Cherry Lyn N.

Gacias BSEd – Filipino 3A

TEACHER’S GUIDE IN THE CURRICULUM

Teachers are the one who guide students towards their future or dreams. It can

be hard to catch but still teachers are always fulfilling their duties over and over again in

generations. They are the ones who shape the world as it is today. But how do teachers

maintain their ways on guiding students every generations? This is where the

curriculum follows. Curriculum came from a Latin word, ‘Currere’ means ‘the path, the

race, lap or course or runway’ which one takes to reach a goal applied to a course

study. If the teacher is the guide, the curriculum is the path. This explains how a teacher

maintains his/her way through teaching, the curriculum they have is the basis on their

way to teach students in many different ways.

According to Harold O. Rugg (1927), The curriculum is a succession of

experiences and enterprises having a maximum lifelikeness for the learner… giving the

learner that development most helpful in meeting and controlling life situations. Harold

O. Rugg did mention the “curriculum is a succession of experiences and enterprises”

which continues until today because teachers nowadays apply different curriculums to

achieve different approaches in learning. From what I can say, this is also great

because they can get more closer to the students and understands more about their

strengths and weaknesses. Also, according to E. Silva (2009) The curriculum is an

emphasis on what students can do with knowledge, rather than what units of knowledge

they have, is the essence of 21st Century skills. This motivates the students to do more

activities to learn more about how things do and how things work, like what others say

“Experience is the best teacher” because we learn more when we see and realized the

results are, it is easier to plant those learnings through experience because it can never

be forgotten.

The concept of the curriculum is that it includes both the plans made for learning

and the actual learning experiences provided. Also, the curriculum and instruction are

two key pieces that fit together to make sure students learn. To make it more concise,
curriculum is what the teachers teach, and it serves as the guide to instructions wherein

instruction is the teaching practices that occur as a result of curriculum implementation.

There are 7 types of curriculum/curricula, the first is the Recommended Curriculum,

wherein it is the one recommended by the individual scholars, professional

associations, and reform commissions. Example of this is in the Philippines, the

curriculum being implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd) or the

Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) is a recommended curriculum because it is

being implemented by either of the two Departments and it is a “must” to do it. The

second one is the Written Curriculum, wherein it is intended primarily to ensure that the

educational goals of the system are being accomplished; it is a curriculum of control.

Example of this is the lesson plan or syllabus written by the teachers that serves as their

guide through their lesson and learning plans. The third one is the Supported

Curriculum, wherein it is reflected in and shaped by the resources allocated to support

and deliver it, example of this is the textbooks and gadgets that are being given and

used to teaching. Another example is today’s type of learning which is the modular

teaching, these are the kind of curriculum that resources are given to the students to

study and provide themselves the understanding about what are they going to do. The

fourth one is the Taught Curriculum, wherein it is a delivered curriculum, a curriculum

that an observer sees in action as the teacher teaches. This is the implementation of the

written curriculum. Whatever is being taught or done in the classroom is a taught

curriculum. So, when teachers give a lecture, initiate a group work, or ask a student to

do a lab experiment with their guidance, the taught curriculum is being implemented.

The fifth one is the Tested Curriculum, wherein a type of curriculum is that set of

learning that is assessed in teacher-made classroom test. This is when students take a

quiz or the mid-term and final exams, these evaluations are the test curriculum. In this,

the teachers will know if the students are progressing or not. The sixth one is the

Learned Curriculum, wherein it is used here to denote all the changed in values,

perceptions, and behavior that occur as a result of school experiences. This type of

curriculum indicates what the students have learned. The capability that students should
demonstrate at the end of the lesson can be measured through learning outcomes. The

last one is the Hidden Curriculum, wherein it expresses the idea that schools do more

than simply transmitting knowledge. To make it more specific, it refers to the unplanned

or unintended curriculum but plays a vital role in learning. It consists of norms, values,

and procedures.

There are also components of the curriculum, they have the Policies, Goals, Field of

Study, Programs of Study, Courses of Study then the Lessons. These are all important

to be as a guide for the teachers and the learners in their way to the future. Imagine

being ten years old and attending a school where the expectations are low, each

teacher teaches his/her own thing, there is no evidence of a standards based

curriculum, but at the end of the school year you are required to sit down and take a

standardized state test in order to advance to the next grade.  You are ill prepared for

the rigor of the questions on the test and you certainly had not been prepared to write

essays in response to what you read. Imagine the amount of pressure and frustration

that this child faces.  This is an atrocity that can be avoided with the implementation of a

high quality curriculum. What are the characteristics of a high quality education?  At the

heart of a high quality curriculum is the premise that all students are able to learn and

are capable of being successful. Therefore, a high quality curriculum is one built on high

expectations, aligned with state standards, and is highly rigorous. Woven throughout the

fabric of the curriculum across disciplines is a focus on integration of Science,

Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Music in order to meet the needs and

exceptionalities of every child. addition to the aforementioned, a strong curriculum is

focused on critical thinking and strong 21st century communication skills. It also

consists of the transmittal of relevant information, fosters an innovative climate and

creativity in order to fit the needs of today’s classrooms that are comprised of students

with diverse needs.  Students need to be able to apply what they learn and create new

and innovative products or ideas, determine various ways to solve problems, and be
able to take a stance on issues by being able to apply reasoning and logic to justify their

thinking. 

Finally, a strong curriculum focuses on vertical and horizontal alignment between

grades in order to scaffold, or build, the learning experience. Therefore, it should be

developed through a collaborative approach with teachers representing all grade levels

and disciplines in order to achieve cohesiveness that targets the success of every child. 

With high quality curriculum and standards in place we can ensure that no child will ever

be forced to feel the pain of being asked to recall information they never learned, in a

way they were never taught.