UNDERSTANDING

CURRICULUM
CURRICULUM
■ Curriculum is a list of subjects
– This definition suggests that curriculum
includes the “permanent” or traditional
subjects offered in the school curriculum such
as Mathematics, Science, Music, Arts and
others.
CURRICULUM
■ Curriculum as learning experiences
– This definition includes students’ curricular and co-
curricular activities and learning experiences they
encounter inside or outside the school
– This also includes the hidden curriculum or those
thing learned by the students as a result of their
experiences in the school with their peers,
schoolmates, teachers, school staff, or the values
learned from the school program.
– In short, curriculum includes the school culture.
CURRICULUM
■ Curriculum as intended learning outcomes
– This definition includes a list of learning
competencies or standards that students
should learn in school
■ Curriculum as planned learning experiences
– This definition includes specifying contents,
objectives, or general ideas of what students
should know in schools or in specific
discipline
CURRICULUM
■ Curriculum as a discipline
– This definition has its own principles,
theories and practices.
■ Curriculum as content or subject matter
– This definition views curriculum as a
series of topics under each subject area.
 Different Types of Curriculum
■ Ideal or Recommendation Curriculum
– This refers to what the scholars propose as the most
appropriate curriculum for the learners.
■ Intended, official or written curriculum
– This refers to the official curriculum embodied in approved
state curriculum guides . It is the curriculum prescribed by the
government
■ Implemented curriculum
– This type of curriculum refers to the actual implementation of
the curriculum or what teachers in the school teach.
 Different Types of Curriculum
■ Achieves curriculum or learned curriculum
– This refers to the result of curriculum or what students actually
learned in school
■ Tested curriculum
– This is a set of learning that is assessed in teacher made
classroom tests, curriculum-referenced tests and in standardized
tests.
■ Entitlement Curriculum
– This refers to what the people or the general society believes
learners should expect to learn in the educational system for them
to become members of the society.
Activity 1
■ Browse the Internet and check some examples of an
ideal curriculum suggested by professional
organization. List the examples.
■ What are the benefits and possible pitfalls of having an
official curriculum prescribed to all schools?
■ Discuss the roles of teachers and other curriculum
workers in ensuring the success of the implemented
curriculum
■ List examples of a null or censored curriculum
■ List examples of a hidden curriculum
 Different Types of Curriculum
■ Supported Curriculum
– This refers to the curriculum that is reflectes on and shaped by
the resources allocated to support or deliver the official
curriculum
■ Null or censored curriculum
– This refers to various curriculum contents or topics that must
not be taught to the students
■ Hidden Curriculum
– Hidden curriculum refers to various skills, knowledge, and
attidudes that students learn in schook as a result of their
interaction with other students. Staff and faculty members
Curriculum Foundations
■ Three Categories of sources for curriculum
foundations:
1. Studies of learners and learning theory
(psychology)
2. Studies of life (sociology and anthropology)
3. Studies of nature and value of knowledge
(Philosophy
Psychology as a discipline deals with
understanding human behavior
■ FIVE IMPORTANT AREAS
– Educational Objectives
– Student Characteristics
– Learning Processes
– Teaching methods
– Evaluation procedures
Sociology and Anthropology affect all
curriculum processes
■ Knowledge about the society and its culture is
important in selecting the content of the curriculum
■ Provide clear understanding of the context in which
the curriculum is developed
■ Help curriculum workers in understanding several
social and educational issues that affect curriculum
processes and education in general
Philosophy as a foundation helps curriculum workers in understanding
the nature of knowledge and what subjects or topics are worthwhile.

■ This is very important in making decisions about the

contents of the curriculum.
■ Provides curriculum workers with a framework or base for
organizing schools and classroom
■ It provides educators with a framework for broad issues and
tasks, such as determining the goals of education, the
content and its organization, and the teaching and learning
processes.
Six Curriculum Conceptions
1. Academic Rationalist conception
2. Cognitive processes conception
3. Humanistic conception
4. Social reconstructionist conception
5. Technological conception
6. Eclectic conception
Academic Rationalist Conception
■ The oldest among curriculum conceptions
■ It stresses the importance of different bodies
of knowledge, known as disciplines or
subject areas, as the focus of the curriculum
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 individuals.
Humanistic Conception
■ Stresses the ideas 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.
■ It stresses that curriculum should focus on the
needs and interest of individuals.
Social Reconstructionist Conception
■ Views the school or schooling as an agency
of social change.
■ It stresses that curriculum should respond to
the different needs , issues, problems and
demands of the society
Technological Conception
■ It is preoccupied with the development of
means to achieve curriculum or educational
goals
■ It views schooling as a complex system that
can be analyzed into its constituents
components
Eclectic Conception
■ It is where curriculum worker find themselves
aligning their ideas with two or more
curriculum components.
■ This curriculum conception reiterates the
realities in curriculum development that each of
the curriculum conceptions is to be considered
and is influential to a certain extent in
designing the curriculum
Activity 2. Examine a philosophy od a
particular curriculum. Analyze what
curriculum conception it is leaning to.
Write your analysis.
Elements of Curriculum
■ Curriculum Intent
– The direction that curriculum
developers wish to go to as a result of
participating in the curriculum
■ Content
– It includes different topics to be
learned or covered in a curriculum
Curriculum Intent
■ Aims – broad statements of social or educational
expectations which include hoped to be achieved by the
total curriculum
■ Goals – more specific than the aims. Goals are general
statements of what concepts, skills, and values should be
learned in the curriculum.
■ Objectives – specific learning outcomes which includes
specific concepts, skills, and values that should be learned
by the students. Usually, objectives are used in making
decisions or planning about instruction.
Elements of Curriculum
■ Learning Experiences
– It includes all instructional strategies
that are useful for the
implementation of the curriculum
■ Evaluation
– It includes different ways and tools
used for evaluating whether or not
the curriculum intent was realized.
 Activity 3 . Obtain a copy of the following elements of
the curriculum intent of a specific school. Analyze the
relationship among these elements.

■ CURRICULUM AIMS:

■ CURRICULUM GOALS:

■ CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES:
Activity 4. Provide examples of curriculum content
and learning experiences. Examine their relationship.

Content Learning Experiences

Activity 5. Analyze examples of curriculum
evaluation tools. Examine how the evaluation
instruments measures the success of the
curriculum using these questions .

1. What curriculum competencies and performance standards are

evaluated?
2. What forms of evaluation tools are used?
3. How often does the school evaluate the curriculum?
4. How does the school evaluate its hidden curriculum?
5. What decisions and actions are made after getting the results
of the curriculum evaluation?
Synthesis
Hinda Taba (1962) observed that all curricula, no matter what their
particular design, are composed of certain elements.

• A curriculum usually contains a statement of aims

and specific objectives
• It indicates some selection and organization of
content.
• It either implies or manifests certain patterns of
learning and teaching, whether because the
objectives demand them or because the content
organization requires them
• It 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
References
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Education/ASCD College Textbook Series. Pearson:NJ; 2006.
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■ Nothnagle M, Goldman R, Quirk M, Reis S.  Promoting self-
directed learning skills in residency: a case study in program development. Acad Med. 2010
 Dec;85(12):1874-9. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181fa02a4.*
■ Lynn, J. Curriculum Development in 6 easy steps for busy Med-Ed types. [link]*
■ Engeström Y, Sannino A & Virkkunen J. On the Methodological Demands of Formative
Interventions, Mind, Culture, and Activity, 21:2, 118-128; 2014.
■ Pawilen, G. T. 2015. “Curriculum Development: A Guide for Teachers and Students, First
Edition. Rex Book Store.