Topic 2: Types of Curriculum

Learning Objectives
At the end of the topic, you will be able to:
1. identify the different types of curriculum;
2. compare and contrast the characteristics of the different types of curriculum; and
3. determine the type of curriculum appropriate for a given learner, learning outcome or a
learning condition.

Activating Prior Learning

Activity 2a: Photo Express

1. Group yourselves into 3s and together recall the comprehensive definitions you composed in
your lesson for topic 1on meaning of curriculum;
2. Look at the photos below and be able to decide which photos present a traditional or a
progressive type of learning experiences for the learners and why. To prove your answers,
be able to explain by describing the learners, the teachers and their classroom environment
and learning materials. You can also identify the photos as either suggesting how your
parents and other elderly were taught and how you and your generation want to learn and be
taught;
3. Arrange the photos into a photo essay or a photo collage using:
a. One title caption for the entire photo essay, and
b. Separate caption for the photos you grouped suggesting traditional and progressive
classrooms; and
4. Upload your photo essay or photo collage in our GC.

Presentation of Contents
Traditional VS Progressive
Generally, curricula adopted by academic institutions in the country and abroad are either classified as
traditional or progressive in nature.

The education that your parents or the rest of your elderly received was probably done the traditional
way which according to Fields (2018) goes by various names: “back-to-basics education”, “customary
education”, “conventional education” and all are representing the same thing – a teacher-centered style
of education which requires the students to obediently receive the information transferred by the
teachers. The information that is going to be taught to students is decided by the adults, based on what
they deem will be useful for the next generation in their academic and social lives.

On the other hand, as opposed to traditional curriculum, progressive curriculum suggests a different
approach to education, where the focus would be on the students as individuals instead of giving the
focus on the teachers. Specifically, Fields gives the following descriptions for a progressive curriculum:
1. Teachers would cease to be the authorities that are transferring predefined knowledge, but rather
only facilitate students’ research and development.
2. School wouldn’t be represented as preparation for life, but would rather be a part of life, a
process of learning and discovering that would last throughout the life of every student.
3. Parents wouldn’t just be outsiders, but would become actively involved in the education of their
children.

Basically, progressive curriculum is a reform of the traditional education, changing many fundamental
aspects of it. However, it’s not as universally accepted yet, although it is becoming increasingly
implemented in many schools across the world since it was started by many pedagogical experts which
include  John Dewey, a principal figure in this movement from the 1880s to 1904, who set the tone for
educational philosophy as well as concrete school reforms.

Analyze further the comparison and contrast of the traditional against the progressive curriculum
presented in the matrix below taken from ©2020 Essay Sauce https://www.essaysauce.com/education-
essays/traditional-and-progressive-curriculum/. Be able to decide which would you later follow as a
teacher and why.

TRADITIONAL PROGRESSIVE
Classrooms
Arrangement of seats is in rows. Arrangement of seats is in clusters.
Seats and desk are bolted down. Seats and desk are in beanbags.
Blackboard is in front. Blackboard is anywhere.
Students seats face the front. Students seats face the tables.
Classroom is quiet. Classroom is like an artwork.
Roles of the Teacher
Teacher is elevated. Teacher is active and loud.
Teacher is in-charge. Teacher allows student discussion.
Teacher is stern and strict. Teacher is facilitative.
Teacher does the talking. Teacher adaptive and flexible.
Teacher is authoritative. Teacher is project oriented.
Teacher is unprepared. Teacher is usually unprepared.
Class Discussion
Discussion is teacher-center. Discussion is a motion.
Hierarchy of authority. There is collaboration and Exam mode.
Roles of Students
Students are obedient. Students have freedom of choice.
Students are taken as empty vessels and Students are independent.
receiver.
Students are attentive. Students are self-motivated.
 Students are respectful to their teachers. Students are collaborative.
Students are grade-motivated. Students are exposed to learning
experiences.
Text and Materials
There is use of textbooks. Text and materials are student-created.
Students use workbooks. Students use multimedia.
Rote learning is applied. Multi-source type of learning are used.
Teach and test approach applied. Raw materials are applied.
Objective matters. Inter and multi-disciplinary objectives are in
use.
Text and materials are provided or pre- Text and materials are interactive.
generated by the experts.
Activities
Students just sit and listen. Students perform for evaluation.
Students take notes. Students are authentic.
Mastery is individualized. Mastery is multi-level.
Discussions are teacher-led and open-ended. Discussions are applied and
prescriptive of multiple intelligences.

Several curriculum scholars, in Pawilen (2019), classify curriculum into 9 types. These are as follows:

1. Recommended Curriculum - comes from a national agency like the DepEd, CHED, DOST or
any professional organization that has a stake in education. This curriculum is mandated for
implementation by schools under said agencies. Example would be CHED Memorandum Order
No. 20 Series 2004: New General Education Curriculum o the Republic Act 10533: K to12
Curriculum.

2. Written Curriculum - refers to the explicit, formal, official and overtly chosen curriculum to
support the intentional instructional agenda of a school which include documents, course of
study, or syllabi handed down to the schools, districts, division, departments, or colleges for
implementation. This also includes the lesson plans required from teachers for checking by their
school heads to make sure that the lesson is really planned as prescribed by the school’s
intended curriculum.

3. Supported Curriculum - are generally the resources or logistics or specifically all materials
and facilities which support or help in the implementation of the written curriculum which enable
each learner to achieve real and lifelong learning. Samples of these include buildings and
laboratories and all the teaching and learning materials such as textbooks, modules and
computers to name a few.

4. Entitlement Curriculum - refers to what the people or the general society believed the learners
are expected to learn and teachers are expected to teach in the educational system for the
learners to become competent in their grade level for basic education, in their degree for higher
education and in their skill for technical and vocational courses. In the end, these learners
become good members of their society.

5. Assessed Curriculum - is also called tested or evaluated curriculum. A series of evaluations is

done by the teacher to determine the extent of teaching or to tell if the students are progressing. 
This can also refer to the evaluations done by certain agencies for the academic institution
offering the curriculum such as the practice of Quality Assurance evaluation being done by the
Association of Accredited Chartered Colleges and Universities of the Philippines (AACCUP) to
state colleges and universities while the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities
Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA) for the private colleges and universities while the
CHED for both the public and private institutions.
 6. Taught Curriculum – are the different planned activities which are put into action in the
classroom and are implemented in order to arrive at the objectives or purposes of the written
curriculum which are used by the learners with the guidance of the teacher. The activities vary
according to learning styles and teaching styles.

7. Learned Curriculum – This is also called achieved curriculum manifested in the learning
outcomes achieved by the students and indicated by the results of their tests and changes in their
behaviors which can either be cognitive, affective or psychomotor. The performance of
graduates in board examinations and later their competency performance at work determine what
the students learned. According to general conception, the performance rating of the students
also reflects the performance rating of the school.

8. Hidden Curriculum – is the unintended curriculum and is that which is unplanned and
implicit but may modify behavior or influence learning outcomes. Usually, this is acquired by
students from the practices of their teachers and administrators such as being responsible and
competent for they their teacher is always prepared with his/her lessons. It can also come from
the school activities that the learners undertake such as outreach programs where they learn to
become selfless.

9. Null Curriculum - That which is not taught, thus give students the message that these elements
are not important in their educational experiences or in their society.  According to Eisner
(1994), the schools have consequences not only by virtue of what they do teach, but also by
virtue of what they neglect to teach. What students cannot and are unable to use, have
consequences for the kinds of lives they lead. 

Application

Activity 2a: Ask and You Shall Find

1. Group yourselves in 3s.
2. Connect with a teacher from your former school (elementary for the BEEd and BECED students
while secondary for the BSEd, BCAED, BTVTEd and BTLEd students) through a social media
or a phone call and be able to gather information to be able to answer the following questions:
a. What type of curriculum/curricula does your former school have and why?
b. Which of the curricula does your former school show strength/s and why? Which does it
show weakness/es and why?
c. If you were in the shoes of your former teacher, what curriculum/curricula would you
recommend him/her to use in order to help his/her learners achieve the subject/topic learning
outcomes? (To help you answer this item, ask your teacher these questions first:
1) What subject/s does your teacher teach? (If 2 or more, let her choose 1 only)
2) What kind of learners does your former teacher have at the moment? What do they like to
become someday?
3) What strategies does your teacher use in order to cope with the kind of learners he/she
has and in order to help them acquire the mandated competency for their subject/lesson
and grade level.
4) How is his/her classroom condition? What instructional facilities and materials are
available for his/her use and his/her learners’ use?
5) Do the administration, parents and community officials and leaders give your teacher
support? What kinds of support do they each give to your teacher?
6) What measure/s does your teacher take in cases of limitation from his/her learners, in
curriculum support and limitations from his/her part.
7) What is/are the hidden and/or null curriculum in the school of your teacher? How
important are hidden and null curriculum as part of the school curriculum for your
teacher?
Note: you can ask more questions to be able to comprehensively answer this item.
3. Submit just one written output for the group. Provide documentation – transcript of the
interview, photos and video clip or audio clip.