Unit 2: Curriculum as a field of

study
 The five (5) conceptions of curriculum

Elliot Eisner and Elizabeth Vallance (1974)

identified 5 conflicting conceptions of
curriculum.
 Conceptions continued…
It should be understood that conceptions are
social constructs that reflect personal views
people have on something. They are either right
nor wrong. These are strong philosophical views
people have concerning a given issue.
 Conceptions continued…
The conceptions are the following:
• Curriculum as the development of of cognitive
processes
• Curriculum as technology
• Curriculum as slf-actualisation
• Curriculum for social reconstruction
• Curriculum as academic rationalism
 Five conceptions of curriculum
• Conceptions here refers to conflicting views of curriculum. They are the
following:
• Curriculum as the development of cognitive processes: Here the primary
concern is the promotion of cognitive development. The focus of the curriculum
is to help learners grow in their ability to think, reason and use their intellectual
capacities. The curriculum seeks to develop a set of cognitive skills that can be
applied to any learning situation. The focus is on how learners learn the material,
rather on what they learn – a focus on the learner.
• Curriculum as technology: This approach views the functions of curriculum as
finding efficient ways to a set of prescribed ends.
• The curriculum is seen as a product such as a syllabus with prescribed textbooks.
• The focus is on the technologies that teachers use to present learning content.
 Curriculum as self-actualisation
• The function of the curriculum is to provide
personally satisfying experiences for each
individual learner. The education the learner
receives should be a liberation force and a
means of helping the individual to discover
knowledge for themselves. It is child-centred
and oriented towards emotional,
psychological, spiritual growth and
development
 Curriculum for social reconstruction
• This view emphasises the role of education and curriculum content within
the larger social context. It views the curriculum as the means by which
learners learn and deal with social issues.
• A school is seen as an agent of social change and must be relevant to both
the learners’ interests and to the needs of society.
• Thus the school must recognise and respond to the role of a bridge between
what is happening and where we might want to move our society
• There are 2 distinct views here:1. adapt approach, for the learner to adapt to
the changes in society, to keep up functioning effectively in the rapidly
changing world - survival orientation and 2. reformist approach. To prepare
our learners to deal with the changes and to actively intervene.
• Learners are asked to be critical of issues around social justice and social
change – an activist orientation.
• It is more radical in nature
 Academic rationalism

• In terms of this approach, subject knowledge is at the heart

of the curriculum.
• The aim of the academic curriculum is therefore the
development of the learners’ minds, to enable them to
apply the knowledge to investigate problems.
• The academic approach attempts to analyse and synthesize
major positions, trends and concepts of curriculum.
• The discussion of curriculum development is usually
scholarly, theoretically, and concerned with many broad
aspects of schooling.
 Foundational sources for curriculum
• Philosophy as a source for curriculum:
• Philosophy is very important aspect of curriculum decision making,
whether we are making such decisions consciously or
unconsciously.
• It is the criterion for determining the aims, means and ends of
curriculum.
• Our philosophy of education thus determines our educational
decisions, choices and alternatives.
• It provides us with a framework for organising schools and
classrooms.
• We do not often realise that our differences in terms of education
are directly related to our views or philosophy of education.
 Sources continues…
• Ornstein (1993) identified the following four major educational
philosophies that have influenced curriculum decision making:
1. Perennialism
2. Essentialism
3. Progressivism
4. Constructivism
The first 2 are regarded as traditional philosophies and have the following
views on society and education:
• Formal education begins with the school; schools are considered as major
institutions of the child’s education.
• Schools transmit the common culture; individual’s major responsibility is
to society; performing social roles; conformity and cooperation are
important.
 Sources…
• Education is for the aims of society; it involves authority and
restraint.
• Education is mainly formulated in cognitive terms; focus on academic
subjects.
• On knowledge and learning:
• Emphasis on knowledge and information
• Emphasis on subject content
• Subject matter is selected and organised by teachers.
• Subject matter is compartmentalised according to distinct fields of
study
• On instruction:
• Textbooks and workbooks dominate
 Sources…
• Teaching and learning largely confined to classroom.
• Passive involvement of learners in assimilating what the teacher or
textbook says.
• Progressivism and reconstructivism are regarded as contemporary
philosophies and the following are their views on society and education:
• Formal education begins with the family; parents are considered as the
most important influence on the child’s education.
• Schools improve society; individual fulfillment and development can
benefit society; independence and creativity are important.
• Education involves varied opportunities to develop one’s potential and
engage in personal choices.
• Education focuses on the whole child.
• On knowledge and learning:
 Sources…
• Emphasis on resolving problems and functioning in one’s environment
• Emphasis on learners
• Subject matter planned by teachers and learners
• Subject matter organised in terms of understanding relationships,
centred on present and future.
• On instruction:
• Varied instructional materials; teaching and learning include
community resources.
• Active involvement of learners in seeking information that can be used
or applied.
• Emphasis on variability of classroom experiences and instructional
situations.
 Psychology as a source for curriculum
• Educational psychology is concerned with how people learn.
• Knowledge of the theories of psychology is therefore
essential to curriculum for it is only when learners learn and
understand the curriculum, that the curriculum has the actual
worth.
• Historically, the major theories of learning have been
classified into three groups:
1. Behaviourist or association theory – stimulus-response and
re-enforcement (Pavlo & Thorndike).
2. Cognitive-information theory – they view learners in relation
to their environment and how they apply information.
 Sources…
3. Phenomenology and humanistic theory – which considers the
whole child and his/her socio-psychological and cognitive
development.
Characteristics of behavioural learning:
• We learn by doing and observing others.
• Reinforcement is essential for learning to occur.
• Practice (with feedback) improves learning and retention.
• Learning proceeds from simple to complex and part to whole
behaviour.
• Desired performance or outcomes should be stated in advance
9by objectives).
 Sources…
• Characteristics of cognitive-development learning:
• Cognitive stages of development are related to age.
• Cognitive development is sequential and based on
previous growth.
• Capacities of learners are important: bright learners are
capable of learning more and at a rapid speed than
others.
• Learning is best achieved through interaction with the
environment; the teacher can improve the environment
to stimulate learning.
 Sources…
• Characteristics of humanistic learning:
• Teachers are sensitive to learners’ world, not just the adult
world.
• Learners are views as individuals with diverse needs, abilities
and aptitudes.
• Learners’ self-concept and self-esteem are considered as
essential factors in learning.
• Learning is considered holistic, not just cognitive, but
emotions, feelings and motor-dependent skills.
• Learning is based on life experiences discovery, exploring, and
experimenting.
 Society as source for curriculum
• Schools exist within, not apart from the social context.
• Schools influence the cultures of the people they serve.
• Delivery of curriculum cannot be done without reflecting
on the relationship between school and society.
• Social foundations of curriculum are essential to how we
can decisions and enables meaningful curricula to be
created and offered.
• Today our schools exist in a time when many ‘voices’ in
our society have an influence on what we teach and how
we teach it.
 Sources…
• Issues like rapid changes we see in all aspects
of life today, diversity, race, class and gender,
knowledge explosion, Information
Communication Technology, and many others,
impact on what and how we teach.
 History as a source for curriculum
• Ornstein argues that all professional educators, including curriculum
specialists, need a historical perspective to integrate the past to the
future.
• History does not only help us not to repeat the mistakes of the past, but
prepares us more effectively for the present, for both in terms of the
abstract and the real world. The following aspects help us to regarding
the historical aspects of curriculum:
1. All human activities, including the field of curriculum, occur within time,
within context.
2. Historical foundations are moulded into history of education.
3. Historical foundations show that curriculum is under constant revision.
4. Curricula are created by real people within temporal, political, social,
and cultural context.
 Sources…
• Engaging in historical analyses, one gains a
multiplicity of views and a realisation of/and
appreciation of the complexity of
interpretations.
• Acceptance of political ideologies.
• Allegiance to class value systems.
• Incorporation of economic motives, and even
adherence to religious convictions.