Explaining the Components of Curriculum Content in Elementary Education Based on the Integration of the Educational Domains of the Fundamental Transformation Document and the Components of Brain-Based Education

Abstract

This study aimed to explain the components of elementary curriculum content through the systematic integration of the six educational domains of the Fundamental Transformation Document of Education with the components of brain-based education. An exploratory mixed-methods design was employed, comprising a qualitative documentary-analysis phase using the adaptive synthesis method and a quantitative phase devoted to content validation of the qualitative findings. The documentary population encompassed all six educational domains specified in the Fundamental Transformation Document and the curriculum components derived from the brain-based education framework; therefore, a documentary census was applied. Adaptive synthesis was conducted through four stages: establishing a common theoretical metalanguage, selecting relevant brain-based content components, analyzing conceptual alignment, and extracting and reviewing integrated curriculum content. For validation, 39 statements generated during the qualitative phase were evaluated by 10 curriculum-planning experts familiar with brain-based education and national educational policy documents. The Content Validity Ratio (CVR) was calculated using Lawshe’s method. The adaptive synthesis yielded 35 principal integrated content components across the six educational domains. The resulting framework indicated that integrated curriculum content should be multidimensional, experiential, learner-centered, and connected to real-life contexts while simultaneously aligning learners’ cognitive, emotional, social, and physiological capacities with educational objectives. In the validation phase, 28 of the 39 content statements reached the required CVR threshold and were confirmed by the expert panel. The validated framework therefore extends curriculum content beyond the transmission of subject-matter information toward an organized configuration of knowledge, skills, attitudes, experiences, interaction, creativity, problem solving, self-regulation, and the practical application of learning. Integrating the educational domains of the Fundamental Transformation Document with brain-based education provides a coherent basis for reorganizing elementary curriculum content.