What is Curriculum?

What is Curriculum?

1. It is a statement of what students should know, be able to do, how it es taught, how it is measured, and how the educational system is organised.

2. The Hidden Curriculum

   • It was coined by the sociologist Philip Jackson in 1968.
   • It involves learning things such as how to respond and cope with authority, how to get on with others, how to pass the time, how to deal with boredom, how to establish priorities and how to conform to the expectations of teachers and their peers.

3. Curriculum Approaches

   • As Content
     • Knowledge, skills and values.
       • It has been suggested that if one adopts the content approach to curriculum, focus will be on the syllabus and the body of knowledge to be transmitted or "delivered" to students using appropriate teaching methods.
   • As Product
     • Desired learning outcomes.
       • It is the formulation of behavioural objecctives which provide a clear notion of outcomes or desired products so that content and teaching methods may be organised and the results evaluated.
   • As Process
     • Interactions in the classroom..
       • It is an active process with emphasis on the context in which the processes occurs.
         • It is seen as a scheme about the practice of teaching.

4. Foundations of Curriculum.

   • The design and development is a team effort involving curriculum planners, curriculum developers, teachers, academicians, education officers, administrators, community members and many others.
   • A curriculum is a reflection of societal values and beliefs it serves.
   • Many curriculum plans are an evolution from earlier times.
   • Curriculum developers refer to historical events to better understand the decisions made at different points of time.
   • It provides a background for better understanding present day curriculum development efforts.

5. Curriculum Development

   • It is a process involving planning, designing, implementation and evaluation.
     • Curriculum Planning which involves decisions about the philosophy of education and the aims of education.
     • Curriculum Design which referes to the way curriculum is conceptualised and involves the selection and organisation of content, and the selection and organisation of learning experiences or activities.,
     • Curriculum Evaluation which is determining the extent to which the efforts on implementing the ideas of the curriculum have been successful.

6. Curriculum as a Discipline

   • It has an organised set of theorical principles.
   • It includes a body of knowledge and skills and has its theoreticians and its practitioners.

7. Curriculum and Instruction

   • The relationship between curriculum and instruction is interdependent, continuous, repeated and never-ending.

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