UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION

TO CURRICULUM
Ali Imtiaz
Introduction and Definitions of Curriculum

EDUCATION
 Education refers to the entire Social process by which an

individual acquire the ways beliefs and standards of the

society
The Educational Curriculum
 A sequence of potential experiences set up in the school

for the purpose of disciplined children and youth in the

group ways of thinking is called curriculum. Curriculum
has been defined as all guidance of the experiences a
learner has under the guidance of the school.
 Curriculum

A plan for moving every child

toward expertise
 Meaning of Curriculum
MEANING OF CURRICULUM:
The word Curriculum is derived from the Latin word ‘currere’
which means ‘run’. Hence, “curriculum is a runway to
reach the goals.”
Views of Scholars about Curriculum:-
 Curriculum is suitable experience to the learner.

 Curriculum is all the experiences learners have under the

guidance of the school.

 Curriculum is all planned learning’s for which the school is

responsible.
Meaning of curriculum

 Curriculum is the totality of learning experiences

provided to student so that they can attain general skills
and knowledge at a variety of learning sites.

 Curriculum is such “permanent” subjects as grammar,

reading, logic, mathematics and the greatest books of
the Western world that best embody essential knowledge

 Curriculum as cultural presentation.

 Definitions of Curriculum
 Pratt defines
  “Curriculum as a written document that systematically describes
goals planned, objectives, content, learning activities, evaluation
procedures and so forth.”

 Grundy defines
“curriculum as a program of activities (by teachers and pupils)
designed so that pupils will attain so far as possible certain
educational and other schooling ends or objectives.”

 
According to Wilson, 1990 curriculum is

 Anything and everything that teaches a lesson,

planned or otherwise.
 Humans are born learning, thus the learned
curriculum actually encompasses a combination of
all of the (hidden, null, written, political and
societal)
 Since students learn all the time through exposure
and modeled behaviors
 A curriculum may also refer to a defined and
prescribed course of studies, which students must
fulfill in order to pass a certain level of education. For
example, an elementary school might discuss how its
curriculum, or its entire sum of lessons and teachings,
is designed to improve national testing scores or help
students learn the basics. An individual teacher might
also refer to his or her curriculum, meaning all the
subjects that will be taught during a school year.

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Types of Curriculum
 Subject Curriculum
 Explicit or written curriculum
 Concomitant curriculum
 Hidden or covert curriculum
 Null curriculum
 Core Curriculum
 Broad Base Curriculum
 Integrated Curriculum
 Activity Based Curriculum
 Teacher Centered Curriculum
 Learner Centered Curriculum
 The Electronic Curriculum
SUBJECT CURRICULUM
 The subject curriculum has the following
distinguish characteristics;
 Certain body of subject matter is arranged in
logical order to facilitate subjects.
 Teaching and learning are for the most part
channeled into these already organized fields.

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 the subject based organization of curriculum is
traditional and a large number of school follow.
 This is commonest form of curriculum, ot arrange
it, the teacher or administrator puts together a
number of topics of suitable quality and difficulty
dealing with a generally agreed upon Field. E.g..
Physics, Urdu, History etc.

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Explicit or written curriculum
 Is simply that which is written as part of formal
instruction of schooling experiences. It may refer to
a curriculum document, texts, films, and supportive
teaching materials that are overtly chosen to support
the intentional instructional agenda of a school.
Thus, the overt curriculum is usually confined to
those written understandings and directions
formally designated and reviewed by
administrators, curriculum directors and teachers,
often collectively.
Concomitant curriculum
 What is taught, or emphasized at home, or those
experiences that are part of a family's experiences,
or related experiences sanctioned by the family.
 (This type of curriculum may be received at church
or Mosque, in the context of religious expression,
lessons on values, ethics or morals, molded
behaviors, or social experiences based on the
family's preferences.)
Hidden or covert curriculum
 The hidden curriculum includes the norms and
values of the surrounding society. These are
stronger and more durable than the first tow, and
may be in conflict with them. I would add that it is
something that is not explicitly taught, but that is
part of what molds the school/ university
environment. The many things which are taught in
school besides the formal subject matter.
The Null Curriculum
 That which we do not teach, thus giving students the
message that these elements are not important in their
educational experiences or in our society.
 Since it is physically impossible to teach everything in
schools, many topics and subject areas must be
intentionally excluded from the written curriculum.
 But Eisner's position on the "null curriculum" is that when
certain subjects or topics are left out of the overt
curriculum, school personnel are sending messages to
students that certain content and processes are not
important enough to study.
Core Curriculum
 A core curriculum is a curriculum, or course of study, which
is deemed central and usually made mandatory for all
students of a school or school system.

 In a core curriculum, a predetermined body of skills,

knowledge, and abilities is taught to all students.

 Core curricula are often instituted, at the primary and

secondary levels, by school boards, Departments of
Education, or other administrative agencies charged with
overseeing education.
Cont….
 The core curriculum movement assumes there is
a uniform body of knowledge that all students
should know. Presumably, this curriculum will
produce educated and responsible graduates for the
community.
 Unfortunately, there often isn’t much consensus
on who is the community and who speaks for the
community. In fact, there is a growing conflict
about what topics a core curriculum should contain.
Cont….
 Some advocates would limit the core to basic
academic subjects like English, math, science, and
government, while others would include general
learner outcomes such as problem solving, critical
thinking, teamwork, and community service.
Broad Based Curriculum
 A curriculum having a foundation or basis that is
wide in range; comprehensive or extensive

 It Includes all knowledge, skills, and learning

experiences that are provided to students within the
school program.

 It meets the needs and abilities of all students and

challenges them to achieve the highest standards.
Integrated Curriculum
 Integrated Curriculum is a method of organizing
learning where an activity, lesson, or unit draws
upon more than one subject or discipline, thus
promoting cross-links between content areas on a
particular subject matter.
Approaches to Integration
 Multi-disciplinary
 Intra-disciplinary

 Inter-disciplinary

 Trans-disciplinary
 Curriculum Integration

Multi-disciplinary
Multidisciplinary
approaches focus
primarily on the
disciplines. Figure shows
the relationship of
different subjects to each
other and to a common
theme.
Curriculum Integration

Intra-disciplinary Approach
 Curriculum integrates the sub-disciplines within a
subject area.
 Examples:
 integrating reading, writing, and oral communication
in language arts
 Integrating history, geography, economics, and
mathematics in social studies program.
Curriculum Integration
Inter-disciplinary Integration

 Curriculum is organize around common learnings across

disciplines.
 The common learnings embedded in the disciplines are chunked
together to emphasize interdisciplinary skills and concepts.
 The disciplines are identifiable, but they assume less importance
than in the multidisciplinary approach
 For example, Teacher integrate computer use into the
curriculum, rather than adapting curriculum to the use of
computers.
 Curriculum Integration
Trans-disciplinary
Integration
In the trans-disciplinary
approach to integration,
teachers organize curriculum
around student questions and
concerns. Students develop
life skills as they apply
interdisciplinary and
disciplinary skills in a real-
life context.
Activity Based Curriculum
Active Learning is, in short, anything that students do
in a classroom other than merely passively listening
to an instructor's lecture.
This includes everything from listening practices
which help the students to absorb what they hear, to
short writing exercises in which students react to
lecture material, to complex group exercises in
which students apply course material to "real life"
situations and/or to new problems.
Teacher Centered Curriculum
Teacher-centered curriculum refers to a body of
assumptions about the purposes of education,
beliefs about knowledge, learners, and learning
observable in teacher behaviors and classroom
practices.
Objectives of Teacher Centered Curriculum
• To transfer cultural heritage

• To represent knowledge

• To impart information
Learner Centered Curriculum
Based on principals which focus attention on learners rather than on
teaching, instruction or administrative structures.
Seven inter related & inter locking components shape the learner centered
curriculum.
1- learner population
2- objective they seek
3- provider model available
4- learning theory, methods and principals appropriate to successful
learning.
5- overall curriculum architecture.
6- curriculum configuration.
7- services required by learners to meet their objectives.
The electronic curriculum
 Those lessons learned through searching the Internet for
information, or through using e-forms of communication.
(Wilson, 2004)
 This type of curriculum may be either formal or informal,
and inherent lessons may be overt or covert, good or bad,
correct or incorrect depending on ones' views.
 Students who use the Internet on a regular basis, both for
recreational purposes (as in blogs, wikis, chatrooms, list
serves, through instant messenger, on-line conversations, or
through personal e-mails and sites like Facebook, My
Space, Youtube)
Cont….
 And from personal online research and information
are bombarded with all types of media and
messages. Much of this information may be
factually correct, informative, or even entertaining
or inspirational, but other information may be very
incorrect, dated, passé, biased, perverse, or even
manipulative
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THANK YOU

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