CRT LEARNING MODULE

Course Code EDU 12

Course Title Curriculum Development

Units 3

Module Title Understanding the Curriculum

Date Developed:
Document No. 001-2020
Curriculum, September 1, 2021
Development and Date Revised:
Issued by:
Evaluation ---
Page 1
Module 1: Understanding Developed by:
CRT
the Curriculum CRT Research Group
 College for Research & Technology of Cabanatuan

HOW TO USE THIS DIGITIZED LEARNING MODULE

Welcome to the module in Understanding the Curriculum. This module contains
training materials and activities for you to complete this module. This module also covers
the definitions, foundations, conceptions and elements involve in curriculum.

You are required to go through a series of learning activities in order to complete

each learning outcome of the module. Each of the learning outcomes is provided with
Modules. Follow these activities on your own and answer the self-check at the end of
each learning outcome. You may remove a blank answer sheet at the end of each module
(or get the answer sheets from the online facilitator) to write the answers for each self-
check. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask your facilitator for assistance.

This module was prepared to help you gain fundamentals and basic knowledge about
curriculum. This will be the source of Information for you to acquire knowledge and skill
in this particular trade independently and at your own pace, with minimum supervision
of help from your instructor.

 Talk to your online facilitator and agree on how you will both organize the Training
of this unit. Read each through the module carefully. It is divided into sections,
which cover all the skills and knowledge you need to successfully complete this
module.
 Work through all the information and complete the activities in each section. Read
Modules and complete self-check. Suggested references are included to
supplement the materials provided in this module.
 Most probably your facilitator will be your supervisor or manager. Your online
facilitator will support and correct you.
 Your online facilitator will tell you about the important things you need consider
when you are completing activities and it is important that you listen and take
notes.
 You will be given plenty of opportunity to ask questions and practice on the job.
Make sure you practice new skills during regular work shifts. This way you will
improve both your speed and memory and also your confidence.
 Talk to more experienced workmates and ask for their guidance.
 Kindly the self-check questions at the LMS (EDMODO) to test your own progress.
 When you are ready, ask your online facilitator to watch you online via Zoom or
Google Meet to perform the activities outlined in this module.
 Ask your online facilitator work through the activities: ask for written feedback on
your progress. Your online facilitator keeps feedback/pre-assessment reports for

Date Developed:
Document No. 001-2020
Curriculum, September 1, 2021
Development and Date Revised:
Issued by:
Evaluation ---
Page 2
Module 1: Understanding Developed by:
CRT
the Curriculum CRT Research Group
 this reason. When you have successfully completed each element, ask the
facilitator to mark on the reports that you are ready for assessment.
 When you have completed this module, and feel confident that you have sufficient
practice, your online facilitator will arrange an appointment with registered
assessor’s to assess you. The results of your assessment will be recorded in your
competency Achievement Record.

Date Developed:
Document No. 001-2020
Curriculum, September 1, 2021
Development and Date Revised:
Issued by:
Evaluation ---
Page 3
Module 1: Understanding Developed by:
CRT
the Curriculum CRT Research Group
 MODULE 1
UNDERSTANDING THE CURRICULUM
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the lesson, you MUST be able to:
1. identify the different definitions of curriculum according to various scholars; and
2. determine the importance of identifying the type of curriculum to be used by a
school.

UNDERSTANDING THE CURRICULUM

A clear understanding of what curriculum is, helps scholars and students in

understanding the curriculum as a dynamic field in education. Many books on curriculum
present various images, characterizations and definitions of the term curriculum. To analyze
or discuss all of these definitions would be a massive endeavor since there are more than
eleven hundred books written about curriculum.
 Curriculum as a list of subjects. This definition suggests that curriculum is the
“permanent” or the traditional subjects offered in the school curriculum.
 Curriculum as learning experiences. This definition includes students’ curricular and
co-curricular activities and the learning experiences they encounter inside or outside
the school.
 Curriculum as intended learning outcomes. This definition includes a list of learning
competencies or standards that students should learn in school.
 Curriculum as planned learning experience. This includes documents specifying
contents, objectives or general ideas of what students should know in school or in a
specific discipline.
 Curriculum as a discipline. Curriculum as a discipline has its own principles, theories
and practices.
 Curriculum as content or subject matter. This definition views curriculum as a series
of topics under each subject area.

SEVEN TYPES OF CURRICULUM

1. Recommended Curriculum
Perhaps you have asked these questions: Why should I take all these subjects and
follow the course flow religiously? Why is there a need to implement the K to 12? The answer
is simple! The Ministry of Education, the Commission on Higher Education, or any
professional organization can recommend and implement a curriculum.

2. Written Curriculum
The written curriculum refers to a lesson plan or syllabus written by teachers.
Another example is the one written by curriculum experts with the help of subject teachers.
This kind of written curriculum needs to be pilot tested or tried out in sample schools to
determine its effectiveness.
Date Developed:
Document No. 001-2020
Curriculum, September 1, 2021
Development and Date Revised:
Issued by:
Evaluation ---
Page 4
Module 1: Understanding Developed by:
CRT
the Curriculum CRT Research Group
3. Taught Curriculum
This is about the implementation of the written curriculum. Whatever is being taught
or an activity being done in the classroom is a taught curriculum. So, when teachers give a
lecture, initiate group work, or ask students to do a laboratory experiment with the guidance,
the taught curriculum is demonstrated. This curriculum contains different teaching styles
and learning styles to address the students’ needs and interests.

4. Supported Curriculum
The supported curriculum is about the implementation of the written curriculum.
Whatever is being taught or activity being done in the classroom is a taught curriculum. So,
when teachers give a lecture, initiate group work, or ask students to do a laboratory
experiment with their guidance, the taught curriculum is demonstrated. This curriculum
contains different teaching styles and learning styles to address the students’ needs and
interests.

5. Assessed Curriculum
When students take a quiz or the mid-term and final exams, these evaluations are the
so-called assessed curriculum. Teachers may use the pencil and paper tests and authentic
assessments like portfolio and performance-based assessments to know if the students are
progressing or not.

6. Learned Curriculum
This type of curriculum indicates what the students have learned. The capability that
students should demonstrate at the end of the lesson can be measured through learning
outcomes. A learning outcome can be manifested by what students can perform or do either
in their cognitive, affective, or psychomotor domains. The test results can determine the
learning outcome, and the students can achieve it through learning objectives.

7. Hidden Curriculum
The hidden curriculum refers to the unplanned or unintended curriculum but plays a
vital role in learning. It consists of norms, values, and procedures. See the three-minute video
below for more details.

Curriculum Foundations
Generally, there are three identified categories of sources for curriculum foundations
namely: (1) studies of learners and learning theory (psychology); (2) studies of life
(sociology and anthropology) and (30 studies of the nature and value of knowledge
(philosophy). These curriculum sources or foundations influenced curriculum developers in
framing different curriculum conceptions and in developing curriculum.
Psychology as a discipline deals about understanding human behavior; hence, it is
important in curriculum development. Psychology can provide information in five important
areas:
1. Educational objectives
2. Student characteristics
3. Learning processes

Date Developed:
Document No. 001-2020
Curriculum, September 1, 2021
Development and Date Revised:
Issued by:
Evaluation ---
Page 5
Module 1: Understanding Developed by:
CRT
the Curriculum CRT Research Group
 4. Teaching methods
5. Evaluation procedures

Meanwhile, studies about the society and culture – sociology and anthropology,
respectively – affect all curriculum processes. Knowledge about the society and its culture is
important in selecting the content of the curriculum. It provides a clear understanding of the
context in which the curriculum is developed. Studies about the society and the culture help
curriculum workers in understanding several social and educational issues that affect
curriculum processes and education in general.
On the other hand, philosophy as a foundation helps curriculum workers in
understanding the nature of knowledge and what subjects or topics are worthwhile. This is
very important in making decisions about the contents of the curriculum.

Curriculum Conceptions
Curriculum workers have different ideas about curriculum matters and curriculum
development processes. They have different points of view about curriculum concerns, goals
of what a curriculum should accomplish, and how a curriculum should be designed or
constructed.
1. Academic Rationalist Conception – considered as the oldest among the curriculum
conceptions. It stresses the importance of different bodies of knowledge, known as
disciplines or subject areas, as the focus of the curriculum.
2. Cognitive Processes Conception – seeks to develop a repertoire of cognitive skills that
are applicable to a wide range of intellectual problems. The subject matters are
instruments or tools for developing these cognitive skills that are lasting in the lives
of individuals.
3. Humanistic Conception – stresses the idea that curriculum or education is an
instrument for developing the full potential of individuals.
4. Social Reconstructionist Conception – views the school or schooling as an agency for
social change. Hence, it stresses that curriculum should respond to the different
needs, issues, problems and demands of the society.
5. Technological Conception – is preoccupied with the development of means to achieve
curriculum or educational goals. It views schooling as a complex system that can be
analyzed into its constituent components.
6. Eclectic Conception – is where curriculum workers find themselves aligning their
ideas with two or more curriculum conceptions. Hence, this curriculum conception
reiterates the realities in curriculum development that each of the curriculum
conceptions is to be considered and is influential to a certain extent in designing the
curriculum.

Elements of Curriculum
1. Curriculum Intent – is the term used by Print (1993) to mean the direction that
curriculum developers wish to take as a result of participating in the curriculum. It
includes the aims, goals and objectives found in any curriculum documents.
a. Aims – are the broad statements of social or educational expectations.

Date Developed:
Document No. 001-2020
Curriculum, September 1, 2021
Development and Date Revised:
Issued by:
Evaluation ---
Page 6
Module 1: Understanding Developed by:
CRT
the Curriculum CRT Research Group
 b. Goals – are statements more specific than aims. Goals are general statements
of what concepts, skills and values should be learned in the curriculum.
c. Objectives – are specific learning outcomes. Objectives include what specific
concepts, skills and values should be learned by the students.
2. Content – this may include values, concepts or skills that are important for the
learners to learn.
3. Learning Experiences – include all instructional strategies that are useful for the
implementation of the curriculum. These may appear in the form of activities,
strategies, methods or approaches that are useful in implementing the curriculum or
in teaching the content.
4. Evaluation – includes the different ways and tools used for evaluating whether or not
the curriculum intents were realized. Evaluation tools are also used to evaluate the
performance of the learners after they have undergone the curriculum.

Date Developed:
Document No. 001-2020
Curriculum, September 1, 2021
Development and Date Revised:
Issued by:
Evaluation ---
Page 7
Module 1: Understanding Developed by:
CRT
the Curriculum CRT Research Group