Module 2

The Teacher as Knower of Curriculum

Introduction

This module describes the school curriculum in terms of its definition, its nature and
scope which are needed by the teacher as a knower. It provides a wider perspective for the
teachers about the curriculum, in terms of curriculum approach, curriculum development
process, some curriculum models and the foundations upon which curriculum is anchored.

Module Contents

Module 2 has four (4) lessons as enumerated below:

1. The School Curriculum: Definition, Nature and Scope

2. Approaches to School Curriculum
3. Curriculum Development: Processes and Models
4. Foundations of Curriculum Development

Lesson 1
 The School Curriculum: Definition, Nature and Scope
Lesson Objectives

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

1. (C) Define curriculum from different perspectives
2. (A)
3. (P) Describe the nature and scope of curriculum

Motivation/Prompting Questions

Read the following headlines in newspaper:

1. “Philippines shifts to K to 12 Curriculum”

2. “Nature Deficit Syndrome On the Rise Among School Children”
3. “Teachers are Reluctant to Teach Beyond the Written Curriculum”
4. “Co-curricular Activities: Learning Opportunities or Distraction”
5. “Parents Get Involved in School Learning”

What can you say about the headlines presented? Do these reflect what are going on in
our schools? Should the public know and be involved in the schooling of their citizens? What
are the complications of each headline to the classroom curriculum?

Each member of society seems to view school curriculum differently, hence there are
varied demands on what schools should do and what curriculum should be taught. Some would
demand reducing content and shifting emphasis to development of lifelong skills. Others feel
that development has been placed at the back seat of some schools. More debates are emerging
on the use of languages in the classroom. Should it be mother tongue, the national language or
the global language?

There seems to be confusion about what curriculum should really be. To have a common
understanding of what curriculum really is, this lesson will present some definitions as given by
various authors. Likewise, you will find in this lesson the description of the nature and scope of
curriculum from several points of view. This lesson will also explain how curriculum is being
approached. It further shows a development process as a concept and as a process as applied to
school curriculum.

Discussion

Whether curriculum is taken in its narrow view as a listing of courses to be taught in

schools or broadly as all learning experiences that individuals undergo while in school, we
cannot deny the fact that curriculum should be understood by teachers and other stakeholders for
curriculum affects all teachers, students, parents, politicians, businessmen, professionals,
government officials or even the common people.
Like many concepts in education, there seems to be no common definition of
“curriculum”. Because of this, the concept of curriculum is sometime characterized as
fragmentary, elusive and confusing. However, the word originates from the Latin word
“curere” referring to the oval track upon which Roman chariots raced. The New International
Dictionary defines curriculum as the whole body of a course in an educational institution or by a
department while the Oxford English Dictionary defines curriculum as courses taught in schools
or universities. Curriculum means different things to different people. Sometimes educators
equate curriculum with the syllabus while a few regard it as all the teaching and learning
experiences which the student encounters while in school. Numerous definitions indicate
dynamism which connotes diverse interpretations as influenced by modes of thoughts,
pedagogies, philosophies, political as well as cultural perspectives. Here are some of them.

Some Definitions of Curriculum

1. Curriculum is a planned and guided set of learning experiences and intended

outcomes, formulated through the systematic reconstruction of knowledge and
experiences under the auspices of the school, for the learners’ continuous and willful
growth in personal social competence (Daniel Tanner, 1980)

2. It is a written document that systematically describes goals planned, objectives,

content, learning activities, evaluation procedures and so forth (Pratt, 1980)

3. The contents 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).

4. A curriculum includes “all of the 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 a framework of theory and research or past
and present professional practice” (Hass, 1987)

5. It is a program 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).

6. It is a plan that consists of learning opportunities for a specific time frame and place,
a tool that aims to bring about behavior 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).

7. It provides answers to three (3) 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

Since the concept and meaning of curriculum are shaped by a person’s point of view, this
has added to fragmentation, and some confusion. However, when put together, the different
definitions from diverse points of view, would describe curriculum as dynamic and perhaps ever
changing.

Points of view about the curriculum can either be traditional or progressive according to
the person’s philosophical, psychological and even psychological orientations. These views can
also define what curriculum is all about.

Curriculum from Traditional Points of View

The traditional points of view of curriculum were advanced by Robert Hutchins, Arthur
Bestor, and Joseph Schawab.

Robert M. Hutchins views curriculum as “permanent studies” where rules of grammar,

reading, rhetoric, logic and mathematics for basic education are emphasized. The 3R’s (reading,
writing,’rithmetic) should be emphasized 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. He
coined the word discipline as a ruling doctrine for curriculum development.

Phillip Phenix asserts that curriculum should consist entirely of knowledge which comes
from various disciplines.

Collectively from the traditional view of theorists like Hutchins, Schwab, Bestor and
Phenix, curriculum can be defined as a field of study. Curriculum is highly academic and is
concerned with broad historical, philosophical 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

On the other hand, a listing of school subjects, syllabi, course of study, and specific
discipline does not make a curriculum. In its broadest terms, a progressive view of curriculum is
the total learning experiences of the individual. Let us look into how curriculum is defined from
a progressive point of view.

John Dewey believes that education is experiencing. Reflective thinking is a means that
unifies curricular elements that are tested by application.

Holin Caswell and Kenn Campbell viewed curriculum as all experiences children have
under the guidance of teachers.
 Othaniel Smith, William Stanley and Harlan Shore likewise defined curriculum as a
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 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. Let us put all these interpretations in a summary.

Curriculum is what is taught in school, a set of subjects, a content, a program 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.

Activity 1. Taking Action

Traditional or Progressive: Your view of the Curriculum

1. What is your own definition of a curriculum? Write down your answer in a piece of
paper.
Curriculum based on my experience and acquired ideas from known scholars, I define
it as a planned body of knowledge which compose of syllabus, set of courses or
course study, modules or set of materials, lesson plan, learning objectives, and all the
necessary aspects and materials needed for educational process to take place. It is
imposed or enforced by the ministry of education to schools and enacted or taught by
the teachers for students to learn and apply in real-life situation. This means
curriculum is not limited to the four corners in the classroom but even outside the
school. Therefore, it is the framework of education which means it is the basic
structure underlying all characters and aspects involve in education to function for the
main purpose of producing competent, excellent and capable individuals on different
fields.

2. Do you have a traditional, progressive or both view of a curriculum? Explain your

answer based on your definition.

Based on my definition about curriculum, I have both traditional and progressive point of
view because for me, it would be lacking to say that a curriculum is just solely about written
documents and the basic knowledge from different courses or discipline without also
highlighting the learning experience acquired by the students with the guidance of teacher. It is a
complete package to define curriculum if it involves both the two perspective or points of view.

Activity 2. Self-Checking

Label the description/definition on the left with either Traditional (T) or Progressive (P).
 Description/Definition T P

1. Teachers are required to teach the book from cover to cover. 

2. If the learners can memorize the content, then the curriculum is best. 

3. Children are given opportunity to play outdoors. 

4. Parents send children to a military type school with rigid discipline. 

5. Teachers are reluctant to teach beyond the written curriculum. 

6. Pre-requisites to promotion for the next grade are skills in reading, 

writing and arithmetic only.

7. Teachers provide varied experiences for the children. 

8. Learning can only be achieved in schools. 

9. It is the systematic arrangement of contents in the course syllabus. 

10. Co-curricular activities are planned for all to participate. 

Activity 3. Self-Reflection
Pick-up a daily newspaper and read today’s headline. Choose one and reflect on this
headline that relates on curriculum and to your becoming a curricularist. Write your answer in at
least two paragraphs.
 According to this news, amidst
COVID-19 pandemic, teachers
are still highly needed for the success
of new normal distance learning
modalities. It was also
emphasized here the different
modes of learning which are self-
learning modules, online or
internet-based learning and
through television or radio. With
this, based on my opinion, the
curriculum that we have are
shaped from the traditional points
of view of scholars. With the fact
that teachers now rely on written
documents such as the syllabus,
course of study, books and
references in order to convey
knowledge to students and which
are basically about the fundamental
intellectual disciplines, it clearly
manifests that curriculum points
on the traditional way. Other than
that, due to our situation, learners are
not doing any direct experience such
as executing their learning in an authentic or in real-life situation especially for those who have
laboratory class it has become difficult for them. As a future teacher and curricularist in this
situation I think it is best to apply the 7 multi-faceted work such as knowing, writing, planning,
implementing, innovating, initiating and evaluating the curriculum in order to provide good
quality of learning to students even despite this pandemic.