CLASSIFYING

CURRICULUM THEORIES
Prepared by:

MARIFE B. DEGOZO
Med-Curriculum and Instruction
Theory comes from the Greek word
theoria meaning “wakefulness of mind”; it
explains reality , making people aware of
their world and its interactions.
◄ Four functions of theory: (1) description; (2)
prediction; (3)explanation : (4) guidance.
• Description is an exact and accurate
definition of the terms employed in the theory
,classification of data, and reporting of event.
• Prediction consists in forecasting in the
sense of indicating foreseen outcomes of
planned courses of action.
• Explanation is susceptible to various
interpretations.For scholars or writers such as
Beauchamp, explanation refers to elaborating
predictable relationships, rendering comprehensible in
the sense of predicting the behaviour of a
phenomenon under a variety of specified conditions.
• Guidance comprises the heuristics function,enabling
problem solving by learning from past experiences
and investigating practical ways of finding a solution.
“Curriculum theory” is a term for
how an educational institution
decides what is at worth to learn
and teach , and how learning will be
measured.
◄There are two major categories of curriculum
theories: design theories and engineering
theories.(Omstein and Hunkins (1993)
●Design theories address the basic organization
of the curriculum plan . For this , curricularists draw
on philosophy as well as on social and psychology
theory.
● Engineering theories explain, describe,
predict or even guide curriculum-
development activities.They involve
specific plans,principles, and/or methods or
procedures.Engineering theories of
curriculum are also partially based on
principles of measurement and statistics.
The second activity in theory building is
classification. Theorists attempt to organize
and integrate what they know about the
areas being theorized. They begin
summarizing discovered uniformities of
relationships between two or more variables
or concepts.
◄It seems most useful to divide
curriculum theories into the following
four categories based upon their
domains of inquiry : Structure – oriented
theory, Value- oriented theory, Content-
Oriented theory and Process – oriented
theory.
1. Structure-oriented theory is
concerned chiefly with the task of
identifying the elements of the
curriculum and how they relate to each
other. Structure-oriented theories
normally have a descriptive and
explanatory function: they describe
what theories are.
2. Value-oriented theories are concerned mainly with
examining the values and assumptions of curriculum
makers and their products.Values-oriented theories tend
to have an epistemological and sociological character,that
is to say as noted by Lovat and Smith(2003:134):”fullness
of ways of knowing and levels of reflection,the fullness of
learning combining planning and practice,theory-and-
development,as one”.So ,value-oriented theorists
endeavour to raise educators’ awareness of the value
issues underlying hidden and planned curricula.Value-
oriented theorists are known as reconceptualists.
3. Content-oriented theories are concerned primarily
with the selection and organization of the curriculum
content.Content-oriented theories tend to be
prescriptive in nature,i.e., to determine what the
curriculum should contain.
4. Process-oriented theories mainly
describe how curriculum is developed or
suggest how it should be developed,so
process theories are descriptive or
prescriptive.
Answer the following questions.
1.What is curriculum theory ? Why is it important in
education?
2.In your opinion , which is important to education ,
the knowledge to be learned or the skills to be
developed ? Why?
Thank you!