CURRICULUM

FOUNDATIONS,
CONCEPTIONS
AND ELEMENTS
Prepared By:
ANGIELYN C. BRIÑOSA
CURRICULUM
FOUNDATIONS
 CURRICULUM FOUNDATIONS
 Three categories of sources for curriculum foundations:
1. studies of learners and learning theory (PSYCHOLOGY);
2. studies of life (SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY); and
3. studies of the nature and value of knowledge (PHILOSOPHY)
 CURRICULUM FOUNDATIONS
o PSYCHOLOGY
 Understanding human behavior, which is Important in curriculum development
 Five important areas (Print, 1993)
1. Educational objectives
2. Student characteristics
3. Learning processes
4. Teaching methods
5. Evaluation procedures
 CURRICULUM FOUNDATIONS
o SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY
 Affect all curriculum processes
 Sowell pointed out that “Knowledge about the society and its culture is important in
selecting the content of curriculum
 it provides a clear understanding of the context in w/c the curriculum is developed
 It also help curriculum workers in understanding several social and educational issues
that affect curriculum processes and education in general
 CURRICULUM FOUNDATIONS
• PHILOSOPHY
 Helps curriculum workers in understanding the nature of knowledge and what subjects or topics are
worthwhile
 Important in making decisions about contents of the curriculum
 Ornstein and Hunkins mentioned that it provides curriculum workers with a framework or base for
organizing schools and classrooms
 It also provides educators with a framework for broad issues and tasks:
 Determining the goals of education
 The content and its organization
 Teaching and learning processes
CURRICULUM
CONCEPTIONS
 CURRICULUM CONCEPTIONS
• Curriculum workers have different ideas about curriculum matters and
curriculum development processes.
• Have different view about curriculum concerns, goals of what curriculum
should accomplish, and how a curriculum should be designed or
constructed
• McNiel (2006), Eisner (1985), and Print (1993)
- Identified 6 curriculum conceptions
 CURRICULUM CONCEPTIONS
1. ACADEMIC RATIONALIST – oldest
-stresses the importance of knowledge known as disciplines or subject areas, as focus of curriculum

2. COGNITIVE PROCESSES CONCEPTION

- Seeks to develop a repertoire of cognitive skills that are applicable to a wide range of intellectual problems
- The subject matters are instruments or tools for developing these cognitive skills that are lasting in the lives of
individual

3. HUMANISTIC CONCEPTION
- Stresses the idea that curriculum or education is an instrument for developing the full potentials of individuals
- It seeks to help individuals discover and develop their unique identities.
- Stresses that curriculum should focus on the needs and interests of individuals.
 CURRICULUM CONCEPTIONS
4. SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTIONIST CONCEPTION
- Views that school and schooling as an agency for social change
- Stresses that curriculum should respond to the different needs, issues, problems, and demands of the society
5. TECHNOLOGICAL CONCEPTION
- Preoccupied with the development of means to achieve curriculum or educational goals
- Views schooling as a complex system that can be analysed into its constituent components
6. ECLECTIC CONCEPTION
- Is where curriculum workers find themselves aligning their ideas with two or more curriculum conceptions
- It reiterates the realities in curriculum development that each of the curriculum conception is to be considered and its
influence to a certain extent in designing the curriculum.
ELEMENTS OF A
CURRICULUM
 ELEMENTS OF A CURRICULUM
• Generally has FOUR IMPORTANT ELEMETS
1. CURRICULUM INTENT
2. CONTENT
3. LEARNING EXPERIENCE
4. EVALUATION
 ELEMENTS OF A CURRICULUM
1. CURRICULUM INTENT (Print 1993)
- To mean the direction that curriculum developers wish to go to as a result of
participating in the curriculum.
- it includes:
 Aims
 Goals
 Objectives
-Found in any document
 ELEMENTS OF A CURRICULUM
 Aims – broad statements of social or educational expectations
- Include what is hoped to be achieved by the total curriculum
 Goals – more specific than aims
- general statements of what concepts, skills, and values should be learned in the
curriculum.
 Objectives – specific learning outcomes
- includes specific concepts, skills, and values that should be learned by the students.
- usually used in making decisions or planning about instruction
 ELEMENTS OF A CURRICULUM
2. CONTENT
- includes the different topics to be learned or covered in a curriculum. These topics are based on
the curriculum intents.
- May include values, concepts, or skills that are important for the learners to learn
3. LEARNING EXPERIENCE
- Include all instructional strategies that are useful for the implementation of the curriculum
- May appear in the form of activities, strategies, methods, or approaches that are useful in
implementing the curriculum or in teaching the content
 ELEMENTS OF A CURRICULUM
4. EVALUATION
- Includes the different ways and tools used for evaluating whether or not the
curriculum intent was realized.
- Evaluation tools are also used to evaluate the performance of the learners after they
have undergone the curriculum.
• HILDA TABA (1962)
-observed that all curricula, no matter what their particular design, are
composed of certain elements.
o a curriculum usually contains a statement of aims and specific objectives
o it indicates some selection and organization of content
o It either implies or manifests certain patterns of learning and teaching, whether
because the objectives demand them or because the content organization requires
them
o Includes a program of evaluation of the outcomes

* Understanding the different elements of curriculum will help curriculum workers

especially the teachers in designing curriculum and in analyzing the different
curriculum materials that are offered to schools and students.|
THANK YOU!