THE WORD: CURRICULUM

• Latin: Running course

• United States 1906: Course of study
• Scotland 1603: Carriage way, road
• United States, 1940: Plan for learning (study)
RUNNING CHARIOT TRACKS IN GREECE
Gaius Julius Caesar and
his cohorts of the first
century B.C. had no idea
that the oval track on
which the Roman
chariots raced would
bequeath a word used
almost daily by educators
twenty-one centuries
later.

CONTEXT CLUE
The original Latin meaning of curriculum was a course, but of the kind that one
runs around (it came from currere, to run), or perhaps traverses in a racing
chariot, a transferred sense. The first borrowing of the Latin word into English
— in the late seventeenth century — was for a light, two-wheeled, twin-horsed
carriage, the curricle, the sports car of carriage days
• Latin curriculum; a running, course, current (as of life)
 MYSTERIOUS CREATION
“CURRICULUM”
Tracks in the mud and the
snow Rippled the waters of lakes
1.Bigfoot Champ

2.The Yeti Bessie

3.The Almasty Nessie

• In the world of professional education, the
word curriculum has taken on an elusive,
almost esoteric connotation. This poetic,
neuter word does possess an aura of
mystery. By contrast, other dimensions of
the world of professional education like
administration, instruction, and supervision
are strong, action-oriented words.
Administration is the act of administering;
instruction is the act of instructing; and
supervision is the act of supervising.
THE TRACK—THE CURRICULUM—HAS BECOME ONE
OF THE KEY CONCERNS OF TODAY’S SCHOOLS, AND
ITS MEANING HAS EXPANDED FROM A TANGIBLE
RACECOURSE TO AN ABSTRACT CONCEPT.

Deeds Adult
Children Experiences
s
One of the earliest writers on curriculum, Franklin Bobbitt,
perceived curriculum as
. . . that series of things which children and youth must do and
experience by way of developing abilities to do the things well
that make up the affairs of adult life; and to be in all respects
what adults should be.
 Sequence of courses

Performance
objectives
learning

planning
 CURRICULUM FROM DIFFERENT
POINTS OF VIEW
• There are many definitions of curriculum. Because
of this, the concept of curriculum is sometimes
characterized as fragmentary, elusive and
confusing. However, numerous definitions indicates
dynamism that connotes diverse interpretations of
what curriculum is all about. The definitions are
influenced by modes of thoughts, pedagogies,
political as well as cultural experiences.
Curriculum from different points of View
CURRICULUM FROM DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW
Curriculum from different points of View

1. Traditional Point of View

Curriculum from different points of View

1. Traditional Point of View

Robert M. Hutchins views curriculum as “permanent studies”,

where the rules of grammar, reading, rhetoric and logic and
mathematics for basic education are emphasized

-Basic Education should emphasize the 3Rs and college

education should be grounded on liberal education.
Curriculum from different points of View

1. Traditional Point of View

Arthur Bestor, an essentialist, believes that the mission of the

school should be intellectual training;
-curriculum should focus on the fundamental intellectual
discipline of grammar, literature and writing. It should also
include mathematics, science, history and foreign language.
Curriculum from different points of View

1. Traditional Point of View

Joseph Schwab’s view of curriculum is that discipline is the

sole source of curriculum. He said that curriculum should
consist only of knowledge which comes from discipline
which is the sole source.
Curriculum from different points of View

1. Traditional Point of View

In our education system, curriculum is divided into

chunks of knowledge we call subject areas in the basic
education such as English, Mathematics, Science, Social
Studies and others. In college, discipline may include
humanities, sciences, languages and many more.
Curriculum from different points of View

1. Traditional Point of View

Most of the traditional ideas view curriculum as

written documents or a plan of action in
accomplishing goals.
CURRICULUM FROM DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW

2. Progressive point of view of Curriculum

1. Progressive Points of View

Curriculum is defined as the total learning experiences of

the individual. This definition is anchored on John Dewey’s
definition of experience and education. He believed that
reflective thinking is a means that unifies curricular. Thought
is not derived from action but tested by application.
2. Progressive Points of View
- Caswell and Campbell viewed curriculum as “all experiences
children have under the guidance of teachers”.
- Marsh and Willis view curriculum as all the “experiences in the
classroom which are planned and entered by the teacher, and
also learned by the students.”
- Smith, Stanley and Shores defined curriculum as a “ sequence
of potential experiences set up in schools for the purpose of
disciplining children and youth in group ways of thinking and
acting.”
 What is curriculum?

Curriculum is a design PLAN for learning

that requires the purposeful and proactive
organization, sequencing, and management
of the interactions among the teacher, the
students, and the content knowledge we
want students to acquire.
Parameters for making an effective Curriculum

Curriculum

Goals

Resources

Methods

Language

Learning

Evaluation
II.- WAYS OF APPROACHING CURRICULUM
THEORY AND PRACTICE
1. Curriculum as a body of knowledge
to be transmitted (Program).
2. Curriculum as an attempt to achieve
certain ends in students - product.
3. Curriculum as process.
4. Curriculum as praxis. Homework
Curriculum as a program
Albert I. Oliver equated curriculum with the
educational program and divided it into four
basic elements:
“(1) the program of studies,
(2) the program of experiences,
(3) the program of services, and
(4) the hidden curriculum.”
Curriculum as a Product
 Respects ―natural way
 Language is acquired
through doing rather than
learned (rules)
 HOW?
 PRODUCT
 Curriculum as a Process

 Pre-selects the language to be

taught
 T. presents- practices-tests

 WHAT?
 PROCESS
1. Curriculum as a body of knowledge to be
transmitted.
Body of
knowledge - Subjects
content

through

Education

SSTUDENTS
Definitions of Curriculum
Purposes

Contexts

Strategies
Curriculum’s Purposes
The search for a definition of curriculum is
clouded when the theoretician responds to
the term not in the context of what
curriculum is but what it does or should
do—that is, its purpose. On the purposes of
the curriculum we can find many varying
statements.
Curriculum’s Purposes
When curriculum is conceptualized as
“the development of reflective
thinking on the part of the learner” or
“the transmission of the cultural
heritage,” purpose is confused with
entity.
Curriculum’s Purposes
“The purpose of the curriculum is
transmission of the cultural
heritage,”

“The purpose of the curriculum is

the development of reflective
thinking on the part of the learner.”
Curriculum’s Contexts
Definitions of curriculum sometimes
state the settings within which it takes
shape. When theoreticians speak of
i. An essentialist curriculum,
ii. A child-centered curriculum, or
iii. A reconstructionist curriculum,
 Curriculum’s Contexts
I. An Essentialist Curriculum
Designed to transmit the cultural heritage, to school
young people in the organized disciplines, and to
prepare boys and girls for the future. This curriculum
arises from a special philosophical context, that of the
essentialistic school of philosophy.
Curriculum’s Contexts
ii. A child-centered curriculum
A child-centered curriculum clearly
reveals its orientation—the learner, who
is the primary focus of the progressive
school of philosophy. The development
of the individual learner in all aspects of
growth may be inferred but the plans for
that development vary considerably from
school to school.
 Curriculum’s Contexts
iii. A reconstructionist curriculum
The curriculum of a school following reconstructionist philosophical beliefs aims to educate youth in
such a way that they will be capable of solving some of society’s pressing problems and, therefore,
change society for the better. Setting forth a “feminist argument,” Madeleine R. Grumet argued that
“what is the most fundamental to our lives as men and women sharing a moment on this planet is the
process and experience of reproducing ourselves.” Holding the view that “schools are ritual centers cut
off from the real living places where we love and labor,” she defined curriculum as a “project of
transcendence, our attempt while immersed in biology and ideology to transcend biology and
ideology.” Again we see a particular orientation or context within which the curriculum is lodged.
Grumet, Bitter Milk: Women and Teaching, pp. 3–4. Ibid., p. 21. Ibid., p. 0..
 Curriculum’s Strategies
While purpose and context are sometimes offered as definitions of curriculum,

an additional complexity arises when the theoretician equates curriculum with instructional
strategy.

Some theoreticians isolate certain instructional variables, such as processes, strategies, and
techniques, and then proceed to equate them with curriculum. The curriculum as a problem-
solving process illustrates an attempt to define curriculum in terms of an instructional
process—problem-solving techniques, the scientific method, or reflective thinking.

The curriculum as group living, for example, is an effort at definition built around certain
instructional techniques that must be used to provide opportunities for group living. The
curriculum as individualized learning and the curriculum as programmed instruction are, in
reality, specifications of systems by which learners encounter curricular content through the
process of instruction. Neither purpose, context, nor strategy provides a clear basis for
defining curriculum.
Curriculum’s Strategies
The curriculum as group living, for example, is an effort at
definition built around certain instructional techniques that
must be used to provide opportunities for group living. The
curriculum as individualized learning and the curriculum as
programmed instruction are, in reality, specifications of
systems by which learners encounter curricular content
through the process of instruction. Neither purpose, context,
nor strategy provides a clear basis for defining curriculum.
 CURRICULUM AS A DISCIPLINE
curriculum is viewed by many as a discipline
— a subject of study—
and even, on the graduate level of higher education, as a major field of study.

Curriculum is then both a field within which people work and a subject to be taught. Graduate and, to
some extent, undergraduate students take courses in
 curriculum development,
 curriculum theory,
 curriculum evaluation,
 secondary school curriculum,
 elementary school curriculum,
 middle school curriculum,
 community college curriculum, and, on fewer occasions,
 university curriculum.
The Characteristics of a Discipline
To arrive at a decision as to whether an area of study is a
discipline, the question might be raised, “What are the
characteristics of a discipline?” If the characteristics of a
discipline can be spelled out, we can determine whether
curriculum, for example, is a discipline or not.
There are two major characteristics of Curriculum;
1. Principles
2. Knowledge & Skills
 PRINCIPLES
• Any discipline worthy of study has an organized set of theoretical constructs or
principles that governs it. Certainly, the field of curriculum has developed a
significant set of principles, tried and untried, proved and unproved, many of which
are appropriately the subjects of discussion .
• Curriculum itself is a construct or concept, a verbalization of an extremely complex
idea or set of ideas. Using the constructs of balance and curriculum, we can derive
a principle or rule that, stated in simple terms, says,
• “A curriculum that provides maximum opportunities for learners incorporates the
concept of balance.”
• Sequencing of courses, behavioral objectives, integrated studies, multiculturalism,
and a whole-language approach to the teaching of language arts are examples of
constructs incorporated into one or more curriculum principles.
 KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
• Any discipline encompasses a body of knowledge and skills pertinent to that
discipline. The field of curriculum has adapted and borrowed subject matter
from a number of pure and derived disciplines.
• Selection of content for study by students, for example, cannot be done
without referring to the disciplines of sociology, psychology, and subject
areas.
• Organization of the curriculum depends on knowledge from organizational
theory and management, which are aspects of administration.
• The fields of supervision, systems theory, technology, and communications
theory are called on in the process of curriculum development. Knowledge
from many fields is selected and adapted by the curriculum field.