What is curriculum?

The word curriculum has been derived from Latin word currere which means race course. Hence etymologically
curriculum means distance /path or way to be covered.

Narrow meaning of curriculum

a. Course of study
b. List of content to be taught
c. Subject matter

*curriculum is a systematic organization of course sequences of subjects required for graduation or certification in a
major field of study.

Wider meaning of curriculum.

 Curriculum is totality of experiences of each learner under the influence of school – Sheffler
 Curriculum is a planned action of instruction. – Mac. Donald.
 It is a toll in the hand of the artist to meld his materials (students) according to his ideal (objectives) in his
studio (school) – Cunningham.
 Curriculum is all of the learning of students which is planned by and directed by school to attain its
educational goals. – Tyler.
 Schubert (1987) defines curriculum as the contents of a subject, concepts and tasks to be acquired,
planned activities, the desire learning outcomes and experiences, product of culture and an agenda to reform
society.

Elements of curriculum

Interrelationships of components of curriculum

 Objectives
 Content or subject matter
 Learning experiences
 Evaluation

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.
- Objectives or intended learning outcome- are the reasons or undertaking the learning lesson from the
student’s point of view. It is desired learning outcome that is to be accomplished in the particular learning
episode engage in by the learners under the guidance of the teachers.
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.
Learning experiences (method 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, teacher’s material as well as student’s material.
- INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES- may refer in a form of activities, strategies, methods or approaches that are
useful in implementing the curriculum.
Curriculum evaluation - refers to the process of placing value on a curriculums design, including content and
process, it’s implementation, or outcomes. It identifies the quality effectiveness of the program, process and product
of the curriculum.
- Learning occurs immediately when the learners received feedbacks. For example. When the receive
information on what they have and have not already learned. The process by which information is generated
in assessment.
- 3 forms:
 Self-assessment- is through which a student learned to monito and evaluate their own learning.
 Peer assessment - students provide feedback on each other’s learning.
 Teachers assessment – teachers prepares and administered test and give feedback on the students’
performance.
CURRICULUM DESIGN – refers to the structure or organization of the curriculum.
Curriculum development includes the planning, implementation and evaluation processes of the curriculum.
Curriculum guide these processes there are essential questions to be considered in curriculum designing.
1. What is curriculum design?
2. What questions did Tyler post for guiding the curriculum design process?
3. What are the major curriculum design models and what unique elements did Goodland add to his model?
4. What did Hilda Taba add to her model?
Curriculum design- is largely concern with issues such as what to include in the curriculum and how to present it in
such a way that the curriculum can be implemented with understanding and success. Therefore, curriculum design
refers on how the components of curriculum had been arranged in order to facilitate learning. It also concerns with
issues of choosing what are the organizational bases or structural framework of the curriculum is. And the choice of
the design always employs on the value of position.
Subject – centered curriculum design.
Advantages
 to deliver
 complimentary books are written
 Support instructional materials are commercially available.
 Teachers are familiar with the format.
Disadvantages
 Learning is compartmentalised
 Stresses so much on the content that it forgets the student’s natural tendencies, interest and experiences.

Learner – centered /Personalized Curriculum Design

Advantages
 The needs and interests of students are considered in the selection and organization of content.
 The design allows the students to be active and acquired skills and procedures that apply to the outside
world.
Disadvantages
 The needs and interests of students may not be valid or long lasting. They are often short live
 The interests and needs of students may not reflect specific areas of knowledge that could be essential for
successful functioning in society.

Broad fields /integrated curriculum

In this design, two or three subjects are unified into one broad course of study. This organization is a system of
combining and regrouping subjects that are related to the curriculum.
Example:
 Language arts: incorporates reading, writing, grammar, literature, speech, drama and international
languages
 General science: includes natural and physical sciences, physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy, physical
geography, zoology, botany, and physiology.
 Other: include environmental education and family life education.

Problems-centered Design.
Advocate by Spencer, Faunce and Bossing, this design draws on social problem, needs, interest and abilities of the
learner. Problems are given emphasis on those that center on life situations, contemporary life-problems.
1. The learner is capable of directing and guiding themselves in resolving problems, thus he becomes an
independent learner.
2. He prepared to assume their civic responsibilities through direct participation in different activities.
3. The curriculum leads the learner in recognition of concerns and problems in seeking solutions. He is
considered problem solvers.
4. School activities resolved around solutions problem like poverty, drug problems, deterioration of values,
environmental concerns.
5. Utilities case study as a method of teaching: utilities practical work as a solution to the problem.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CURRICULUM DESIGN

The basic features of the core curriculum designs include the following:
 1. They constitute a section of the curriculum that all students are required to take.
2. They unify or fuse subject matter.
3. Their content is planned around that cut across the disciplines.
4. They are organized into blocks of time.

CURRICULUM DESIGN MODELS

Ralph Tyler Model: Four Basic Principle.
Tyler’s model (1949) is based on the following four fundamental questions he posed for guiding the
curriculum design process. They are as follows.
1. What educational purposes is the school seeking to attain?
2. What educational experiences are potentially provided that likely to attain these purposes?
3. How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?
4. How can we determine whether this purpose is being attained?

Hilda Taba: Grassroots approach.

Taba promotes the “down-top model” or grassroots approach. Taba argued that curriculum development
should follow a sequential and logical process and she suggested for more information input in all phases of
curriculum development she also claimed that all curricula are composed of fundamental elements. The main idea of
this model is that the students are at the fore front to the curriculum. She believed that there must bae be a process
for evaluating students’ achievement of content after the content standards have been established and implemented.
THE WHEELER MODEL
D. K Wheeler developed cycling model in reaction to criticism levelled at Ralph Tyler Model.

JOHN KERR’S MODEL

John Kerr, a British Curriculum specialist in the 1960s, was particularly concerned with the following issues:
objectives, knowledge, school learning experiences and evaluation.

Curriculum mapping – is a process or procedure that follows curriculum designing.

Curriculum mapping is the process indexing or diagramming a curriculum to identify and address academic gaps,
redundancies, and misalignments for purposes of improving the overall coherence of a course of study and, by
extension, it’s effectiveness (a curriculum, in the sense that the term is typically used by educators, encompasses
everything that teachers teach to students in a school course, including the instructional materials and techniques
they used).

How it is mapped?
Curriculum mapping aims to achieve success over four goals.

1. Vertical coherence: when a curriculum is vertically aligned or vertically coherent, what students learn in
one lesson, course, or grade level prepares them for the next lesson, course, or grade level.
2. Horizontal coherence: when curriculum is horizontally aligned or horizontally coherent, what students are
learning in one ninth grade biology course, for example, mirrors what other students are learning in a
different ninth grade biology course.
3. Subject-area coherence: when a curriculum coherent within a subject area – such as mathematics,
science, or history – it may be aligned both within and across grade levels. Curriculum mapping for subject-
area coherence aims to ensure that teachers are working toward the same learning standards in similar
courses.
 4. Interdisciplinary coherence: when a curriculum is coherent across multiple subject areas – such as
mathematics, science, and history – it may be aligned both within across grade levels. Curriculum mapping
for interdisciplinary coherence may focus on skills and work habits that students need to succeed in any
academic course or discipline.

Curriculum implementation
- Means putting into practice the written curriculum that has been designed in syllabi, course study,
curriculum guides, and subjects.
- Process wherein the learners acquire the planned or intended knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are
aimed at enabling the same learners to function effectively in the society.

Curriculum implementation implies the following:

- Shift from what is current to a new or enhanced curriculum.
- Change in knowledge, action, attitudes of the person involved.
- Change in behaviour using new strategies and resources
- Change which requires efforts hence goals should be advisable.

CATEGORIES OF CURRICULUM CHANGE.

1. Substitution – the current curriculum will be replaced or substituted by a new one.
2. Altercation – there is a minor change to the current or existing curriculum.
3. Restricting – building a new structure would mean major change or modification in the school system.
Using an integrated curriculum for the whole school.
4. Perturbations – changes that are disruptive, but teachers have to adjust to them with a fairly short time.
5. Value Orientation – shift in the emphasis that the teacher provides which are not within the mission or
vision of school or vice versa.

Three elements of Curriculum Implementation.

1. Developmental – requires 3 processes: 1. Orientation and preparation, 2. Mastery of the routine, 3.
Refinement.
2. Participatory
3. Supportive – materials support and human support.

CURRICULUM STAKEHOLDERS
Stakeholders- these are the individuals or institution that are actually interested in the curriculum. For example, the
learners, the teachers, the parents, the school managers, and other that are involved in the community.
1. Learners are at the core of the curriculum – to what extent are the student involved in the curriculum
development. The old view the students are the recipients of the curriculum is now changing it means that
you are not only the one accepting part of it but you are already involved in making the curriculum. Learners
are more dynamic.
2. Teachers as curricularists – in teaching and learning process, the other side of the coin is the teacher.
Most curricula start to gain life from the time it is conceived and written. A teacher is the curriculum maker.
Example: lesson plan
3. School leaders are curriculum managers- in a school organization, there is always a curriculum
managers or school administrator. In fact, for school principals, one of their functions is being a curriculum
manager.
4. Parents- “my child and my money go to this school”. It simply means that the parents are the ones paying
for their child’s education.
5. Community as the curriculum resources and a learning environment – success in the implementation
of the curriculum requires resources.
6. Other stakeholders in curriculum implementation and development – professional organizations
have shown great influence in school curriculum.

Curriculum innovation

What is IS innovation?
Innovation in its modern meaning is “a new idea, creative, thoughts, new imaginations in form of device or
method”. Innovation is often also viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements,
unarticulated needs, or existing market needs.
Types of curriculum innovations- to continue to shape the curriculum an education system in general.
a. Standard-based curriculum- curriculum standards are different from competencies. Standards are broader
while competencies are more specific and prescriptive in terms of scope of knowledge, skills and values that
students should learn. Curriculum standards provide more creativity and freedom for educators to explore
various learning opportunities and better forms of assessment of the student’s achievements.
b. Multicultural curriculum- the goal of these curriculum is to promote cultural literacies and cultural
understanding. Schools used different strategies and approaches to develop cultural literacy and promote
understanding. Usually this is done through cultural awareness, for example knowing the different costumes,
songs, literatures, foods, and of course the making them aware with the different historical places of different
countries.
1. Content integration
2. Knowledge construction process
3. Prejudice reduction
4. Equity pedagogy
5. Empowering school culture and social structure.
Benett proposed multicultural curriculum focusing on six goals
1. To develop multiple historical perspective
2. Strengthen cultural consciousness
3. Strengthen cultural competencies
4. Combat racism, sexism and other forms of prejudiced and discrimination
5. Increase also awareness of the state of planet and global dynamic
6. Build social action skills.
c. Indigenous curriculum –

d. Brain-based education

e. Gifted education curriculum

f. Differentiated curriculum

g. Outcomes-based education