CURRICULUM
Curriculum is a standards-based sequence
of planned experiences where students
practice and achieve proficiency in content
and applied learning skills. Curriculum is
the central guide for all educators as to
what is essential for teaching and
learning, so that every student has
access to rigorous academic
experiences. The structure, organization,
and considerations in a curriculum are
created in order to enhance student learning
and facilitate instruction.
Curriculum must include the following to
effectively support instruction and
learning:
A. Materials
Materials are the tools selected to implement
methods and achieve the goals of the
curriculum. Materials are intentionally
chosen to support a student's learning.
Material choices reflect student interest,
cultural diversity, world perspectives, and
address all types of diverse learners.
B. Assessment
Assessment in a curriculum is the ongoing
process of gathering information about a
student’s learning. This includes a variety of
ways to document what the student knows,
understands, and can do with their
knowledge and skills. Information from
assessment is used to make decisions about
instructional approaches, teaching materials,
and academic supports needed to enhance
opportunities for the student and to guide
future instruction.
A. Curriculum Objectives
The curriculum aims, goals and
objectives spell out what is to be done. It
tries to capture what goals are to be
achieved, the vision, the philosophy, the
mission statement and objectives. Further, it
clearly defines the purpose and what the
curriculum is to be acted upon and try what
to drive at. We begin with this element
because it is difficult to plan a successful trip
without a destination.
C. Goals
Goals within a curriculum are the standards-
based benchmarks or expectations for
teaching and learning. Most often, goals are
made explicit in the form of a scope and
sequence of skills to be addressed. Goals
must include the breadth and depth to which
a student is expected to learn.
D. Methods
Methods are the instructional decisions,
approaches, procedures, and routines that
teachers use to engage all students in
meaningful learning. These choices support
the facilitation of learning experiences in
order to promote a student’s ability to
understand and apply content and skills.
Methods are differentiated to meet student
needs and interests, task demands, and
learning environment. Methods are adjusted
based on ongoing review of student
progress towards meeting the goals.
THE MAJOR ELEMENTS OF A
CURRICULUM
These four basic elements of curriculum are
essential and interrelated to each other.
Aims, goals, and objectives can be simplified
as “what is to be done”; the subject
matter/content is “what subject matter is to
be included”; the learning experiences is
“what instructional strategies, resources and
activities will be employed”; while curriculum
evaluation is “what methods and instruments
will be used to assess the results of the
curriculum”.
Aims are often expressed in terms of state
standards, which are expressed in
somewhat general terms, then broken down
into more specific goals, then further broken
down into objectives. These objectives are
specific and written in behavioral terms so
as to develop learning structures and
conditions. Sometimes the objectives are
sorted as cognitive, affective, and
psychomotor.
There are four main factors affecting the
formulation of curriculum objectives. These
are:
 The society
 The knowledge
 The learner
 The learning process
All of these factors are to be considered
while selecting and formulating the
curriculum objectives.
B. Content or Subject Matter
A second element is the content of the
curriculum. It contains information to be
learned at school. It is an element or a
medium through which the objectives are
accomplished. Content or subject matter
refers to the body of knowledge that the
student will take away when the course
is done. It must assure that the curriculum
objectives are properly met.
One of the important considerations is the
selection of content for a subject.
At the time of subject matter selection,
the following factors are to be kept in
mind:
 Available sources and resources
 Demand of the society
 International needs
 Level and age of the learner or student
 Methods of content organization
 Number of courses offered
 Quantity and qualification of teaching
staff
 Scope of subject matter
 System of examination
 Type of society and culture
In organizing the learning contents, balance,
articulation, sequence, integration, and
continuity of the subject matter to develop a
sound content.
C. Learning Experiences (Methods of
Delivering Knowledge)
The third element is the strategies and
methods of teaching or the learning
experiences adopted by the teachers
during instruction. It deals with the
teaching-learning process including
methodology of teaching and learning
experiences both within the institution and
outside, learning environments, teachers’
material as well as students’ material. In his
classic text on curriculum, Tyler defined the
term learning experiences as follows:
The term “learning experience” is not the
same as the content with which a course
deals nor the activities performed by the
teacher. The term “learning experience”
refers to the interaction between the learner
and the external conditions in the
environment to which he/she can react.
Learning takes place through the active
D. Curriculum Evaluation
Curriculum evaluation refers to the process
of placing value on a curriculum. Evaluation
may focus on a curriculum’s design,
including content and process; its
implementation; or outcomes. It identifies the
quality, effectiveness of the program,
process and product of the curriculum.
Curriculum evaluation is different from a
student evaluation. It is a broader term being
used to make judgment about the worth and
effectiveness of curriculum. Curriculum
evaluation is also important in a sense that
one could assess whether the aims and
objectives have been met or not. It also
shows the effectiveness of strategy of
teaching and other components. The
interpretation of evaluation provides the
feedback to the curriculum and its
components. With the help of evaluation
phase experts can modify the curriculum by
bringing about desirable changes.
TYPES OF CURRICULA
Curriculum is a broad plan that is made by
school and it includes educational
experiences to achieve its aims, goals and
objectives and students have these
educational experiences under the guidance
of the school.
Therefore, Curriculum has ten basic
patterns that are discussed below:
1. Child-Centered Curriculum
It is also called learner-centered curriculum.
The philosophy underlying this curriculum is
that the children is that the center of the
educational process. This pattern of
curriculum bases upon the abilities and the
interest of the learners and students has
experiences and diverse learning activities
rather than rote learning. Learner-centered
classrooms focus primarily on individual
students’ learning. The teacher’s role is to
facilitate growth by utilizing the interests and
unique needs of students as a guide for
meaningful instruction.
This curriculum allows the students to
actively participate in discovery learning
processes and a variety of hands-on
activities are administered in order to
promote successful learning. And it focuses
upon a child as a learner being a center of
activities in a learning center.
2. Teacher-Centered Curriculum
In this curriculum, the focus is upon
teacher’s teaching skills and the way of
delivery of the content. It emphasizes the
importance of transmitting of knowledge,
skills and information from a teacher to
students. A teacher is a center of knowledge
and instills the respect of authority and
makes children aware of their
responsibilities. Teachers focus on making
relationships with students that are anchored
in intellectual explorations of selected
materials.
They focus more on content than on student
processing and this pattern of curriculum
places more of the responsibility on
delivering content rather than considering
students’ needs and desires. The teacher
plans each and everything about what to do
in the class and students follow the teacher.
3. Core Curriculum
This type of curriculum is a set of common
courses and is a general education for all
students and common learning includes
knowledge, skills and values and all learners
are provided these learning experiences and
these common learning experiences are
expected essential for the learners to adjust
effectively in the society and these learning
sets the basic subjects like English, Math,
History, Science etc.
This type of curriculum emphasizes on the
total growth the of the pupil such as social,
emotional, moral, intellectual, physical and
spiritual and each learning experience aims
at the total growth.
4. Overt, Explicit, or Written Curriculum
Written curriculum is simply that which is
written as part of formal instruction of
schooling experiences. It may refer to a
curriculum document, texts, films, and
supportive teaching materials that are
overtly chosen to support the intentional
instructional agenda of a school. Thus, the
overt curriculum is usually confined to those
written understandings and directions
formally designated and reviewed by
administrators, curriculum directors and
teachers, often collectively.
5. Covert or Hidden Curriculum
The hidden curriculum refers to the types of
curriculums which is unplanned or
unintended curriculum but plays a vital role
in learning. It consists of norms, values, and
procedures. The hidden curriculum refers to
the way in which cultural values and
attitudes (such as obedience to authority,
punctuality, and delayed gratification) are
transmitted, through the structure of
teaching and the organization of schools
6. Integrated Curriculum
An integrated curriculum implies learning
that is synthesized across traditional subject
areas and learning experiences that are
designed to be mutually reinforcing. This
approach develops the child’s ability to
transfer their learning to other settings. It is a
unification of different subjects having
interrelating themes and concepts. Teacher
teaches various subjects by using
integration techniques. For example,
General Science curriculum integrates
concepts from Physics, Chemistry, Biology,
Geology and Astronomy etc.
7. Subject-Centered Curriculum
This type of curriculum give importance to
training pupils in particular subjects. Its main
objectives are all the elements of knowledge
that constitute a subject for study. Thus, the
curriculum goes into the depth of the subject
that gives specialized knowledge to the
learner. The specialist teacher is appointed
to deal with the subject in its analytical
detail.
Higher education is characterized by this
subject-centered curriculum. It leads to
higher study, research, and experimentation
of individuals on the subject. This type of
curriculum is more appropriate for students
of academic interest and creativity talents.
8. Broad Field or Holistic Curriculum
Broad field curriculum is a modification of
subject centered curriculum. A broad field
curriculum is a structure for achieving
educational outcomes that combines related
subjects into one broad field of study.
The purpose of a broad field curriculum is to
highlight relationships between subjects and
to integrate the learning experience. The
broad field design combines two or more
related subjects into a single broad field of
study, for example, Language Arts combines
the separate but related subjects of
Reading, Spelling, Writing, Speaking,
Listening, and Composition.
9. Activity Centered Curriculum
The type of curriculum that gives priority to
active learning of a subject may be known
as an activity curriculum. The verbal system
of education neither suits the mental need of
the child nor the circumstances of life. It is
the philosophy of Pragmatism behind this
curriculum which beliefs in learning to be
practical, useful, and work-oriented. Activity
involvement in learning naturally gives better
results. Work is a natural and easier means
of learning anything. It is also the native and
natural tendency of children.
Further, the experience derived from work is
more durable and more meaningful for life.
So, modern educators like Froebel,
Montessori, Dewey, and Gagne in their
respective learning methods have designed
this activity curriculum for children.
10. Null Curriculum
Eisner (1985) defined null curriculum as
information that schools do not teach.
Sometimes the teacher ignores some
content or skill, deliberately or unknowingly.
A teacher may consider some idea
unimportant and ignore it. Similarly, teacher
may avoid detailed description of some topic
for the one or other reason. An example is
the exclusion of Darwin’s theory of evolution
from the official biology curriculum.
MAJOR FOUNDATIONS OF
CURRICULUM
Foundations of curriculum are the
considerations of educational programs and
policies in the light of an interdisciplinary
endeavor involving philosophical,
psychological, sociological, and historical,
understandings.
The foundations of curriculum set the
external boundaries of the knowledge of
curriculum and define what constitutes valid
sources from which to derive the field’s
theories, principles, and ideas. Curriculum’s
commonly accepted foundations are
philosophical, psychological, social and
historical areas that are explained as under;
A. Philosophical Foundations of
Curriculum
Philosophy provides educators, teachers
and curriculum makers with framework for
planning, implementing and evaluating
curriculum in school.I helps in answering
what schools are for, what subjects are
important, how students should learn and
what materials and methods should be used.
In decision-making, philosophy provides the
starting point and will be used for the
succeeding decision-making.
The following four educational
philosophies relate to curriculum:
1. Perennialism - The focus in the
curriculum is classical subjects, literary
analysis and considers curriculum as
constant.
2. Essentialism - The essential skills of the
3 R's and essential subjects of English,
Science, History, Math and Foreign
Language is the focus of the curriculum.
3. Progressivism - The curriculum is
focused on students' interest, human
problems and affairs. The subjects are
interdisciplinary, integrative and interactive.
4. Reconstructionism - The focus of the
curriculum is on present and future trends
and issues of national and international
interests.
B. Psychological Foundations of
Curriculum
Educational Psychology as a discipline is
concerned with the question of how people
learn (Ornstein and Hunkins, 1998).
Psychologists are concerned with
establishing patterns in human life so as to
be able to understand and predict behavior
(Shiundu and Omulando, 1992).
Psychology provides basis for the teaching
and learning process. It unifies elements of
the learning process and some of the
questions which can be addressed by
psychological foundations.
The following are the three major groups
of learning theories:
1. Behaviorists Psychology - consider that
learning should be organized in order that
students can experience success in the
process of mastering the subject matter, and
thus, method of teaching should be
introduced in a step-by-step manner with
proper sequencing of task.
2. Cognitive Psychology - focus their
attention on how individuals process
information and how the monitor and
manage thinking. For the cognitive theorists,
learning constitutes a logical method for
organizing and interpreting learning.
Learning is rooted in the tradition of subject
matter where teachers use a lot of problem
and thinking skills in teaching learning.
These are exemplified by practices like
reflective thinking, creative thinking, intuitive
thinking, discovery learning, etc.
3. Humanistic Psychology - concerned
with how learners can develop their human
potential. Based on Gestalt psychology
where learning can be explained in terms of
the wholeness of the problem and where the
environment is changing and the learner is
continuously reorganizing his/her
perceptions. Curriculum is concerned with
the process not the products, personal
needs not subject matter; psychological
meaning and environmental situations.
C. Social Foundations of Curriculum
Schools are part and parcel of society and
exist for society. Society influences society
through its curriculum. Schools, through their
teaching of the curriculum, can shape and
mold society and society in turn can impact
the curriculum. There is rarely a curriculum
that is developed without reflecting society.
Thus, to understand how the content of
schooling is shaped in any society, we must
understand the relationship between
education and other institutions in society. In
other words, to understand what is taught,
how it is taught and why it is taught, we need
to look at the social forces that shape the
curriculum.
Knowing the social foundations of curriculum
is crucial in making decisions about what
should be included in the curriculum and
eventually what happens in the classroom. A
curriculum should be able to prepare
students for the present and the future. In
other words, a curriculum should address
the wants and needs of learners by
responding to social conditions locally,
nationally and globally.
D. Historical Foundations of Curriculum
History is the creation resulting from human
activities through participating in different
events. In order to be certain with what will
happen in the future, one has to trace back
of what transpired in the past. Hence,
historical foundation of curriculum addresses
different phases of human development.
Students recognize that events in culture
and personal issues take place continually.
The number of events and issues we face is
so overwhelming at times that we often don’t
know how to make sense out of what is
taking place.
The study of history can help students gain
perspective on events and issues they face.
The ability to break down and analyze
events is an important step in critical
thinking. From historical foundation of
curriculum therefore, a study on politics,
economics, geography, agriculture, religion
and sociocultural practices are expounded to
be certain with the past and predetermine
the future for the well-being of the society.
Curriculum developers always ensure the
historical perspective is well reflected when
designing curriculum in order to capture not
only the local flavor but also global historical
views.
The following six curriculum theorists
contributed their views on curriculum:
1. Franklin Bobbit (1876-1956) - presented
curriculum as a science that emphasizes on
students' need.
2. Werret Charters (1875-1952) - The historical development shows the
considered curriculum also as a science
which is based on students' need, and the
teachers plan the activities.
3. William Kilpatrick (1871-1965) - viewed
curriculum as purposeful activities which are
child-centered.
4. Harold Rugg (1886-1960) - emphasized
social studies in the curriculum and the
teacher plans the lesson in advance.
5. Hollis Caswell (1901-1989) - sees
curriculum as organized around social
functions of themes, organized knowledge
and earner's interests.
6. Ralph Tyler (1902-1994) - believes that
curriculum is a science and an extension of
school's philosophy. based on students'
need and interests.
different changes in the purposes, principles
and content of the curriculum.