THE MEANING OF CURRICULUM

FROM A STUDENT'S PERSPECTIVE

University of the People

EDUC 5220: CURRICULUM DESIGN AND INSTRUCTIONAL DECISION MAKING

Written Assignment Unit 3

Instructor
Dr. Janear Hankerson
 Stauffer (2020) stated that "A curriculum is a collection of lessons, assessments, and other

academic content that's taught in a school, program, or class by a teacher" (para. 6). Furthermore,

it consists of purpose statement, outcome statement, essential resources, strategy framework,

verification method, standards alignment, course syllabus, and capstone statement (Stauffer,

2020). On the other hand, Grumet said that "Curriculum is the collective story we tell our children

about our past, our present and our future" (as cited in Ewing, 2013, p. 6). Meanwhile, Oh and

Rozycki (2017) interpreted the word 'curriculum' is the knowledge and skills that students are

supposed to learn throughout their education.

Having researched a variety of perspectives, to complete this assignment of creating a

narrative interview, I asked a question about the meaning and significance of the curriculum to

adult students just before taking an English class with them last night. Following a moment,

answering my question "What does the curriculum mean to you?", one student replied that the

subjects they were studying at the university were curriculum, and that they had studied different

subjects such as mathematics, science, and English. Her reasoning for the importance of it is that,

for her, education would be impossible without the curriculum, as well as that it would be the main

source of what students studied.

Her notion of curriculum intrigued me, and I asked whether she meant the content, goals,

methods, materials, and assessment in the guide as part of the curriculum. Having given that

answer, she was precise and concise, stating all the subjects with lessons and academic content she

was required to learn at school. Upon further inquiry, I asked where she gathered her information

and how she remembered it. Her vivid description was based on what she had heard in a college

class; and in order to define the word 'curriculum,' she simply made it up.
 The way I understood 'curriculum' was similar to hers at one time; but I added that it does

cover a wide variety of meanings. As a result of her question, she sounded confused and inquired

whether the curriculum included both inside and outside of school activities aside from the courses

offered at school. She seemed to have made a good decision regarding what curriculum meant to

her.

In the student's opinion, curriculum is solely comprised of subjects that are included in a

course. As a matter of fact, except for those who are specialized in this field, the majority of

teachers tend to think about curriculum as if she were giving the definition of the term. In many

cases, it is impossible to give a brief answer because curriculum can be both written and unwritten.

What the school or educational institution is attempting to teach and develop is social behaviors,

content, thinking skills, creative skills, etc. We discussed the point that though the meaning of

curriculum is simple for non-educators, it has a lot to do with education, since it can range from

the concept of education to learning acquisition, affecting the future of learners either positively

or negatively (The GER, 2015).

The last question I had was "Should students be involved in the development of

curriculum?" Her response was really insightful that she believed that schools should take it one

step further and involve students in the earliest phases of developing courses, including

constructing learning objectives and writing case studies for complicated topics. Students who are

given the opportunity to collaborate with faculty members and to co-create topics are likely to

engage and be more interested in the course. Furthermore, co-created courses can be an opportunity

for students to explore career options and inspire them to engage in innovative career paths. By

allowing students to develop curriculum, faculty members and students develop a sense of shared

responsibility. Students are put in the driver's seat because of the increased responsibility, which
encourages them to become more resourceful and knowledgeable about course content ahead of

time. Including students in the planning process should lead to additional class time for deeper

discussion when they are familiar with the material from the beginning (Lu, Nguyen, and Ersin,

2015.)

As a result of the conversation about curriculum taking us about 30 minutes, we spent

longer in class than usual.

 References

Ewing, R. (2013). Curriculum and Assessment: Storylines. (2nd Edition). Australia and New

Zealand: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from

http://lib.oup.com.au/he/Education/samples/ewing_curriculum2e_sample.pdf

Lu, C. Y., Nguyen, Q., and Ersin, O. Z. (2015). Active student engagement in curriculum

development. Am J Pharm Educ. Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4386751

Oh, L and Rozycki, R. (2017, August 8). What Exactly Is Curriculum? Education

Elements. Retrieved from: https://www.edelements.com/blog/what-exactly-is-curriculum

Stauffer, B. (2020). What is a curriculum and what do you make one? Retrieved from

https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/what-is-a-curriculum

The Glossary of Education Reform. (2015). Curriculum. Retrieved from

https://www.edglossary.org/curriculum/