Unit-II Concept of Curriculum

1. Meaning and Concept of Curriculuma. Meaning of Curriculum:

Curriculum (Noun) the subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college.

In education, a curriculum is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process.

Etymological Meaning of Curriculum: The word "curriculum" began as a Latin word which means "a race" or "the course of a race" (which in turn derives from the verb currere meaning "to run/to proceed"). 

Definitions:There is no generally agreed upon definition of curriculum. Some influential definitions combine various elements to describe curriculum as follows: Curriculum is, perhaps, best thought of as that set of planned activities which are

designed to implement a particular educational aim – set of such aims – in terms of the content of what is to be taught and the knowledge, skills and attitudes which are to be deliberately fostered together with statements of criteria for selection of content, and choices in methods, materials and evaluation.

Kerr defines curriculum as, "All the learning which is planned and guided by the school, whether it is carried on in groups or individually, inside or outside of school." 

Braslavsky states that curriculum is an agreement among communities, educational professionals, and the State on what learners should take on during specific periods of their lives. Furthermore, the curriculum defines "why, what, when, where, how, and with whom to learn." 

Outlines the skills, performances, attitudes, and values pupils are expected to learn from schooling. It includes statements of desired pupil outcomes, descriptions of materials, and the planned sequence that will be used to help pupils attain the outcomes.

The total learning experience provided by a school. It includes the content of courses (the syllabus), the methods employed (strategies), and other aspects, like norms and values, which relate to the way the school is organized.

The aggregate of courses of study given in a learning environment. The courses are arranged in a sequence to make learning a subject easier. In schools, a curriculum spans several grades.

Curriculum can be ordered into a procedure: Step 1: Diagnosis of needs.Step 2: Formulation of objectives.Step 3: Selection of content.Step 4: Organization of content.Step 5: Selection of learning experiences.Step 6: Organization of learning experiences.Step 7: Determination of what to evaluate and of the ways and means of doing it.

b. Concept of Curriculum: The term curriculum refers to the lessons and academic content taught in a school or in a specific course or program. In dictionaries, curriculum is often defined as the courses offered by a school, but it is rarely used in such a general sense in schools.

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The concept of curriculum is as dynamic as the changes that occur in society: In its narrow sense, curriculum is viewed merely as a listing of subject to be taught in school; while in a broader sense, it refers to the total learning experiences of individuals not only in schools, but in society as well. To accommodate difference of view, Hamid Hasan (1988) telling that curriculum concept can be evaluated in four dimension, that is 1. Curriculum as an idea; yielded pass or through research and theory's, specially in the

field of education and curriculum 2. Curriculum as plan written, as materialization of curriculum as an idea; what in it load

about target, materials, activity, appliances, and time 3. Curriculum as an activity, representing execution of curriculum as a plan written; in

the form of study practice 4. Curriculum as a result of representing consequence of curriculum as an activity, in the

form of got of curriculum target namely reaching of change of certain ability or behavior from all educative participants.

Curriculum: Curriculum is a focus of study, consisting of various courses all designed to reach a particular proficiency or qualification. A curriculum can consist of more than one course. Curriculum refers to the training assigned to a student. Curriculum is a focus of study, consisting of various courses all designed to reach a particular proficiency or qualification. 

2. Meaning of Curriculum Framework, Syllabus and TextbookIntroduction: A curriculum is considered the “heart” of any learning institution which means that schools or universities cannot exist without a curriculum. With its importance in formal education, curriculum has become a dynamic process due to the changes that occur in our society. Therefore, in its broadest sense, curriculum refers to the “total learning experiences of individuals not only in school, but in society as well”.

Meaning of Curriculum Framework: A curriculum framework is an organized plan or set of standards or learning outcomes that defines the content to be learned in terms of clear, definable standards of what the student should know and be able to do. A curriculum framework is part of an outcome-based education or standards based education reform design. A plan that interprets educational aims vis-a-vis(in relation to/ with regard to) both individual and society, to arrive at an understanding of the kinds of learning experiences school must provide to children.

Graphical Representation of Curriculum Framework:

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Curriculum: Curriculum is, perhaps, best thought of as that set of planned activities which are designed to implement a particular educational aim – set of such aims – in terms of the content of what is to be taught and the knowledge, skills and attitudes which are to be deliberately fostered together with statements of criteria for selection of content, and choices in methods, materials and evaluation.

The curriculum is defined as the guideline of the chapters and academic content covered by an educational system while undergoing a particular course or program.

In a theoretical sense, curriculum refers to what is offered by the school or college. However, practically it has a wider scope which covers the knowledge, attitude, behaviour, manner, performance and skills that are imparted or inculcated in a student. It contains the teaching methods, lessons, assignments, physical and mental exercises, activities, projects, study material, tutorials, presentations, assessments, test series, learning objectives, and so on.

The curriculum is well planned, guided and designed by the government or the educational institution. It is aimed at both physical and mental development of a student. It is the overall learning experience that a student goes through during the particular course of study.

Meaning of Syllabus: Syllabus refers to the content of what is to be taught and the knowledge, skills and attitudes which are to be deliberately fostered; together with stage specific objectives.

The syllabus is defined as the documents that consist of topics or portion covered in a particular subject. It is determined by the examination board and created by the professors. The professors are responsible for the quality of the course. It is made available to the students by the teachers, either in hard copy or electronic form to bring their attention towards the subject and take their study seriously.

A syllabus is considered as a guide to the in charge as well as to the students. It helps the students to know about the subject in detail, why it is a part of their course of study, what are the expectations from students, consequences of failure, etc. It contains general rules, policies, instructions, topics covered, assignments, projects, test dates, and so on.

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Meaning of Textbook: The textbook becomes an embodiment of syllabus - all that is in it has to be taught, and that is all that is to be taught. It becomes a methodological guide—has to be read and substantial portions memorized through repeated reading. It also becomes the evaluation system-questions at the end of each chapter have to be answered orally and in writing, reproducing the text from the book itself. Here the textbook is an embodiment of the syllabus and of all aspects of classroom practices.

A textbook used as a standard work for the study of a particular subject. A textbook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced

according to the demands of educational institutions.  A book that contains detailed information about a subject for people who are

studying that subject.Textbook:

A coursebook, a formal manual of instruction in a specific subject, especially one for use in schools or colleges.

A textbook in the principles of science teaching It is likely to kill interest, and give both teacher and pupils a didactic, textbook attitude at the very beginning.

...a kind of descriptive account or a social, geographical, anthropological, or historical commentary that may at times have a certain textbook tone to it.

Comparison among Curriculum, Syllabus and Textbook

Basis for Comparison

Curriculum Syllabus Textbook

Meaning Curriculum is the overall content, taught in an educational system or a course

Syllabus is the document that contains all the portion of the concepts covered in a subject

A textbook used as a standard work for the study of a particular subject.

Origin Curriculum is a Latin term

Syllabus is a Greek term

Set for A course A subjectNature Prescriptive DescriptiveScope Wide Narrow

Set out by Government/Board/Council/ the administration of school, college or institute

Exam board

Term Till the course lasts For a fixed term, normally a year

Uniformity Same for all teachers Varies from teacher to teacher

Difference among Curriculum, Syllabus and Textbook

Curriculum Syllabus Textbook

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The Curriculum refers to the overall content, taught in an educational system or a course.

The syllabus is described as the summary of the topics covered or units to be taught in the particular subject.

The curriculum is same for all teachers.

The syllabus varies from teacher to teacher .

The term curriculum is a Latin origin.

The term syllabus is a Greek origin.

The curriculum has a wider scope than the syllabus.

The syllabus has a narrow scope than the curriculum.

Normally the curriculum is not made available to the students unless specifically asked for.

The syllabus is provided to the students by the teachers so that they can take an interest in the subject.

The curriculum is prescriptive in nature.

Syllabus is descriptive in nature.

Curriculum covers a particular course of study or a program.

Syllabus is set for a particular subject.

Curriculum is decided by the government /board. the school / college administration.

Syllabus is prepared by teachers.

The curriculum lasts till the completion of the course.

The duration of a syllabus is for a year only.

3. Types of Curriculum: Core, Hidden, Null and Latent curriculumTypes of Curriculum

1. Overt, Explicit, or Written Curriculum (ಪ್ರಕಟ, ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟ, ಅಥವಾ ಲಿಖಿತ ಪಠ್ಯಕ್ರಮ): Is usually confined to those written understandings and directions formally designated and reviewed by administrators, curriculum directors and teachers, often collectively.

2. Societal Curriculum (or Social Curricula) (ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಪಠ್ಯಕ್ರಮದ (ಅಥವಾ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಪಠ್ಯಕ್ರಮದಲಿ�): Societal Curriculum The massive, ongoing, informal curriculum of family, peer group, neighborhoods, churches organizations, mass, media and other socializing forces that “educate” all of us throughout our lives.

3. The Hidden or Covert Curriculum (ಗುಪ್ತ ಅಥವಾ ಗೂಢಾಚಾರಿಕೆಯ ಪಠ್ಯಕ್ರಮ): The Hidden or Covert Curriculum Implied by structure and nature of school, which refers the kinds and learning's of children derive from the very nature and organizational design of the public school as well as the behaviors and attitudes of teachers and administrators.

4. The Null Curriculum (ಶೂನ್ಯ ಪಠ್ಯಕ್ರಮ): The Null Curriculum Which we do not teach, thus giving students the message that these elements are not important in their educational experiences or in our society.

5. Phantom Curriculum (ಚಿತ್ತಭಾ್ರಂತಿ/ ಭೂತ/ ಪ್ರ್ರೇತ ಪಠ್ಯಕ್ರಮ): Phantom Curriculum the messages prevalent in an through exposure to any type of media. These components and messages play a major part in the enculturation of students into the predominant meta-culture, or in acculturating students into narrower or generational subcultures.

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6. Concomitant Curriculum (ಸಹವತಿ, ಪಠ್ಯಕ್ರಮ): Concomitant Curriculum This type of curriculum may be received at church, in the context of religious expression, lessons values, ethics or morals, molded behaviors, or social experiences based on the family’s preferences.

7. Rhetorical Curriculum (ಆಲಂಕಾರಿಕ ಪಠ್ಯಕ್ರಮ): Rhetorical Curriculum Ideas offered by policy makers, school officials, administrators, or politicians.

8. Curriculum-in-use (ಬಳಕೆಯಲಿ�ನ ಪಠ್ಯಕ್ರಮ): Curriculum-in-use Is the actual curriculum that is delivered and presented by each teachers.

9. Received Curriculum (ಸ್ವಿ3ೇಕರಿಸಲಾದ ಪಠ್ಯಕ್ರಮ): Received Curriculum Those things that students actually take out of classroom; those concepts and content that are truly learned and remembered.

10.The Internal Curriculum (ಆಂತರಿಕ ಪಠ್ಯಕ್ರಮ): The Internal Curriculum Processes, content, knowledge combined with the experiences and realities of the learners to create new knowledge. While educators should be aware of this curriculum, they have little control over the internal curriculum since it is unique to each students.

11.The Electronic Curriculum (ವಿದು್ಯಜ್ಜನಿತ ಪಠ್ಯಕ್ರಮ): The Electronic Curriculum Those lessons learned through searching the internet for information, or through using e-forms of communication.

The following four type of curriculum dealt in detail:

Core curriculum:

A curriculum in which all or some of the subjects or courses are based on a central theme in order to correlate the subjects and the theme.

At the undergraduate level, individual college and university administrations and faculties sometimes mandate core curricula, especially in the liberal arts. But because of increasing specialization and depth in the student's major field of study, a typical core curriculum in higher education mandates a far smaller proportion of a student's course work than a high school or elementary school core curriculum prescribes.

The Core Curriculum is the set of common courses required of all undergraduates and considered the necessary general education for students, irrespective of their choice in major.  The communal learning-with all students encountering the same texts and issues at the same time-and the critical dialogue experienced in small seminars are the distinctive features of the Core.  Begun in the early part of the 20th century, the Core Curriculum is one of the founding experiments in liberal higher education in the United States and it remains vibrant as it enters its tenth decade. Not only academically rigorous but also personally transformative for students, the Core seminar thrives on oral debate of the most difficult questions about human experience.  What does it mean, and what has it meant to be an individual?  What does it mean, and what has it meant to be part of a community? How is human experience relayed and how is meaning made in music and art? What do we think is, and what have we thought to be worth knowing?  By what rules should we be governed? The habits of mind developed in the Core cultivate a critical and creative

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intellectual capacity that students employ long after college, in the pursuit and the fulfillment of meaningful lives.

The simple definition for the word core is central, and this perfectly describes the intention of core curriculum. While unlimited sets and subsets of new information are available to learn between kindergarten and college, the core curriculum movement has organized all those items that educational researchers have determined are best learned at each grade level and decided which concepts are central to the learning experience. It is important to note that core curriculum is what is taught, not how it is taught.

Hidden curriculum: The hidden or covert curriculum -That which is implied by the very structure and

nature of schools, much of what revolves around daily or established routines.  This type of curriculum has to do with how particular assumptions about schooling

and learning manifest in practice. For example, when a teacher has her or his desk at the front of the classroom and "teaches" from this area, the message that is being learned by students is that the teacher is in control, including being the knowledge authority, and is the center of attention. The teacher is also of central importance. Another example involves the value of particular topics that is communicated implicitly. Such values can be communicated by time spent, by tone of voice, or by how the topic is treated (e.g., trivialized or marginalized).

Hidden curriculum refers to the unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn in school. While the “formal” curriculum consists of the courses, lessons, and learning activities students participate in, as well as the knowledge and skills educators intentionally teach to students, the hidden curriculum consists of the unspoken or implicit academic, social, and cultural messages that are communicated to students while they are in school.

A hidden curriculum is a side effect of an education, "[lessons] which are learned but not openly intended" such as the transmission of norms, values, and beliefs conveyed in the classroom and the social environment. Any learning experience may teach unintended lessons.

Any learning experience may teach unintended lessons. Hidden curriculum often refers to knowledge gained in primary and secondary school settings, usually with a negative connotation where the school strives for equal intellectual development (as a positive aim). In this sense, a hidden curriculum reinforces existing social inequalities by educating students according to their class and social status. The unequal distribution of cultural capital in a society mirrors a corresponding distribution of knowledge among its students.

Null curriculum: The null curriculum is what is not taught. Not teaching some particular idea or sets of

ideas may be due to mandates from higher authorities, to a teacher’s lack of knowledge, or to deeply ingrained assumptions and biases. Teachers and schools may not teach that Christopher Columbus slaughtered many of the native peoples he encountered when he "discovered" the Americas. Many teachers are under pressure not to teach evolution.

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

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society. Eisner offers some major points as he concludes his discussion of the null curriculum. 

The "Null", or "excluded" curriculum is a concept that was formulated by Eisner (1979) and consists on the amount of teaching material which is not covered, taught, nor included in the typical curricula of school districts.

Latent curriculum: Editor-Prideaux has provided an interesting and useful summary of approaches to a

medical school curriculum. ... The first is the latent curriculum, first described by Eisenberg, whereby students learn what is “really” important from role models, especially clinicians.

High schools have a “latent curriculum,” a set of rules and norms that are written in considerable measure by fellow students, argues Cookson.

4. Differentiated curriculum: Differentiated curriculum is one that is individualized to meet the diverse needs of all

of the students in one class. As gifted children expert Susan Weinbrenner says, "Equality means giving everyone equal opportunities to learn, not teaching everyone in exactly the same way." If implemented appropriately, differentiation does not have to mean more work for the teacher. In fact, it will allow a teacher to spend his or her time more efficiently with a greater number of students.

Gifted students need the opportunity to work through the curriculum at a faster pace and need less time on basics and revision. A differentiated curriculum is a program of activities that offers a variety of entry points for students who differ in abilities, knowledge and skills. In a differentiated curriculum teachers offer different approaches to what students learn (content), how students learn (process) and how students demonstrate what they have learned(product).

Differentiation ranges from slight to major modifications of the curriculum through adjustments to content, processes and skills. It provides a planned, documented and challenging curriculum that matches the ability of gifted students to:

Learn at faster rates Find, solve and act on problems more readily Manipulate abstract ideas and make connections to an advanced degree.

Differentiation should include enrichment and extension activities. Enrichment refers to the broadening of the curriculum to develop knowledge, application, thinking skills and attitudes, to a degree of complexity appropriate to the students’ developmental level. Enrichment activities are often found only in extra-curricular provisions and need to be written into programs to ensure all students have access. Extension activities involve the deepening of students’ knowledge, understanding and skills.

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