Recommended Curriculum

Perhaps you have asked these questions: Why should I take all these subjects and
follow the course flow religiously? Why is there a need to implement the K to 12?

The answer is simple! The Ministry of Education, the Commission on Higher

Education, or any professional organization can recommend and implement a
curriculum.

In the Philippines, for example, what is being implemented by the Department of

Education (DepEd) or the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), is an example of
a recommended curriculum.

In some cases, a law making body like the congress and the senate, or a university
or a school can recommend a subject, a course, or any academic program which is
deemed necessary for national identity and security, for environmental protection
and sustainable development, among others.

2. Written Curriculum

This refers to a lesson plan or syllabus written by teachers. Another example is the
one written by curriculum experts with the help of subject teachers. This kind of
written curriculum needs to be pilot tested or tried out in sample schools to
determine its effectiveness.
3.Taught Curriculum

This is about the implementation of the written curriculum. Whatever is being

taught or an activity being done in the classroom is a taught curriculum. So, when
teachers give a lecture, initiate group work, or ask students to do a laboratory
experiment with the their guidance, the taught curriculum is demonstrated. This
curriculum contains different teaching styles and learning styles to address the
students needs and interests.
4.Supported Curriculum

Instructional materials, such as textbooks, audio visual materials, blogs, wikis, and
others are examples of support curriculum. Other examples are playgrounds, zoos,
gardens, museums, and real life objects. It is called supported curriculum because it
helps teachers implement a written curriculum thus enables the students to become
life-long learners.
5. Assessed Curriculum

When students take a quiz or the mid-term and final exams, these series of
evaluations are the so-called assessed curriculum. Teachers may use the pencil and
paper tests, and authentic assessments like portfolio and performance based
assessments in order to know if the students are progressing or not.
6. Learned Curriculum

This type of curriculum indicates what the students have actually learned. This can
be measured through learning outcomes. A learning outcome can be manifested by
what students can perform or do either in their cognitive, affective or psychomotor
domains. The learning outcome can be determined by the results of the tests, and it
can be achieved by the students through the use of learning objectives.
7. Hidden Curriculum

This refers to the unplanned or unintended curriculum but plays an important role
in learning.

Now, lets discuss some classroom implications of the different types of curriculum
by taking the following situation as example.

Lets assume that you are a college student taking up Bachelor of Secondary
Education, major in English. Your course or degree program is a recommended
curriculum prescribed by CHED. The syllabi given to you by your teachers are the
written curriculum. When your teachers start to teach, that is a taught curriculum.
And when they ask you to use the internet and search information about a given
topic, this is a supported curriculum.

Furthermore, teachers need to evaluate your performance. So, when you are given
a test or exam that is the assessed curriculum. The results of the assessed
curriculum will determine what you have actually learned and that is the so-called
learned curriculum. However, the hidden curriculum can affect what will be taught
and assessed by your teachers, and eventually may affect what you will learn.

To sum it up, curriculum is not only about a course or a simple listing of subjects but
it is the total learning experience of students as indicated by the seven types of
curriculum.