eated or specified in advance in operational terms; others will b

broad, and diffuse, but in part capable of being recognized subs: general,
. o th . . t h'1s b oo k , t h'1s issue-the
·
the activity. Like . er issues 1n characterquent
f t0
cational goals-Is . greater d etaI·11ater.
. d'Iscussed In °edu·
When one is engaged in long-term planning and has formulat d
· ·
array of goals or o b~ectives, d esigne
· d matena · Is o f various sorts ere an
. ..
learning act1v1t1es t? . e use . In t h c1assroom, an d. prepared visual
b d . ' eated
and
auditory resources, 1t Is possible to inspect the curnculum to see what .
. Its
contents are and how they have been related. The curnculum in this co _
text has a physical existence; it is embodied in a set oLmaterials. The~
materials can be the subject of analysis and criticism in a measure similar to
the criticism applied to books, paintings, symphonies, ·architecture, and the
like. To be sure, the criteria will differ, but the principle of being able to
criticize what has been created is the same.
The physical existence of such materials also means that they can be
transported; the same curriculum can be used in different classrooms and
in different schools. School administrators can discuss the strengths and
weaknesses of the curriculum. Parents can inspect it and students can use it.
Curriculum planning need not result in the creation of physical materi-
als . The teacher whose plans a~e in his or her mind alone might have
planned a curriculum of an excellent sort, but because the plans are not
public, they can neither be shifted about, inspected, nor shared with others.
The only way to appraise the quality of the curriculum is to watch the
teacher and the students in the class. One must attend · to the attributes as
they unfold, make judgments about the significance of the content as it is
revealed, and appraise the quality of the resources as they are used. One
must make one's judgment by observing the curriculum in use. For the
teacher who does not make extensive or long-term plans, even of a me~~l
sort, the curriculum may in fact be planned in process. In this situation, it _is
not simply that plans have been made but have not been written dow~~ in
this situation, the teacher plans in process. What the teacher uses are ini~iat-
ing activities,
•
but such activities are employed simply to get the ball rolling:
• (Jla. 11l'l''
to begin a process whose course is·shaped in the conduct of teaching. -J·,1, f1 ·l·
\ / J
R().,V\~ v~ W1,,1t-w,i?

The Intended and Operational Curriculum

1:'he differences between what is planned in the way of aims, content, activi-
ties,_and sequence and what actually t~anspfr~ri'h the classroom can be ~or-
mahzed i~to a distinction between the intended and the operational cu~nc~-
lum. The intended curriculum is like the course of study; it is that which ~s
~lanned. Such plans can, as I have already indicated be inspected, cn-
t1qued · d , an d transported to a multitude of locations.
'
. , revise The op era-
 SOME CONC EPTS, DISTIN CTION S, AND DEFIN ITION S ::S::S

tional curric ulum is the uniqu e set of events that transp ire within a class-
room . It is what occur s betwe en teache rs and studen ts and betwe en studen ts
and stude~ ts. To ~~itique or appra ise the opera tional curric ulum requir es
one to ~e 1n a pos1t1on to observ e what classr oom activities actually unfold .
Inspe ction of plans or of the inten ded curric ulum is not assura nce that
. d . ( \ '::>SlJ.Q - ~ ";J 'k<11.. l-i.l{.'-p u 7.,,:,. • 7-1 o i"S!-~ ':3 0-0 ci C U,..x-> ..,
L<...1/V- .

1 o.c:;su.e_ q U'\:, d. e Ii-

th ose p 1an~ are actua 1ze
In a variet y of ways, it is useful to distin guish betwe en the intend ed and
the opera tional curric ulum. If in a schoo l or classr oom there is an educa -
tional probl em conce rning what- studen ts are or are not learni ng, one can
ask wheth er the sourc e of the probl em reside s in the curric ulum as it is
intend ed or as it is opera tional ized. It might be the case that the intend ed
curric ulum is so rigidly struct ured that it negatively influences the teache r's
opera tional curric ulum. Altern ativel y, thoug h the inten ded curric ulum
might be judge d excell ent on releva nt criteria, the opera tional curric ulum
may not resem ble what was intend ed. Becau se the exam inatio ns that a 1
schoo l distric t _emplo ys purpo rtedly reflec t the intend ed, rather than the
opera tional , curric ulum the studen ts do poorly. What one does, theref ore,
is either reduc e the discrepancy betwe en what was intend ed and what was
opera tional ized or one create s an exami nation system that more adequ ately
reflects what was actually taught .
It is intere sting to note that in efforts to upgra de the educa tional quality
of the schools, "solut ions" are often provid ed that take the form of "new
course s in subjec t X or Y," or more instru ctiona l time in courses already
being taugh t. Yet it is clear that more of somet hing that is badly handl ed
will be educa tional ly coun~erp~ f.~\~i~ t If both the i~ten~ ed and _opera-
tional curric ulum are poor 1n quahty, more of such quality will cause impov-
erishm ent r ather than enrich ment of educa tion. Altho ugh one wants to
know about the quality and charac ter of what is intend ed, one also wants to
know -and this is extrem ely impo rtant- what the opera tional curriculum is
in the classr oom. This is a compl ex, arduo us, and dema nding task that
requir es one to be in a positi on to see and under stand what actually goes on
in classrooms. Yet this metho d is o£ extrem e impor tance for impro ving the
quality of educa tion. I will have more to say about how such observations
might be made in Chapt er 13. At this point it is i~por tant ~o under stand
the distin ction betwe en the intend ed and the operat ional curriculum and to
appre ciate the implications of this distinction for improving curriculum and
teachi ng. .
Altho ugh curric ulum and teachi ng are regard ed as separa te ~spects of
educa tional practi ce, the distin ctions betwe en them are often d1ffic_ul~ to
make when one exami nes each carefully. Nevertheless, the gener al d1sunc-
tion between curriculum and teachi ng is useful , as I will discuss later in this
book, even thoug h there are cases in which the distinction between the two
is not clear.
 34 THE EDUCATIONAL IMAGINATION
* dVct->J CJ..M.j p1~ c9 r e>f- !OUY v(J/\ de.,l.r t_,~ !JJ,·4 ., . "'..,, . , ) .

mig ht be not ed tha t the pla nru ng of a cur ricu lum on a long-term b .
It . use can b e com par ed to the creation as1s
. h cle ar spe cifi cati ons reg ard.1ng its
wit
ns pre par ed by an archit ect.
of a sco re wri tten by a com pos er or the pla .fi
exa mp les are mu c h mo re spe c1 1c and detailed th
Alt hou gh the se two . h ' b ¾
and
I tp _the com pos er
wh at mo st cur ricu la pro vid e, the re a~1ons
has s1mtlant1es to that between
the pia nis t or the arc hite ct and the bui lde r
eac h ca~e the pla nne r designs,
the cur ricu lum pla nne r and the tea_ch~ r. In
con stra ints of the design. And
and the per for ma nce is exe cut ed w1th1n the
fre edo m wit h which to inter-
in eac h case the per farm ers hav e deg ree s of
ins pec t the score, the archi-
pre t the pla ns tha t hav e bee n ma de. On e can
tura l spe cifi cati ons , and the cur ricu lum as pla nne d and assess the ways in
tec
whi ch tho se pla ns hav e bee n exe cut ed.
cur ricu lum pla nni ng- the
For tho se usi ng a mo re em erg ent mo del of
s-a ctiv itie s are much closer to
mo del in whi ch pla ns are cre ate d in pro ces
del , dec isio ns to do one thin g
the wo rk of the pai nte r or poe t. In this mo
be ma de onl y by considering
rath er tha n ano the r are dec isio ns tha t can
situ atio n, by exploiting the
opt ion s as the y dev elo p, by "re adi ng" the
w out of action rather than
adv ent itio us, and by allowing inte ntio n to gro
a gre at ma ny artists as well as
req uiri ng the m to pr~<:_eV'<;le it. Thi s is the way
arily a ma rk of incompetence
teac her s work. To work this way is not necess
a par ticu lar role, or a sign of
but cou ld be the resu lt of a pre fere nce for
In suc h a mo del of curricu-
com mit me nt to a par ticu lar ima ge of edu cati on.
of fait h in the ability of the
lum pla nni ng one mu st pla ce a goo d dea l
, a gre at dea l of exp erience,
teac her . To work this way req uire s, I believe
gh the availability of a cur-
com pet enc e, and confidence as a teac her . Alt hou
om pan ied by interesting_ an~
ricu lu~ tha t has bee n well pla nne d and acc
con fide nce tha t what Will b
attr acuve resources for in-classroom use bre eds
rt, cur ricu lum materials ~d
offered will be wor th the stud ent 's tim e and effo
ricu lum guides are often dis-
particularly tha t species of materials call ed cur · Iurn
d db s. The exis tenc e of a wel l-pl ann ed bod y of_ curncu usi-
reg ar . e . Y teacher ely or with en th
r

tee tha t they will be use d effe ctiv

ma ten al is no gua ran · 0 bser-
·in the classroom. T o know tha t the re is no substitute for direct
\Y 0, asm f
vation in the classroom '
v
'v
c., ,._/''
.
Thus, when we talk abo ut "th e cur ricu lum ." we
can mea n that ho Y
d o
, tha t · d esig
is · ned. fto
· l h · in adv anc e of clas sroo m use and
ma ena t at s pla nne d
t 1
s~lls, de~elop some.
help students lear n som e con ten t, acquire some
this cur ncu lum the int
or have some valued type of exp erie nce . We call occu;
~urriculum. We also me an by the term curricul
in th e classroom, tak ing into con sid era tion the
um those activities that
mat eria ls, content,
. ge
a;
r to this curriculum as
events in which students are eng age d. We refe ·inspect1Il
z
rerationa curriculum. Approaches to the form
01-11 • er can be made by h latter
the materia . plans tha t have bee n formulated. Approaches to t e
· ls and
m itself.
can be made only by directly observing the classroo