Getting to Know Curriculum

Professor Suseela Malakolunthu

Commonwealth Education Trust
Foundations of Teaching and Learning

Course 4:
Week 1 : Getting to know curriculum
Lecture 1: The concept of curriculum
 Curriculum – What is it?
A lot of confusion, many definitions

 Playing with a purpose?

 Easy-to-use lesson plans?
 Set of core competencies and standards?
 Delivery mechanism?
 Collection of teaching materials?
 Curriculum – ‘curere’

 As an idea Curriculum came from a Lain word for “Race

course” referring to the course of actions, deeds and
experiences that brings about learning and growth in
children.
Curriculum – A Broader Definition

“In true education, anything that

comes to our hand is as good as a
book: the prank of a page-boy, the
blunder of a servant, a bit of table
talk - they are all part of the
curriculum.”
Michel de Montaigne
Renaissance educator
 Curriculum – A Plan of Action

Curriculum is defined as a plan of action for learning:

 It is reduced to a “formal” written document that

systematically describes the course of study
appropriate with the educational level.

 It includes - All the different subjects / courses

 Curriculum Definition

“The planned and guided learning experiences and

intended outcomes, formulated through the systematic
reconstruction of knowledge and experiences, under
the auspices of the school, for the learner’s continuous
and willful growth in personal-social competence”

(Tanner & Tanner, 1980)

 A Framework in Context

A framework in an educational context that

shapes and guides teaching and learning

It is the what, why and how of education

Three Major Questions in Curriculum

1. What knowledge, skills, and values are most worthwhile?

2. Why are they most worthwhile?

3. How should they be imparted or the young acquire them?

(Cornbleth, 1992)
 A Source of Confusion?
Curriculum and Syllabus
Curriculum
A comprehensive educational package involving the conceptualization,
planning, designing, and detailing of a comprehensive learning program
for the benefit of deploying it in the schools.

Syllabus
A concise statement of the contents or topics of a curse/subject. A layout
out of key topics and related learning in an individual course/subject in a
learning program. It is a sub-set of the curriculum.
 Think – Pair – Share

1. What is the difference between a syllabus and a

curriculum in your school and classroom setting?
2. What is the basis for the curriculum that is provided for
your students: What knowledge, skills, and values are
considered most worthwhile and why?
3. How much scope do you have for the invention and
creation of activities beyond the prescribed curriculum?
 Foundations of Teaching and Learning

Copyright Notice
Week 1, Lecture 1

Slides © Commonwealth Education Trust. All Rights Reserved.

1, 2, 11, 12 Images: © schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org
5 "Montaigne-Dumonstier" by Anonymous - Unknown. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Montaigne-Dumonstier.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Montaigne-Dumonstier.j
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