I. Study tool

The tool adopted in the study is the proposed functional curriculum developed by the researcher for the study purposes. The following is an overview of the functional curriculum:

1. Its inception

Brown, Nietupski, and Hamre-Nietupski (1976) challenged the developmental model and instead used the criterion of ultimate functioning of daily life skills in society. In 1979, they introduced a functional term for daily life skills that refered to a new paradigm, which promoted integration into society by targeting skills required in everyday life. They described this curriculum in four functional daily life skill areas: domestic, social, leisure and vocational, which became the new content areas of the curriculum. This new perception of the curriculum spread, with Westling and Fox (2000) presenting 18 papers supporting this change in functional skills. By the end of the eighties, specialists unanimously endorsed the curriculum, noting that it should focus on daily functional skills appropriate to chronological age. The functional curriculum of daily life skills comprises a framework from which we select the priority skills to teach a pupil (Browder, Flowers, Ahlgrim-Delzell, Karvonen, Spooner & Algozzine, 2004).

2. Overall objective

The functional curriculum is aimed at shaping the personality of students with intellectual disabilities and enhancing their positive personality traits, to be able to adapt socially and rely on themselves. This is achieved through training these students to perform several functional skills, implement them in their daily lives, and integrate into society.

3. Sub-objectives

  1. Providing functional life skills to students with intellectual disabilities to enhance their independence and self-reliance.
  2. Enabling students with intellectual disabilities to make decisions, solve problems, and communicate effectively with their peers and community.
  3. Qualifying students personally, professionally and socially.
  4. Making students self-confident by choosing activities and objectives appropriate to their abilities and potential, and compatible with their needs.

4. Standards

The proposed functional curriculum is based on a number of pillars and standards aimed at developing the functional skills of students with intellectual disabilities by specifying:

  1. What do pupils learn? Objectives are determined based on their strengths and needs identified in their individualized education plan, and based on the results of the skill pre-assessment. This standard is the first in the functional curriculum standards.
  2. Where do pupils learn? Pupils should have access to primary and subsidiary learning environments that are as safe, stimulating, diverse and as natural as possible, such that these environments meet the standards of community-based training and real-life training whenever possible.
  3. How do pupils learn? By providing:
    • Diverse, active and social teaching methods.
    • Aids, strategies and assistive techniques appropriate to each skill and each pupil individually.
    • Training to teachers in charge of implementing the curriculum, and ensuring they understand the curriculum objectives and application mechanisms, in addition to achieving the family partnership standard.

Through studying the relevant literature, special curricula and functional curricula standards, the researcher concluded a set of standards for the current curriculum:

  1. Developing an individualized education programme for each pupil: The pupil's functional skills are determined through an individualized education programme specifically devised for him/her.
  2. Applying family partnership: Whenever possible, it is necessary to ensure the family's involvement in all the preparation stages of the student programme.
  3. Enriching the practical experience and applying exercises in daily life activities. Practical experience is divided into two parts:
    1. The academic practical experience through simulating reality.
    2. the community practical experience through community-based and real-life trainings.
  4. Continuous planning and evaluation of training programmes within the curriculum.
  5. Comprehensiveness and integration in the skills training, and linking activities to one another by organizing the educational content.
  6. Taking into account the chronological age, and regulating amounts of learning material in the functional skills training.
  7. Linking general and functional curricula whenever possible.

5. Sections

The proposed functional curriculum is composed of three main sections:

First: The theoretical framework that includes:

  1. Defining the functional curriculum.
  2. Determining its pillars and foundations.
  3. Determining its standards for students with intellectual disabilities.
  4. Distributing the strands of the functional domains among the proposed main and subsidiary training environments.
  5. Providing teachers with the implementation mechanism of the daily programme.

Second: The functional independence domain, which includes:

  1. Defining independence skills.
  2. Showcasing teacher directions for implementing the independence domain.
  3. Identifying the strands and skills of the independence domain, namely:
    • Personal care:
      • Using the toilet.
      • Personal hygiene and overall appearance.
      • Clothing.
      • Eating.
      • Health care and nutrition.
      • Sex education.
    • Domestic skills:
      • Housekeeping.
      • Kitchening.
      • Food preparation.
      • My food.
      • Storing food.
      • Clothing care.
    • Telephone skills.
    • First aid.
    • Security and safety:
      • Physical safety.
      • Personal safety.
    • Shopping (supermarket and others).
    • Personal finances:
      • Purchasing.
      • Budget planning.
    • Orientation, mobility and travel.