Lesson 1.

1: Basic Concepts of the

Curriculum

Lesson Summary
The concept of curriculum is perhaps one of the most dynamic aspects
of education, mainly because experts have interpreted it differently. The
curriculum can even come in different types, depending on how they are used
in schools and how they represent learning. Nevertheless, teachers must have
a good understanding of the curriculum, as it is a crucial component in every
educational system.

Learning Outcomes
1. Discuss the nature and importance of curriculum
2. Define curriculum from two perspectives (traditional vs. progressive)
3. Differentiate the types of curriculum

Motivation Question
Based on what you have heard about the curriculum, how would you define it?

Discussion
You may have read about news headlines such as “DepEd: Curriculum
to undergo changes” (Philippine Star) and “Can PHL just adopt Singapore’s
curriculum? No, says DepEd chief” (GMA News). What is your stand in those
headlines? Does it say something about what our schools teach? Well, it is
apparent that each person has his view or stand regarding the curriculum. As
a result of the diverse perspectives we have, different demands arise, and
sometimes, clash of opinions and misunderstanding occur. Due to the unclear
understanding of the field of curriculum, some curriculum projects have failed
(Pawilen, 2015). With that, teachers, students, parents, community, and other
essential stakeholders must have sufficient knowledge of what is a curriculum.

Nature, Importance, and Purpose of the Curriculum

(Bilbao et al., 2015; Pawilen, 2019; Villena et al., 2015)

The word ‘curriculum’ originated from the Latin word ‘currere,’ which
means “to run” or “to run a course.” A curriculum usually refers to a
comprehensive and content-rich course of study approved for teaching in
schools, which is anchored on any country’s standards. According to the
Glossary of Educational Reform, the curriculum means the knowledge and
skills students must learn, which includes the learning standards or objectives
they are expected to achieve; the lessons that teachers teach; the tasks given
to students; the instructional materials used in a subject; and the methods used
to assess student learning (Great Schools Partnership, 2015). However, unlike
any other term we use in education, did you know that curriculum does not have
a standard definition adopted by experts?
As time passed, experts have defined curriculum differently, as
influenced by various philosophical, psychological, political, and socio-cultural
factors. This may mean that the concept of curriculum is fragmentary and
confusing, but we can describe it as dynamic and ever-changing. To have a
simplified approach to the curriculum, let us try to explore four basic
definitions, according to Ornstein and Hunkins (2009).
1. The curriculum is a plan for achieving goals. Ralph Tyler and Hilda Taba
popularized this linear view or definition of the curriculum. The curriculum
is treated as a written document that includes strategies for achieving
desired goals or outcomes. In this definition, any curriculum worker or
specialist wants the plan’s objectives to be realized as much as possible.
The following experts support this definition of the curriculum:
• The curriculum is “a plan for providing sets of learning opportunities for
persons to be educated.” (J. Galen Saylor)
• The curriculum is a “document that systematically describes goals,... .,
content, learning activities, evaluation procedures . . .” (David Pratt)
• The curriculum is a “four-step plan involving purpose, design,
implementation, and assessment.” (Jon Wiles and Joseph Bondi)
2. The curriculum is subject matter or content. Most likely, ordinary people
tend to view the curriculum in this way. This definition equates curriculum
with the subjects taken in each grade or year level, such as Math, Science,
English, History, etc. People who adopt this definition also tend to
emphasize what is learned in those subject areas.

3. The curriculum is a field of study. As a discipline or area of study, it has its

own foundations, knowledge domains, researches, theories, principles, and
specialists. This definition views the curriculum in more theoretical terms
and is concerned with historical, philosophical, and social issues.

4. The curriculum is dealing with learners’ experiences. This definition

considers a broad view of the curriculum. It includes almost everything that
is planned inside or outside the school for the students. This notion is
rooted in John Dewey’s idea of education as experience and in Hollis
Caswell and Doak Campbell’s view of the curriculum as “all the experiences
children have under the guidance of teachers.” The following curricularists
support this definition of the curriculum:
• “The curriculum consists of ongoing experiences for children under the
guidance of the school.” (Gene Shepherd and William Ragan)
• “Curriculum consists of pre-planned series of educational hurdles and
an entire range of experiences a child has within the school.” (Elliot
Eisner)
 • The curriculum represents “the totality of learning experiences provided
to students so that they can attain general skills and knowledge at a
variety of learning sites.” (Marsh and Willis, 2007)
So how can we put all of these definitions into a summary? Let’s put it this way.
CURRICULUM represents all the learning experiences that the students
have under the guidance of the teacher or school. Such learning experiences are
part of what is planned by the school to achieve certain goals. What is planned
includes the learning outcomes to be met, subjects, or topics to be taught,
materials to be utilized, and assessment methods to be employed. To better
prepare and analyze what is provided for students, the field of the curriculum
must be studied.
Do you know how vital the curriculum is? It is the reason why schools
or educational systems exist. It is at the heart of the teaching profession.
Teachers and learners will have nothing to do in schools without the
curriculum. School facilities would be useless as well. The curriculum in
schools is what guides every teacher or person in the education sector. The
curriculum is also the foremost factor that has the most significant effect on
student achievement. The school curriculum is such a critical factor because
it specifies the knowledge, values, and skills that students have to learn for
their holistic development (Marzano, 2003 as cited in Corpuz & Salandanan,
2003).

Figure 1. The curriculum is for the learner.

Now, what is the objective or purpose of the curriculum? Is it

necessarily for schools or classrooms to be filled in? The curriculum’s primary
goal is to enable each child to develop the necessary knowledge, values, skills,
and associated capabilities and competencies, to lead productive and
meaningful lives (Stabback, 2016). In a nutshell, it focuses on the child
becoming a successful and confident learner, a responsible individual, and an
active contributor to our society. Therefore, the quality of any curriculum can
be determined based on the students’ quality of learning and how they use it
for their development (Stabback, 2016).
While we have started looking broadly at the curriculum, it should be
remembered that this subject’s focus is the school curriculum. We will be
exploring at the different aspects of curriculum and curriculum development
in general, but emphasis will also be provided in the context of the school
curriculum, which is defined as the total learning experiences offered in a
confined learning space called school (Lucas et al., 2020).
Traditional Curriculum vs. Progressive Curriculum

A curriculum can be described as traditional or progressive, depending

on the person’s point of view who plans or implements it. The table on the next
page differentiates a traditional curriculum from a progressive curriculum and
the curricularists who advanced each.
Table 1. Comparison of Traditional vs. Progressive Curriculum

Traditional Curriculum Progressive Curriculum

✓ A curriculum from a traditional
point of view takes a more
linear and highly academic
approach to learning.
✓ Lectures, use of educational
materials, recitations, and
assignments are part of the
standard systems.
✓ It has been commonly
employed due to its tried-and-
tested framework, as evident
from humanity’s progress in
science, medicine, technology,
literature, etc.
✓ Typically, it involves a teacher
conveying facts to the learners.
The curriculum centers on a
specific body of knowledge-
moral standards, social
conduct, and skills, to be
transmitted as these are
considered as necessary for the
learners.
✓ It is treated as a written
document (e.g., syllabus,
books) where knowledge is
found but is used as a means
to accomplish intended goals.
(Bilbao et al., 2015)
Supporters: Robert M. Hutchins,
Arthur Bestor, Joseph Schwab,
Phillip Phenix
✓ The progressive point of view
goes beyond the usual notion
about the curriculum as a listing
of school subjects, syllabi, or
course of study. (Bilbao et al.,
2015)
✓ It provides the students with
more hands-on research and a
chance to learn in the field, with
the guidance of the teachers.
✓ The curriculum is broadly
defined as the total learning
experiences that a student
undergoes.
✓ This tenet is anchored on John
Dewey’s definition of experience
and education. He posited that
reflective thinking is a means
that unifies curricular elements.
✓ Progressivists believe that
education should focus on the
whole child, rather than on the
content or teacher.
✓ Learning is rooted in the
questions of students that arise
through experiencing the world.
Supporters: John Dewey, Hollis
Caswell and Kenn Campbell,
Othaniel Smith, William Stanley and
Harlan Shore, Colin Marsh and
George Willis

Types of Curriculum

Do you know that several types of curriculum exist, regardless of the

level of schooling or learning environment? (Bilbao et al., 2015). These types of
curriculum arise from how they are used in schools and how they relate to
multiple representations of learning (Pawilen, 2015; Stabback, 2016). Let us
consider ten of them in the next table as cited and described by different
sources (Bilbao et al., 2015; Pawilen, 2015; Villena et al., 2015; Wilson, n.d.).
Table 2. Types of Curriculum

Types of Curriculum Description

1. Recommended or Most of the curricula found in schools are
ideal curriculum recommended. This type of curriculum is proposed
by scholars, national agencies (DepEd, CHED,
TESDA), professional organizations, or
international bodies (e.g., UNESCO).
Recommendations come in the form of
memoranda or policies, standards, and guidelines.
This type of curriculum is formulated at a high level
of generality.
2. Intended, official or Also referred to as curriculum of control, it
written curriculum represents what is written as part of formal
instruction or schooling experiences. It may apply
to a course of study, lesson exemplars, syllabi, or
any curriculum document that is prepared for
implementation to support the intentional
instructional plan of a school.
3. Taught or It includes the different planned activities that the
implemented teachers and learners put into action in the
curriculum classroom. The varied activities are enacted to
arrive at the intended learning outcomes or
purposes of the written curriculum. The taught
curriculum relies on the learning styles of the
students and the teaching styles of the teacher.
This type of curriculum is the delivered curriculum.
4. Supported This includes the materials which should support or
curriculum help in the implementation of a written curriculum.
Examples of these materials are textbooks,
computers, audio-visual materials, and laboratory
equipment. This type of curriculum also includes
the playground, zoo, museum, classroom, and other
school facilities, enabling each learner to achieve
real and lifelong learning.
5. Assessed or The teachers are doing a series of evaluations at
tested Curriculum the duration (formative assessment) and end of the
teaching episodes (summative) to determine the
extent of teaching or to tell if the students are
progressing. Assessment tools and different types
of assessments (paper and pen, performance-
based) are utilized. Hence, this type of curriculum
verifies whether the taught curriculum has
succeeded.
6. Learned, received This denotes the learning outcomes attained by the
or achieved students. The learning outcomes are indicated by
curriculum the results of assessment tools and changes in the
 student’s behavior, which can either be cognitive,
psychomotor, or affective. This pertains to what
students actually take out of the classrooms; those
concepts and content that are truly learned and
remembered. This type of curriculum is also
referred to as the bottom line curriculum.
7. Entitlement This refers to what the people or the general society
curriculum believes learners should expect to learn in the
educational system to become useful or functional
members of the community.
8. Concomitant This represents what is taught at home: part of
Curriculum family experiences or related experiences allowed
by the family. This curriculum may be received at
church, for instance, through religious expression,
lessons on ethics, morals, and values, shaped
behaviors, or social experiences based on what the
family prefers.
9. Hidden, implicit or This type of curriculum includes the behaviors,
covert curriculum attitudes, and knowledge that the school’s s culture
unintentionally teaches to the students. It is the
type of curriculum that is implied by the school
structure and environment, much of what happens
in daily or established routines. Though not
deliberately planned, it can influence behavior and
the quality of achieved learning outcomes.
Teacher-learner interaction, parental support, and
physical health and other factors make up the
hidden curriculum.
10. Null or censored That which we do not teach or according to Tanner
curriculum & Tanner (2007) must not be taught to the students,
thus giving students the message that these
elements are not relevant in their educational
experiences or prohibited in our society. Not
teaching some particular ideas may be due to
authorities’ mandate, to a teacher’s lack of
knowledge, or to deeply held assumptions and
biases.

Many of these curriculum types are connected, most notably the first
six ones mentioned. The recommended curriculum for the basic education
level (kindergarten, elementary and secondary levels) is the K-12 curriculum.
The curriculum guide made by experts and the lesson plans prepared by the
teachers are the written curriculum that reflects the recommended curriculum.
Based on the guide or plans made, the teacher implements them by applying
his/her expertise (taught curriculum) using instructional resources and
learning facilities (supported curriculum). It is desired that what was taught is
understood well by the students (learned curriculum), which will be determined
using specific assessment methods (assessed curriculum). Teachers must
strive to have alignment among these types of curriculum.
 Not all of these curriculum types may be present simultaneously in
every classroom (Bilbao et al., 2015). Most of them are deliberately planned,
but others are implied. As a future teacher, you must be aware of these types
of curriculum because they can certainly influence the quality of learning of the
learners.

Curriculum and the Teacher

(Bilbao et al., 2015)

A curricularist is someone who specializes in the field of curriculum. A
curricularist can also be defined as a person who takes part in knowing,
planning, writing, initiating, implementing, evaluating, and innovating the
curriculum. Since a teacher’s role includes the functions previously mentioned,
can we consider the teacher as a curricularist? Definitely, yes. Teachers are
even called to be curriculum leaders because of the many roles they play in
ensuring that the curriculum is appropriately planned, designed, implemented,
and evaluated (Pawilen, 2019).
Now let’s describe the functions or roles of the teacher as a curricularist
in the table below.
Table 3. Roles of the Teacher as a Curricularist

Role Description
Knower The teacher must master the subject matter or the
content she is about to teach. His/her knowledge of the
content may come from formal or informal experiences.
Writer The teacher must record and preserve knowledge,
subject matter, or content. He/she must write textbooks,
modules, laboratory manuals, references, and even
electronic or digital resources.
Planner The teacher must plan on a yearly, monthly, weekly, or
daily basis. This will guide the teacher in implementing
the curriculum, considering different factors.
Initiator The teacher must be open-minded to implement the
curriculum, most especially if it is recommended. He/she
must not also hesitate to meet the challenges of doing
things first.
Innovator The teacher must be creative and innovative enough to
keep up with the curriculum trends and changes.
Implementor The teacher must give life to the curriculum. The teacher
now engages, guides, and facilitates his/her students to
achieve the learning outcomes.
Evaluator The teacher must determine the extent to how the
learning outcomes are achieved, if the curriculum is
working, if there should be modifications in the
curriculum, etc.
 Which of these seven roles stood out the most for you? Can we remove
one of the functions presented? Definitely not. From what you learned, to be a
teacher is to be a curricularist though he/she may not be equal to prominent
curriculum scholars. In addition to the other functions of the teacher as a
professional, these seven roles truly make the teaching profession a multi-
faceted and demanding work. Nevertheless, by doing these tasks entrusted to
us, we make the curriculum more than just a list of topics but a blueprint for
the learners’ successful academic journey.