Chapter 9 Outline: The School Curriculum in an Era of Standards

What is Curriculum?

Curriculum is defined in a variety of ways, such as the subject matter taught to

students, a systematic arrangement of courses, the planned educational experiences
offered by a school, experiences students have in school, and the process teachers go
through in selecting and organizing learning experiences for their students. In this
chapter curriculum is defined as everything teachers teach and students learn in school.
Instruction is described as the strategies teachers use to help students reach the goals
established in the curriculum.

Components of the Curriculum

Explicit curriculum is the curriculum found in standards, curriculum guides,

textbooks, and other formal education experiences. The implicit, or hidden, curriculum is
reflected in the unstated values and priorities of the school and the classroom, along
with the general climate of our classrooms. The implicit curriculum is different from the
explicit curriculum because it isnt specifically prescribed and, in some cases, is out of
the teachers conscious awareness or control. The null curriculum differs from the
explicit and the implicit curriculum in that they both reflect what is taught, whereas the
null curriculum reflects what is not taught. The extracurriculum includes learning
experiences that extend beyond the core of students formal studies. Participation in
extracurricular activities correlates with a number of positive outcomes, including
increased achievement and more positive attitudes toward school.

Forces that Influence Curriculum

A teachers general philosophical views of teaching and learning as well as

standards and accountability, technology, the federal government, politics, and
textbooks all influence the curriculum. Teachers philosophies influence the curriculum
because philosophy is grounded in beliefs; professionals teach what they believe is
important, and they use approaches they believe are most effective. Standards and
accountability influence the curriculum because standards specify what students should
be learning and what is tested often becomes what is taught. Technology is exerting an
increasingly powerful role in shaping the curriculum; students need to be prepared to
use it effectively and efficiently. The federal government influences curriculum through
its legislative mandates as well as through the programs it supports financially.
Textbooks influence the curriculum because many teachers use textbooks as a primary
source for their curricular decisions about what to teach. I find this last sentence rather
interesting because the information that is put into textbooks usually because a
secondary or even tertiary source.

Controversial Issues in the Curriculum

Sex education, character education, intelligent design versus evolution,

censorship, and the underrepresentation of women and minorities in the curriculum are
controversial issues facing todays teachers. These issues are likely to remain
unresolved in the near future. These controversial issues influence the curriculum
because they affect what topics are or are not taught and how they are presented to
students.