{"id":101209,"date":"2021-04-12T19:59:32","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T14:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=101209"},"modified":"2021-04-12T21:49:30","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T16:19:30","slug":"ugcs-new-learning-outcomes-based-curriculum-framework-locf-explained-pointwise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/ugcs-new-learning-outcomes-based-curriculum-framework-locf-explained-pointwise\/","title":{"rendered":"UGC\u2019s new Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework (LOCF) -Explained, Pointwise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h5><b>Introduction<\/b><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The UGC (University Grants Commission) recently released a new document on the undergraduate history curriculum. It is named &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/issues-with-ugcs-new-undergraduate-history-curriculum\/\">Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework (LOCF)<\/a>, 2021&#8243;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The LOCF aims to change the syllabus for the undergraduate history curriculum in India. Further, it aims to provide a focused, outcome-based syllabus at the undergraduate level. Further, the LOCF\u00a0 also has an agenda to restructure the teaching-learning experiences in a more student-centric manner. However, the changed syllabus of the undergraduate history curriculum falls short to meet its desired objectives and requires reconsideration.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5>Key provisions of <b>Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework (LOCF)<\/b><\/h5>\n<p>The Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework (LOCF), 2021 for undergraduate education in history begins with the declaration: \u201cHistory, as we all know, is a vital source to obtain knowledge about a nation\u2019s soul\u201d.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Firstly, the document seeks to <strong>create a student body<\/strong> that will compete globally and be aware of its glorious past.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Secondly, under the LOCF, the Undergraduate education qualification will be awarded on the basis of demonstrated achievement of outcomes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thirdly, these outcomes are expressed in terms of knowledge, understanding, skills, attitudes and values.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Further, it also specifies the expected known, understandable to do things for graduates completing a particular programme of study.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Overall the document is a policy directive to\u00a0<strong>mould the entire undergraduate history education\u00a0<\/strong>in India.<\/p>\n<h5><b>About New Curriculum<\/b><strong> for History under LOCF<\/strong><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To acquire a degree in BA History a student must study<\/span>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fourteen Core Courses (CC)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Four Discipline Specific Elective Courses (DSE)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Four interdisciplinary General Elective Courses (GE)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two discipline centred Skill Enhancement Courses (SEC)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two Ability Enhancement Courses (AEC)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new curriculum is based on a choice based credit system. Under this, a student has the flexibility to choose their course from a list of elective, core, and soft skill courses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first paper of course is titled \u2018<\/span><b>Idea of Bharat.\u2019<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It seeks to study the primitive life and cultural status of the people of ancient India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The five units of this paper cover:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The concept of Bharatvarsha\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indian knowledge traditions, art and culture<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indian economic traditions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dharma, philosophy and \u2018Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam\u2019<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Science, environment and medical sciences<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The third paper includes features of the \u201cIndus-Saraswati Civilisation\u201d and its continuity, fall and survival.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Similarly, there are other changes in other papers as well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Intended objectives the <\/b><b>LOCF<\/b><\/h5>\n<p>The LOCF aims to achieve the following objectives. Such as,<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Use history as a vital source<\/strong> to obtain knowledge about a nation\u2019s soul.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Create a conscious student body<\/strong> that is aware of India\u2019s glorious past and can compete at the global level.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Build a new narrative<\/strong> about the nation through a dialogue between past and present.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Bring out the best intellect<\/strong> of the student and also allow him\/her to keep pace with the contemporary development.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h5><b>Benefits of <\/b><b>LOCF<\/b><\/h5>\n<p>If implemented the <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LOCF will yield the following benefits. Such as,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The curriculum will <\/span><b>break the stereotypes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of History learning and also creates <strong>interest amongst students<\/strong> to study History.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>It provides great flexibility to students. <\/b>As the curriculum<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> offering a large amount of choice. So the students can tailor their education on the basis of their interests.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Further, the LOCF <b>enables a student of History to be well versed with other complementary subjects.<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As it offers a balanced combination of Core, Discipline Specific Electives and Skill Enhancement Courses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, its <\/span><b>interdisciplinary nature<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> would open multiple career paths for students like:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Administrative Assignments<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Foreign Assignments for building International Relations<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Journalism and Media<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Policy Making and Governance<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Public Life and People\u2019s Representation<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Concerning Issues of LOCF<\/b><\/h5>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Improper representation of Bharatvarsha: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the unit of \u2018 The concept of Bharatvarsha\u2019, little focus is paid towards the contributions of the south, east and northeast people.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Further, the struggle of the masses in the freedom movement is also not given its due space in the creation of Bharat.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Regional Bias: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The curriculum is biased towards the history of North India. The rich sociocultural, economic and political changes of other regions has not provided adequately. Further, some regions introduced only as political formations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Weakens the social fabric<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The paper on medieval and the early modern India (History of India, 1206-1707) shows that Hindus and Muslims as two separate entities. This would strengthen the belief in separate nations for Hindus and Muslims which led to the country\u2019s partition in the past.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Violence as a Major Driver of change<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The use of force is projected as the main driver of change in society. For example, the case of Aryan, Mughal or any other invasion in new curriculum. This kind of narrative portrays violence as the sole reason for the change.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Disputed Findings<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The Saraswati (a mythological river) is mentioned in the Vedas, but its existence is disputed amongst historians.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Ignoring Multilayered Explanations:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The new curriculum adopts the categorization methods of colonial historians. It ties the history to the story of dynasties and rulers who mainly operate under the force of religion.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This undermines the Multilayered Explanations that state social, economic and cultural changes occur as long-term processes. These are hard to pin down to specific dates or years or dynasties.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h6><b>Pedagogical challenges with the LOCF<\/b><\/h6>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The style of pedagogy is more<\/span><b> textbook-oriented<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The book is less emphasised towards the archaeological artefacts, coins, visits to monuments and museums etc. Further, this hinders the better understanding of the subject.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>The new framework does not encourage reading a diversity of opinion<\/b><\/span><b>. <\/b>This <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will restrict the students only to limited sources.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The curriculum<\/span><b> ignores the finest writings in Indian history<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The bulk of readings span from the 1900s to the 1980s, with a heavy dependence on the work of Indologists. This curtails their resource base.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The linkage of <\/span><b>critical 21st-century issues like climate change, democracy, social justice<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> etc. with the historical framework is also missing.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h5><b>Suggestions to improve the LOCF<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Firstly, the UGC should <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">re-include the <\/span>works<b> by prominent historians <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in the curriculum. As it would ensure a better understanding of the history by the students.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This includes R.S. Sharma\u2019s book on ancient India and Irfan Habib\u2019s book on medieval India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Secondly, the LOCF also has to include<b>\u00a0New modes of thinking<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> especially about Big Data, digital mapping and visualisations, critical study of the environment etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thirdly, apart from that, there should be a <\/span><b>re-adoption of inclusive and secular texts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like Kautilya\u2019s Arthashastra, the poems of Kalidas, Ayurvedic text Charak Samhita etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fourthly, apart from that, the UGC can arrange a <strong>meeting with eminent persons<\/strong> (representing diverse sections) in order to re-examine the proposed syllabus.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The shortcomings of the curriculum have to address efficiently through cautious discussion. In conclusion, the LOCF should make it more rational, objective and comprehensive in order to deliver optimum outcomes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction The UGC (University Grants Commission) recently released a new document on the undergraduate history curriculum. It is named &#8220;Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework (LOCF), 2021&#8243;. The LOCF aims to change the syllabus for the undergraduate history curriculum in India. Further, it aims to provide a focused, outcome-based syllabus at the undergraduate level. Further, the LOCF\u00a0&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/ugcs-new-learning-outcomes-based-curriculum-framework-locf-explained-pointwise\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">UGC\u2019s new Learning Outcomes-based Curriculum Framework (LOCF) -Explained, Pointwise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,9],"tags":[1309],"class_list":["post-101209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","category-public","tag-education_related","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":9,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1698469639},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}