine how effectively they fulfill their children's targets. It offers some of the information necessary for responsibility for the program and helps to advance child development understanding (Serevina & D, 2018). The National Research Council (2003) states that the most successful assessment in a teaching and learning community is the one that promotes and rewards good teaching methods based on student learning outcomes. At its finest, evaluation of student learning allows students to recognize their own strengths and limitations, as well as the types of knowledge they require to address learning gaps and misunderstandings. According to the National Research Council (2008), when such evaluation is used correctly, students will engage in self-assessment and continual performance improvement for the rest of their life. Therefore, the MOE ECE curriculum should allow students to discover their levels. Also, assessment is an opportunity through which teachers can modify content to benefit students and their needs.

 

Teachers play a vital role in increasing education standards. The improvement of school efficiency and equity rests, to a significant degree, on ensuring that educators are well qualified, adequately equipped, and motivated to do their best. The proper monitoring and evaluation of education, in turn, are essential if the efficacy of teaching in a school is to be continuously enhanced (Nhundu, 1999). It is vital to recognize the strengths and areas of teaching that should be improved (Kupermintz, 2003). From this point of view, teacher evaluation is a critical step towards improving the efficiency of teaching and learning and increasing educational standards. Shymansky (1978) once claimed that many variables contribute to successful education, but the instructor is the most significant contributor to the success of the program. The evaluation of teacher performance thus appears to be so essential as the evaluation of students (Kupermintz, 2003). In our previous teaching practicum experiences, a series of incidents was evident where the school principal attends the classroom suddenly and evaluates the teachers’ performance. We have also seen teachers attend and give feedback to their colleagues for improvement. The feedback is taken into consideration, and the assessed parameter improves itself based on the seen weaknesses. Evaluation results are not always negative, as teachers get praise and a call for the continuity of the level if it is excellent. Thus, the MOE ECE curriculum should provide evaluation and allow teachers to improve their teaching level and methods. Also, they must consider allowing colleagues to evaluate each other and provide feedback.

The first critical gap in the MOE ECE curriculum is providing one assessment tool only termed observation. Although observation is a critical tool, it is not sufficient alone. Peggy Mak (2002) states that even the most competent educators find it challenging to help students acquire a great amount of knowledge. Instructors must assess students' abilities to determine the efficacy of certain classroom activities utilizing a variety of assessment techniques. They should have a large amount of quality and quantity data to grasp how much their pupils have learned. To that aim, it is critical to assess pupils using a variety of ways (Maki, 2002). Second, there are no evident and mentioned learning outcomes specified in the curriculum, even though the learning outcomes are valuable to learners and instructors. Learning outcomes are a combination of information, skills, abilities, attitudes, and understanding. Students acquire them as a consequence of their effective participation in a set of educational experiences. In truth, they symbolize a lot more. They provide a methodological technique for expressing and describing the curriculum modules, units, and qualifications, as well as levels, cycles, and subject standards statements. The learning outcome is not just an isolated tool. It represents an approach that plays a significant role in a much broader context that is the foundation stone of the new architecture of educational reform (Adam, 2004). Therefore, we consider not having clearly stated learning outcomes in the curriculum as a gap. Third, there are no evaluation methods included in the curriculum. However, evaluation is necessary to improve the teaching and learning process. According to Arnold Love (2010), educational evaluation expanded at a remarkable pace. Evaluation purposes are likewise growing as the boundaries of educational evaluation continue to extend. Evaluations improve students' development, education systems, and responsibility for outcomes. Administrators and instructors should perform their own evaluations to enhance school performance and promote innovative learning environments (Love, 2010). Accordingly, we consider not having an evaluation plan in the curriculum as a gap.