TASK:

a) Study and share various definitions of

'curriculum' proposed by at least FIVE different

scholars.

b) Define Curriculum (in your own words). Get ready

to defend / justify your definition.

DEFINITIONS OF

CURRICULUM

What is Curriculum?

What is Curriculum?

Is it a model?

Is it a document?

Is it the way the environment is

organised?

Is it the way in which people plan for

children’s learning?

Is it the day-to-day decisions that

teachers make about children and their

learning?

Is it what is negotiated with

parents, community and external

agencies?

General understanding of Public

• Some people may refer curriculum as:– A subject matter– A series of written documents like books and

syllabi

Definitions of Curriculum by Scholars in the Field

• Wiles and Bondi (2007) define curriculum as:

a set of desired goals or values that are activated

through a development process and culminate in

successful learning experiences for students.

– Wiles (2009). Leading curriculum development. London: SAGE.

Ebert, E.S., Ebert, C. and

Bentley (2013) define

curriculum as

•the means and materials with which students will interact for the purpose of achieving identified educational outcomes.

Ebert et al. (2013) also advocate

that

•some educators would say that the curriculum consists of all the planned experiences that the school offers as part of its educational responsibility.

Contd.

• However, there are those who contend that the curriculum

includes not only the planned, but also the unplanned

experiences as well.

• For example, incidents of violence that have occurred at a

number of school across the nation.

– Ebert, E.S., Ebert, C. and Bentley (2013). Defining curriculum. Retrieved on June 26, 2014 from http://www.education.com/reference/article/curriculum-definition/

– Horn (2002). Understanding educational reform. California: ABC-CLIO

Horn (2002) defines curriculum as the written action plan that teachers use as the basis for their lessons.

Curriculum deals with sequence of content, instructional methods and assessment techniques.

-Tanner, D., and Tanner, L.N. (1980). Curriculum development: Theory to practice. United States: Prentice Hall

Tanner, D., and Tanner, L.N. (1980) defined curriculum as

“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 learners’ continuous and wilful growth in

personal social competence” (p.13).

Schubert (1987) defines curriculum as:

• the contents of a subject, concepts and tasks to be

acquired, planned activities, the desired learning

outcomes and experiences, product of culture and an

agenda to reform society.

Pratt (1980) defines curriculum as:

• a written document that systematically

describes goals planned, objectives, content,

learning activities, evaluation procedures and

so forth.

• Hass (1987) provides a broader definition, stating that a

curriculum includes “all of the experiences that

individual learners have in a program of education

whose purpose is to achieve broad goals and related

specific objectives, which is planned in terms of a

framework of theory and research or past and present

professional practice” (p.5).

Definitions of curriculum in our own words

1. Curriculum is a set of subjects including their

content which are being offered by the school

to the students.

2. Curriculum consists of 3 major elements:

– Curriculum products (any documents produced by

curriculum developers; content of course, blueprint)

– Curriculum guides (content to be taught and

instructional strategies)

– Curriculum resources (textbooks, videos or computer

software that instructors use to support the course.