CHAPTER 1

CURRICULUM ESSENTIALS

MODULE 1: THE TEACHER AND THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM

LESSON 1.1 The Curricula in Schools

Curriculum…
 is a tradition of organized knowledge taught in schools (19 th century
view)
 includes several modes of thoughts and experiences (20 th century
view)
 at the heart of teaching profession
 guides the teacher in the classroom and in schools

Recommended Curricula that established the Different Educational Levels

(Philippines)
1. Basic Education—includes Kindergarten, Grade 1 to 6 (Elementary);
Grade 7-10 (Junior High School); Grade 11-12 (Senior High School) as
provided in the K to 12 Enhanced Curriculum of 2013 of the Department of
Education.
2. Technical-Vocational Education—post secondary technical, vocational,
educational and training under Technical Education Skills Development
Authority (TESDA); SHS TechVoc Track of DepEd and TESDA.
3. Higher Education—Baccalaureate or bachelor’s degrees and the
Graduate Degrees (Masters and Doctorate) under the regulation of the
Commission on Higher Education.

Types of Curricula Operating in Schools (Glatthorn, 2000 in Bilbao, 2008)

1. Recommended Curriculum—all curricula found in our schools
Examples: Basic Education by Department of Education; Higher
Education by Commission on Higher Education; Vocational
Education by TESDA
2. Written Curriculum—documents based on recommended curriculum
Examples: course of study, syllabi, modules, books, instructional
guides, teachers’ lesson plan
3. Taught Curriculum—the implementation of the curriculum with the aid of
the teacher’s skills, instructional materials and facilities, teaching style and
learning style
4. Supported Curriculum—support materials that the teacher needs to
make learning and teaching meaningful
Examples: Printed materials—books, charts, posters, worksheets;
Non-print materials—Power Point presentations, movies, slides,
models, realias, mock-ups, and electronic illustrations; Facilities
inside the school—playground, science laboratory, audio-visual
rooms; Facilities outside the classroom—zoo, museum, market,
plaza
5. Assessed Curriculum—evaluation of the taught and supported
curriculum to find out if the teacher succeeded or not in facilitating
 learning, either assessment of learning, assessment for learning or
assessment as learning
6. Learned Curriculum—the change in the student behavior called learning,
or the positive outcome of teaching, as measured by tools in assessment
which can indicate cognitive, affective or psychomotor outcomes;
demonstrated by higher order and critical thinking and lifelong skills
7. Hidden or Implicit Curriculum—the unplanned curriculum that has a
great impact on the behavior of the learner in which its influence cannot be
predicted by the teacher
Examples: peer influence, school environment, media, parental
pressures, societal changes, cultural practices, natural calamities

Activity 1: Think-Pair-Share
1. Get a partner.
2. Read about the Saber-tooth curriculum and answer the following
questions:
a. Does the Saber-tooth curriculum still exist at present? Give your
evidences.
b. Describe the type of curriculum that exist as described in the article.
c. What does the author mean, when he said, “A curriculum should be
timeless?” Explain.
d. What is the difference between education and training?
Write your answers in a yellow pad paper.

Reflection: Is it necessary for teachers to learn about school curriculum? Why?

Write your answers in a yellow pad paper.

LESSON 1.2: THE TEACHER AS A CURRICULARIST

Curricularist…(Hayes, 1991; Ornstein & Hunkins, 2004; Hewitt, 2006)

 a person who is involved in curriculum knowing, writing, planning,
implementing, evaluating, innovating and initiating
The Teacher as a Curricularist…
 knows the curriculum (KNOWER). The teacher has to master what
are included in the curriculum or the mastery of the subject matter. It is
acquiring academic knowledge both formal (disciplines, logic) and
informal (derived from experiences, vicarious and unintended).
 writes the curriculum (WRITER). The teacher takes record of
knowledge, concepts, subject matter or content by writing. The teacher
writes books, modules, laboratory manuals, instructional guides and
reference materials in paper or electronic media.
 plans the curriculum (PLANNER). The teacher make a yearly,
monthly or daily plan of the curriculum as guide in its implementation,
considering factors such as the learners, the support materials, time,
subject matter or content, the desired outcomes, and the context of the
learners.
 initiates the curriculum (INITIATOR). The teacher leads in doing the
implementation of the curriculum recommended to the schools from
DepEd, CHED, TESDA, UNESCO, UNICEF and other educational
agencies for improvement of quality education. The quality of being
 transformative teacher by trying something novel and relevant, as well
as open mindedness is needed in implementing the curriculum.
 innovates the curriculum (INNOVATOR). The teacher innovates the
curriculum since it is dynamic and keeps on changing as to its content,
strategies, ways of doing, blocks of time, ways of evaluating, kinds of
students and skills of teachers.
 implements the curriculum (IMPLEMENTOR). The teacher gives life
to the curriculum plan through engagement with the learners and with
the support materials to achieve the desired outcomes. The teacher
shows teaching as a science and an art with teaching, guiding and
facilitating skills exhibited at the highest level.
 evaluates the curriculum (EVALUATOR). The teacher determine the
achievement of the desired outcomes, whether the curriculum works, if
the desired results are achieved, teaching and learning outcomes,
learners performance, modifications in curriculum practices, and
whether the curriculum should be modified, terminated or continued.

To be a teacher is to be a curricularist. As a curricularist, the teacher will be knowing,

writing, implementing, innovating, implementing, initiating and evaluating the
curriculum in the school and classrooms just like role models and advocates in
curriculum and curriculum development.

Activity 1: I AM A TEACHER! WHO AM I AS A CURRICULARIST?

Instructions: Identify on the blanks provided who am I as a Curricularist based on

the cases presented.

___________________ Case 1: I have a good idea on how to make my learners pay

attention to the lesson. I will use the new idea and find out if it will work.
___________________Case 2: DepEd sent the standards, competencies and
guidelines in teaching the Mother Tongue in Grade 1 in our school. I will study and
use it in the coming school year.
___________________Case 3: There is so much to do in one school day. I seem
not able to do all, but I have to accomplish something for my learners. I have made a
daily activity plan to guide me.
___________________Case 4: I need a poem to celebrate the World Teachers'
Day. I composed one to be used in my class in Literature.
___________________Case 5: My class is composed of learners from different
home background and culture. I cannot use a "one-size-fits all strategy" in teaching
so I can respond to the diverse background. In my readings, I discovered that there
are ways of teaching. I tried one myself and it worked.
___________________Case 6: Knowledge is limitless. What I learned in college is
not enough. I need to know more, so I enrolled in the graduate school to advance my
learning.
___________________Case 7: At the end of the year, my performance as a teacher
is reflected in the school performance of my students. So I need to provide a
monitoring tool to measure how they are progressing. The result will inform me how I
will address my learners' weakness and enhance their strengths.
___________________Case 8: I am teaching in a very far away barangay with no
electricity yet. Many of the instructional aids for teaching sent to our school are films
and video tapes which need power. I cannot use them, but the lessons are very
important. So I thought of making an alternative activity. I took my class to the river
and waterfall instead of doing the lesson. You sent
___________________Case 9: My principal asked me to attend a writeshop to
make the lesson exemplars in the teaching of science in Grade 7. In the workshop, I
used my experiences as a science teacher for ten years, and my knowledge of the
subject matter. At the end of
three days, I was able to produce lesson exemplars which I am proud of.
___________________Case 10: From grade 7 to grade 10 of the K to 12 Enhanced
Curriculum, science as a subject is presented, taught and learned in a spiral manner.
This is part of the DepEd implementing guidelines of the curriculum. I am a Biology
major, and I have insufficient knowledge about the other areas of science such as
Physics and Earth Science. Because of this dilemma, I have to request the principal
that we have team teaching. Which role of the curricularist, am I trying to do?

Write your answers in a yellow pad paper.

Reflection: Choose one from case 1 to 10. Reflect on the case you have chosen
and write your reflections on the box below. Write your answers in a yellow pad
paper.
 CHAPTER 1
CURRICULUM ESSENTIALS

MODULE 2: THE TEACHER AS A KNOWER OF CURRICULUM

LESSON 2.1 The School Curriculum: Definition, Nature and Scope

Curriculum…
originates from Latin word currere meaning oval track upon which Roman
chariots raced.

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 programme 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 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

 is dynamic and perhaps ever changing

 is traditional or progressive according to the person's philosophical,
psychological and even psychological orientations
Curriculum from Traditional Points of View

The traditional points of view of curriculum were advanced by Robert

Hutchins, Arthur Bestor, and Joseph Schwab.

Robert M. Hutchins
 "permanent studies" where rules of grammar, reading, rhetoric, logic
and mathematics for basic education are emphasized. The 3Rs
(Reading, Writing, 'rithmetic) should be emphasized in basic education
while liberal education should be the emphasis in college

Arthur Bestor
 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
 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.
 coined the word discipline as a ruling doctrine for curriculum
development

Phillip Phenix
 curriculum should consist entirely of knowledge which comes from
various disciplines

Curriculum is…
 a field of study
 highly academic
 concerned with broad historical, philosophical, psychological and social
issues
 mostly written documents such syllabus, course of study, books and
references where knowledge is found
 used as a means to accomplish intended goals.

Curriculum from Progressive Points of View

Curriculum is…
 the total learning experiences of the individual

John Dewey
 education is experiencing. Reflective thinking is a means that unifies
curricular elements that are tested by application.
 Holin Caswell and Kenn Campbell
 all experiences children have under the guidance of teachers

Othaniel Smith, William Stanley and Harlan Shore

 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

 all the experiences in the classroom which are planned and enacted by
the teacher and also learned by the students

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: Self-Check
Instructions: Label the description/definition on the left with either Traditional (T) or
Progressive (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 learning experiences for the children.
_____ 8. Learning can only be achieved in schools.
_____ It is the systematic arrangement of contents in the course syllabi.
_____ 10. Co-curricular activities are planned for all to participate.

Write your answers in a yellow pad paper.

Activity 2: Curriculum in my Observation

Instruction: List down 5 statements and descriptions which pertains to Traditional
View of Curriculum and 5 for Progessivist View. Write your answers in a yellow pad
paper.