Meaning of

Curriculum and other

Issues
 Topic 1 :
Curriculum Meanings/
Concepts, Nature, Purpose
and Types of
Curriculum
TOPIC : CURRICULUM MEANINGS/
CONCEPTS, NATURE AND PURPOSE
AND IMPORTANCE

Intended Learning Outcomes

a. Demonstrate knowledge by giving a
concrete concept of a curriculum
b. Explain the nature, purpose and
importance of curriculum in schools.
Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curriculum
“Curriculum“ began as a Latin word curere which means "a
race" or "the course of a race" “ to run/to proceed”
or a runway on which one runs to reach a goal.

* If the teacher is the guide, the curriculum is

the path.
❑Itis broadly defined as the totality of
student experiences that occur in the
educational process.

❑Itoften refers specifically

to a planned sequence of instruction,
or to a view of the student's
experiences in terms of the educator’s
or school's instructional goals.
 This includes:
❑ the units and lessons that
teachers teach;
❑the assignments and projects
given to students;
❑The books, materials, videos,
presentations, and readings
used in a course;
❑and the tests, assessments, and
other methods used to
evaluate student learning.
Curriculum may also
encompass a school’s
academic requirements
for graduation, such as
the courses students
have to take and pass,
the number of credits
students must complete,
and other requirements.
ACCORDING TO ORNSTEIN AND HUNKINS
Curriculum can be defined as:
1. Plan for achieving goals
2. Dealing with the learner’s experiences
3. Dealing with people
4. As a field of study with its own
foundations, knowledge, domains,
research, theory, principles, and
specialists
5. In terms of subject matter
SOME DEFINITIONS OF CURRICULUM
➢ Curriculum is planned and guided set of
learning experiences and intended
outcomes, formulated through systematic
reconstruction of knowledge and
experiences under the auspices
( endorsement and guidance) of the
school, for the learners’ continuous and
willful growth in personal social
competence.
( Daniel Tanner)
➢ It is a written document that
systematically describe goals planned,
objectives, content, learning activities,
evaluation procedures and so forth
( Pratt, 1980)
➢ The content of a subject, concepts and
tasks to be acquired, planned activities,,
the desired learning outcomes and
experiences, product of culture and an
agenda to reform society make up a
curriculum
( Schubert, 1987 )
➢ A curriculum includes “ all experiences
that individual learners have in a
program of education whose purpose is
to achieve broad goals and related
specific objectives, which is planned in
terms of framework of theory, and
research or past and present professional
practice.
( Hass, 1987)
➢It is a programme of activities
( by teachers and pupils )
designed so that pupils will
attain so far as possible certain
educational and other schooling
ends or objectives
( Grundy, 1987 )
➢ It is a plan that consists of learning opportunities for
a specific time frame and place, a tool that aims to
bring about behaviour changes in students as a result
of planned activities and includes all learning
experiences received by students with the guidance of
the school
( Goodland and Su, 1992)
➢ It provides answers to three questions:
1. What knowledge, skills, and values are most
worthwhile?
2. Why are they most worthwhile?
3. How should the young acquire them?
( Cronbeth, 1992)
Some Points of View of Other Curricularists

Curriculum from Traditional Points of View

❑ Robert M. Hutchins views curriculum as

“ permanent studies” where rules of
grammar, reading , rhetoric ( using
language effectively to please or persuade),
logic and mathematics for basic education
are emphasized. The 3Rs (Reading,
writing, ‘rithmetic) should be emphasised
in basic education while liberal education
should be the emphasis in college.
❑ Arthur Bestor as an essentialist
believes that the mission of the
school should be intellectual
training, hence curriculum should
focus on the fundamental
intellectual disciplines of grammar,
literature and writing. It should
include mathematics, science,
history and foreign language
❑ Joseph Schwab thinks that the
sole source of curriculum is a
discipline, thus the subject areas
such as Science, Mathematics,
Social Studies, English and many
more.
In college, academic disciplines
are labelled as humanities, sciences,
languages, mathematics among
others.
❑ Phillip Phenix asserts that
curriculum should consist
entirely of knowledge which
comes from various
disciplines
Collectively from the traditional view of theorists
like Hutchins, Scwab, Bestor and Phenix,
curriculum can be defined as a field of study.
Curriculum is highly academic and is concerned
with broad historical, philosophical,
psychological and social issues.
From a traditional view, curriculum is mostly
written documents such as syllabus, course of
study, books and references where knowledge is
found but is used as a means to accomplish
intended goals.
 Curriculum from


Progressive Points of View

A progressive view of curriculum is the
total learning experiences of the
individual thus a listing of school
subjects, syllabi, course of study, and
specific discipline does not make a
curriculum.
John Dewey believes that
education is experiencing. Reflective
thinking is a means that unifies
curricular elements that are tested
by application.

Holin Caswell and Kevin Campbell

viewed curriculum as all experiences
children have under the guidance of
teachers.
 Othaniel Smith, William Stanley
and Harlan Shore likewise defined
curriculum sequence of potential
experiences, set up in schools for the
purpose of disciplining children and
youth in group ways of thinking and
acting.

 Colin Marsh and George Willis also

viewed curriculum as all experiences in
the classroom which planned and
enacted by the teacher and also learned
by the students.
Colin Marsh and George
Willis also viewed curriculum
as all the experiences in the
classroom which are planned
and enacted by the teacher and
also learned by the students.
 The nature of curriculum has given
rise to many interpretations,
depending on a person’s
philosophical beliefs. Thus in
summary:

o Curriculum is what is taught in

school, a set of subjects, a content, a
programme of studies, a set of
materials, a sequence of courses, a
set of performance objectives,
everything that goes within the
school.
 It is what is taught inside and
outside of school directed by the
teacher, everything planned by
school, a series of experiences
undergone by learners in school
or what individual learner
experiences as a result of school.
 In short, Curriculum is the total
learning experiences of the
learner, under the guidance of
the teacher.
 Changing Concepts of Curriculum
Defined as:

Prescriptive
curriculum

Descriptive
Curriculum
Prescriptive Curriculum
definitions provide us with what
“ought” to happen, and they, more
often than not, take the form of a
plan, an intended programme or
some kind of expert opinion about
what needs to take place in the
course of study
Descriptive Curriculum goes beyond
the prescriptive terms as they force
thought about the curriculum “ not
merely in terms of how things ought
to be… but how things are real in
classroom” (Ellis, 2004)
Another term that could be used
to define the descriptive curriculum is
experience.
Why is curriculum
important?
 Curriculum is the backbone of
th of whole educational process.
Without curriculum, we
cannot conceive any educational endeavor.
Thus, the curriculum in a literal sense, is a
pathway towards a goal.
Curriculum is important in education
because it helps teachers to deliver an
effective and quality education. A
curriculum sets standards, goals and
learning outcomes that enable teachers to
judge whether or not students are able to
move onto the next level.
❑ Teachers develop their own
idea;
❑ Refining and improving them
over the years;
❑ Adapt lessons and syllabi
created by other teachers;
❑ Use curriculum templates and
guides to structure their
lessons and courses;
❑ Purchase prepackaged
curricula from individuals and
companies.
 Curriculum is often the object of reforms,
intended to either mandate or encourage
greater curricular standardization and
consistency across states, schools, grade levels,
subject areas, and courses.
 Importance of Curriculum
*The curriculum is the heart of the
school system
*There can be no school if there is no
curriculum
*Curriculum is the reason for existence
of the school
 Curriculum is dynamic as changes occur in
society. It must be adaptive to the changing
conditions of the world. Hence, schools need to
prepare the human resources for impending
changes.
What is the purpose of
the curriculum?
PURPOSE OF THE CURRICULUM IS
ENCAPSULATED IN THE FOUR CAPACITIES

To enable each child or young

person to be:
1. A successful learner
2. A confident individual
3. A responsible citizen
4. An effective contributor
Output No. 1
1. Write your personal definition of
curriculum. Explain your definition.

2. As a future teacher, how will you apply

the knowledge and the importance of
curriculum to the teaching profession and
the educational system?
 NATURE OF CURRICULUM IN
SCHOOL
1.What educational purpose should the
school seek to attain?( Objectives)

2. What educational experiences can be

provided to attain these purposes?(i.e. the
activities, the subject-matter)
3. How can these educational experiences
can be organized effectively to achieve
these purposes? ?(e.g. Teacher-centered
learning);
4. How can we determine whether or not
the expected objectives have been
achieved?( i.e. using tests, performance
observation and other forms of
evaluation);
 Curriculum
as a Process and as a Product
Curriculum process is a collective term that
encompasses all of the considerations about
which curriculum workers ponder and
ultimately use to make choices in the
development and evaluation of a curriculum
project.
Curriculum Development means
*recreating or modifying what is taught to
students.
* understood as a process implying wide
range of decisions concerning learning
experiences, taken by different actors at
different levels: politicians, experts, and
teachers at the national, provincial, local,
school and also international levels.
 Curriculum Development Process
TOP-DOWN BOTTOM- UP
1.The curriculum presented 1.What the society or the
to the teachers parents want
2.The curriculum adopted 2. Responses provided by
by teachers teachers in the schools
3. The curriculum 3. The collection of theses
assimilated responses and the effort to
identify some common
4.The evaluated curriculum aspects
4. The development of
common standards and
their evaluation.
 Curriculum as a Product
Curriculum products or projects result from
curriculum development processes and
provide the bases for instructional decisions
in classroom. Curriculum projects include
curriculum guides, course of study, syllabi,
resource units, lists of goals and objectives,
and other documents that deal with the
content of schooling.
Curriculum guides usually include details about the
topics to be taught, predetermined goals and
suggestions for instructional strategies (Ben-Perez,
1990)
Curriculum guidelines furnish information about
predetermined learning outcomes and are
generally less complete than curriculum guides
Course of study or syllabi usually specify the
content, the learning outcomes, and time
allocations for the various topics. Sometimes a
rationale for the choices of content is included in
the syllabi.
Resource units typically include
learning outcomes, suggestions for
teaching, sources of information, and
prepared instructional units. List of
curriculum goals and objectives, along
with their rationales, are another form
of projects.
In conclusion, the term “curriculum” may
be said to be total package of what
schools do to make the learners become
what society expects them to become,
namely good citizens, who are not only
able to understand or learn certain
school subjects, but fully integrate
individuals that are able to fit into
society and contribute their own share
as well, to the progress of that society.
Note 2: Question for discussion

•What does curriculum

now means to you?
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