EDU402 Handouts Topics 1-222

HANDOUTS · Lesson No 1 INTRODUCTION TO CURRICULUM · Topic 1: Introduction

In this Lesson we will focus on the “What, Why and how of the curriculum”. What is Curriculum and why we are using this term? Basically curriculum is not an objective word. It is a broad term.

In our overall course we will focus on these three areas: · 1. The field perspectives about curriculum · - Nature Views · 2. Paradigm · - Curriculum development · 3. Practice · The basic questions of curriculum are:

Q1. What type of knowledge is worthwhile?

Q2. Why is it worthwhile?

Q3. How is it acquired?

These questions are the backbone for developing/preparing the curriculum for different subjects.

Educational Practices that will be included in the curriculum:

4. Textbook writing
5. Resource materials
6. Activities for students
7. Financial planning Curriculum What

How Why

8. Educational research

Topic 2: Nature of Curriculum

Curriculum – Word is derived from “Latin” language that means:

A racecourse · A prescribed course to follow · A series of courses to complete a program of studies

Most modern definition of curriculum shared in 1920 says that

“Curriculum is a process not a product”.

Curriculum includes: topics, syllabus, list of subjects, course of study, content, method, and items of knowledge to be covered, time table, organization of teaching and learning.

In short, the sum total of all the experiences a pupil undergoes is called the curriculum.

Topic 3: Views about Curriculum-1

Many scholars have given the definitions of curriculum, some of which are as follows:

➢ Bobbit (1924), “all the organized and unorganized educational experiences students encounter”. ➢ Tyler (1957), “all that is planned and directed by teachers to achieve the educational goals”. ➢ Glatthorn (1987), “plans for guiding teaching and learning”. ➢ English (1992), “a work plan that includes both content and strategies for teaching and learning process.” ➢ Tanner & Tanner (1995), “the reconstruction of knowledge & experience under the guidance of school.”

Topic 4: Views about Curriculum-2

➢ Reinhartz and Beach (1997), “a flexible plan for teaching to meet needs of students and also provides opportunities for teachable moments.” ➢ Schubert (1993), “the term curriculum is shrouded in definitional controversy; definitions continue to evolve, based upon educational conditions at a given time in history and our understanding of teaching learning.” ➢ Ellis (2004), “ Prescriptive curriculum is about what “ought” to happen, it can take the form of a plan, an intended program, or some kind of expert opinion about what needs to take place in the course of study”. ➢ The descriptive definition goes beyond the prescriptive one, i.e., “not merely in terms of how things ought to be, but how things are in real classrooms, in other words, the curriculum is ‘actual

Curriculum as a Subject Matter or Content includes the following areas of focus:

➢ Program of Planned Activities ➢ Intended Learning Outcome ➢ Cultural Reproduction ➢ Discrete Tasks and Concepts ➢ Agenda for Social Reconstruction ➢ “Currere” – a Lived Experience

Curriculum as Subject Matter or Content

Curriculum is equated with the subjects to be taught. The most traditional Image of curriculum stems back to ancient times and seven liberal arts, usually divided into trivium (grammar, rhetoric and dialectic) and quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music). Curriculum is equated with the ‘subjects’ to be taught. Educators who use this image intend to spell-out clearly the network of subjects taught, interpretations given to those subjects, prerequisite knowledge for studying certain subjects and a rational for the ways in which all subjects at a particular level are fit together and provided what is needed at that level.

Curriculum as a Program of Planned Activities

A comprehensive view of all the activities planned for delivery to the students reveals that, the curriculum includes scope, sequence, interpretations and balance of subject matter, motivational strategies, teaching techniques and anything which can be planned in advance. The nature of the plan can be quite wide ranging, however two extremes are, one viewing curriculum as a written document and the other accepting plans that are in the minds of teachers, but remain unwritten.