CHAPTER I

(Understanding Curriculum)

Objectives: By the end of this chapter, you must be able to:

1. Define curriculum;
2. Analyze the different types of curriculum;
3. Discuss different curriculum foundations and conceptions; and
4. Identify the elements of curriculum.

Definitions of Curriculum

 Curriculum as a list of subjects. Curriculum is the “permanent” or the traditional

subjects offered in the school curriculum such as Mathematics, Language,
Science, Music, Arts, and others.

 Curriculum as learning experiences. This definition includes students’ curricular

and co-curricular activities and the learning experiences they encounter inside or
outside the school. This definition also includes the hidden curriculum or those
things learned by the students as a result of their experiences in the school with
their peers, schoolmates, teachers, school staff, or the values they learned from a
school program. In short, it includes the school culture.

 Curriculum as intended learning outcomes. Includes a list of learning

competencies or standards that students should learn in school.

 Curriculum as planned learning experiences. Includes documents specifying

contents, objectives, or general ideas of what students should know in schools or
in specific discipline.

 Curriculum as a discipline. Curriculum as a discipline has its own principles,

theories, and practices.

 Curriculum as a content or subject matter. This views curriculum as a series of

topics under each subject area.

 It is important that curriculum workers have a common understanding of what

curriculum is. Their personal definition of curriculum defines the curriculum product
that they will produce.
Activity 1. Write a personal definition of curriculum. Explain your definition.

Nine (9) Types of Curriculum

1. Ideal or Recommended Curriculum. Referred to as the most appropriate curriculum

for the learners. Ideal or Recommended Curriculum may also be developed as an
alternative response to various curricular problems and issues. Curriculum standards
recommended by professional organizations are examples of ideal or recommended
curriculum. Many of these various curriculum standards are recommended by
professional organizations as alternative to the current contents of the curriculum.

2. Intended, Official, or Written Curriculum. This refers to the official curriculum

embodied in approved state curriculum guides. It is the curriculum prescribed by the
government. In the Philippine context, these are the prescribed courses from different
government agencies such as the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on
Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and Skills Development
Authority (TESDA).

Examples of these are:

a. The Kindergarten Curriculum Standards
b. The K-12 Curriculum
c. CHED Curriculum for General Education (Memorandum Order No. 20 Series of
2013)
d. TESDA Modules and Competencies

3. Implemented Curriculum. Refers to the actual implementation of the curriculum or

what teachers in the school teach. In many cases, teachers modify and improve their
curriculum based on the needs of the students or whenever there are new ideas in
various disciplines that are important to teach to the students.
4. Achieved Curriculum or Learned Curriculum. Refers to the result of the curriculum
or what students actually learned in school. The achieved curriculum reveals whether
the students learned and whether the schools are successful in attaining their
curriculum goals and objectives.

5. Tested Curriculum. This is a set of learning that is assessed in teacher-made

classroom tests, curriculum-reference tests, and in standardized tests.

6. Entitlement Curriculum. It is what the people or the general society believed the
learners should expect to learn in the educational system for them to become good
members of the society.

7. Supported Curriculum. The curriculum that is reflected on and shaped by the

resources allocated to support or deliver the official curriculum.

8. Null or Censored Curriculum. Various curriculum contents or topics that must not
be taught to the students.

9. Hidden Curriculum. Refers to the various skills, knowledge, and attitudes that
students learn in school as a result of their interaction with other students, staff, and
faculty members. Although the hidden curriculum is not actually taught in formal
classroom learning, it is also true that the hidden curriculum can be a product of the
students’ schooling. It is very powerful in developing the school culture.

Activity 2. Browse the internet and check some examples of the different types of
curriculum. List down your examples.
Curriculum Foundations

Curriculum development scholars like Tyler (1949), Taba (1962), Eisner (1985), Saylor,
Alexander, and Lewis (1981), Print (1993). Sowell (1996), and Tanner and Tanner (2007)
generally identified three categories of sources for curriculum foundations: (1) studies of
learners and learning theory (psychology); (2) studies of life (sociology and anthropology);
and (3) studies of the nature and value of knowledge (philosophy). These curriculum
sources or foundations influenced curriculum developers in framing different curriculum
conceptions and in developing curriculum.

Psychology as a discipline deals about understanding human behavior; hence; it is

important in curriculum development. According to Print (1993), psychology can provide
information in five important areas:
1. Educational objectives
2. Student characteristics
3. Learning processes
4. Teaching methods
5. Evaluation procedures

Sociology and Anthropology affect all curriculum processes. Sowell (1996) pointed out
that knowledge about the society and its culture is important in selecting the content of
the curriculum. It provides a clear understanding of the context in which the curriculum is
developed. Studies about the society and culture help curriculum workers in
understanding several social and educational issues that affect curriculum processes and
education in general.

Philosophy as a foundation helps curriculum workers in understanding the nature of

knowledge and what subjects or topics are worthwhile. This is very important in making
decisions about the contents of the curriculum. Ornstein and Hunkins (1993) mentioned
that philosophy provides curriculum workers with a frame or base for organizing schools
and classrooms. It also provides educators with a framework for broad issues and tasks,
such as determining the goals of education, the content and its organization, and the
teaching and learning processes.

Activity 3. Examine a philosophy of a particular curriculum. Analyze what curriculum

conception it is leaning to.
Curriculum Conceptions

1. Academic Rationalist Conception. Considered as the oldest among the

curriculum conceptions. It stresses the importance of different bodies of
knowledge, known as disciplines or subject areas, as the focus of the curriculum.

2. Cognitive Processes Conception. Seeks to develop a repertoire of cognitive

skills that are applicable to a wide range of intellectual problems. The subject
matters are instruments or tools for developing these cognitive skills that are
lasting in the lives of individuals.

3. Humanistic Conception. Stresses the idea that curriculum or education is an

instrument for developing the full potential of individuals. It seeks to help individuals
discover and develop their unique identities. It stresses that curriculum should
focus on the needs and interests of individuals.

4. Social Reconstructionist Conception. Views the school or schooling as an

agency for social change. Hence, it stresses that curriculum should respond to the
different needs, issues, problems, and demands of the society.

5. Technological Conception. It is preoccupied with the development of means to

achieve curriculum or educational goals. It views schooling as a complex system
that can be analyzed into its constituent components.

6. Eclectic Conception. It is where curriculum workers find themselves aligning their

ideas with two or more curriculum conceptions. Hence, this curriculum conception
reiterates the realities in curriculum development that each of the curriculum
conceptions is to be considered and is influential to a certain extent in designing
the curriculum.

Elements/Components of Curriculum

Curriculum Intent

Content

Learning Experiences

Evaluation
Figure 1. Curriculum Elements
 1. Curriculum Intent. It is the direction that the curriculum developers wish to take
as a result of participating in the curriculum. It includes the aims, goals, and
objectives found in any curriculum document.
o Aims are the broad statements of social or educational expectations. They
include what is hoped to be achieved by the entire curriculum.
o Goals are statements more specific than aims. Goals are general
statements of what concepts, skills, and values should be learned in the
curriculum.
o Objectives are specific learning outcomes which includes what specific
concepts, skills, and values should be learned by the students. Objectives
are used in making decisions or planning about instruction.

2. Contents may include values, concepts, or skills that are important for learners to
learn.

3. Learning Experiences include all instructional strategies that are useful for the
implementation of the curriculum. These may appear in the form of activities,
strategies, methods, or approaches that are useful in implementing the curriculum
in teaching.

4. Evaluation includes the different ways and tools used for evaluating whether or
not the curriculum intents were realized. Evaluation tools are also used to evaluate
the performance of the learners after they have undergone the curriculum.

Characteristics of a Good Curriculum (Hilda Taba)

1. A curriculum usually contains a statement of aims and specific objectives.

2. It indicates some selection and organization of content.
3. It either implies or manifests certain patterns of learning and teaching, whether
because the objectives demand them or because the content organization requires
them.
4. It includes a program of evaluation of the outcomes.

Activity 4. What are the different elements of a curriculum? How does each element
contribute in creating a curriculum?