A matrix on comparison and contrast of the Varied Definitions of Curriculum.

Definitions of Curriculum Author/Proponent Evidence/s in the Actual Field( in the academe)

1.) In this 4th edition of his book “Key Concepts for Understanding Curriculum” he listed down six Marsh, Colin J. Some evidence of the listed definitions:
definitions of curriculum summarizing the varied definitions reflected in other scholars and authors.
1. Example of a permanent curriculum is the Philippine
1. Curriculum is such ‘permanent’ subjects as grammar, reading, logic, rhetoric, mathematics, and the Curriculum referred to as K-12 Enhanced Basic Education
greatest books of the Western world that best embody essential knowledge. Program. It is the Philippines Basic Education Curriculum unless
Problem: It can be limited to only a few academic subjects; assumes that what is studied is what is repelled or altered by Congress.
learned and no room for a change of subjects or knowledge of the subject. 2. Example of this can be linked to the implementation of K-12
2. Curriculum is those subjects that are most useful for living in contemporary society. which removes the Philippine history subject in High School
Problem: It implies that what is contemporary has more value than what is long-lasting. And tends to be disregarding the role of history in teaching students the essence
practical by catering only to the status quo and no attempt of improving it. of patriotism and nationalism. And aligning to the tracks deemed
3. Curriculum is all planned learnings for which the school is responsible. to make our graduates more competitive abroad.
It can be a long written document specifying the general ideas of teachers about what students should 3. Example of this, our adherence to textbook-based knowledge.
know. Or one-sided mode of learning wherein all the readings in the
Problem: It also assumes that what is studied is learned. Maybe limited to those that are easiest to subject are those only allowed or given by the teachers.
achieve, not those that are most desirable. And may exclude impromptu and unplanned learnings. 4. Examples of this are on-the-job training and internships
4. Curriculum is the totality of learning experiences provided to students so that they can attain included as a subject in college which aims of providing the
general skills and knowledge at a variety of learning sites. students with practical, actual, and on-hand application of their
Emphasis is on learning rather than teaching, especially learning skills and knowledge at sites other than knowledge and skills.
schools (like workplace sites). 5. Example of this, is the "online class" as one of the new normal
Problem: It leads to a narrow technical-functionalist approach to curriculum. And may focus on key modes of learning being implemented as an alternative which
competencies that catered to the "world of paid employment" and disregard the other competencies or mainly happened in the domain of the internet.
capacities such as communication, civic participation, health, and well-being. 6. The sixth definition can be hard to achieve in a setting that
5. Curriculum is what the student constructs from working with the computer and its various traditionally follows rules and regulations like the University or
networks, such as the Internet. Students Handbooks wherein you can face punishment or
Computers are present in all the human domain and have created a culture for increasingly active disciplinary actions when violated. Subjectively speaking, it is
learning online and constructing of own meanings by locating sources on the Internet, exploring issues, safe to say that teachers or educators can somehow manage to
and communicating with others. challenge the traditional way of teaching by creating their
Problem: Information is not knowledge, without ethical and intellectual judgment and cannot be techniques when not monitored. For the part of students, it
programmed into a machine. Also, issue accessibility, as not all students have the same capacity. believed it lies in the ideals that they learned in and outside the
6. Curriculum is the questioning of authority and the searching for complex views of human four corners of the classroom. It's by challenging the norm and
situations. creating a new one that aligned with the principles and ideals.
Proponents are the postmodernist thinkers that imply opposition to widely used ('modern') values and
practices. Sharing a desire to challenge what is modern, a readiness to accept the unaccepted, and a
willingness to conceptualize new ways of thinking.
Problem: This may do not help identify the practice on how students should spend their time and
energy. And since all truth is relative, then this statement itself would have to be nonrelative to be true
(no fixed truth).
2.) Refers not only to the official list of courses offered by the school we call that the "official curriculum Walker, Decker F., & Soltis, Situations that are considered part of the curriculum:
"but also to the purposes, content, activities, and organization of the educational program created in Jonas F.
schools by teachers, students, and administrators". The teachers from its broader tasks of designing a curriculum by
deciding what their goals for the year will be, what content they
will cover, how much they will emphasize different topics, and in
what sequence they will present them. And to some more
specific scenarios such as talking students about the rules of
good conduct on the playground, redirecting class discussions
from the main point to a relatively unimportant issue (on-the-
spot curriculum decisions), deciding to set aside plans for a
social studies lesson to discuss events of current interest
(professional judgment to alter earlier curriculum decisions) and
when making tests and giving the criteria in assigning grades. On
the part of the students, they can shape the school's curriculum
when they choose elective courses, vote for officers in student
government, or join a student organization. Moreover, a
principal developing a community service program for student
volunteers, that becomes part of the school curriculum.
3.) Whether signifying a concept, a document, or a lived experience—is vulnerable and impressionable Kumar, Ashwani In this definition of curriculum examples of ideological, colonial,
to a myriad of influences. It is controlled, shaped, and influenced by: the culture in which it is situated, and neoliberal influence can be seen from the historical
political and religious ideologies that have sway over it, the market to which it intends to or is expected foundation of the education system of our country. The public
to cater, and the teachers and the students who interpret and engage with it and create it in their systems introduced by the United States in the Philippines were
everyday lived contexts. patterned to their curriculum which sadly does not cater to the
real needs of Filipino people but engraved colonial mentality and
"Far from being a neutral disciplinary guideline, as it is usually considered, a curriculum is a historical, subservient graduates. This context was critically analyzed in a
political, cultural, autobiographical, and economic construct. The three influences on curriculum to be paper entitled "Miseducation of the Filipino People" by Renato
the most profound: ideological, colonial, and neoliberal." Constantino. Presently, the manifestations of neoliberal
influence are the implantation of K-12 and the calendar shift in
the opening of classes which primary reason was to make our
education system aligned with the foreign countries with the
promise of more competitiveness.
4.) Prevailing definitions summarized in three: Goodlad, John I. The first definition is materialized by the course syllabus
(a) The curriculum is a design or plan of institutionalized education. provided in each subject. Secondly, these are the actual way and
(b) The curriculum consists of the actual learning opportunities provided at a given time and place, means of how the subjects are taught to the student which
(c) The curriculum is an instrument for bringing about psychological changes in learners as a result of depends upon the strategies of the teachers. And thirdly,
their activities in an educational institution. psychological changes are the learnings and understanding that
the students grasp from the learning process. Safe to say that,
The second definition is more commonly stated as ". . . all the educational experiences that a learner when we can meet the aims of education in the sense of making
has under the guidance of the school" and the term "learning opportunities" is substituted here for the a person an enlightened citizen that knows his part in the society
where he lives in.
 term "educational experiences"; since an "experience" usually is defined as the result of an interactive
process”

5.) Base on a research study conducted at Australian University to some academic teachers and Fraser, Sharon P. & Based on the experiences of the participant:
students having both strengths in teaching and research aimed at knowing the 'conceptions of the Bosanquet, Agnes M. Category A- is based on how you deliver that content whether
curriculum' which refers to both what academics perceive to be the curriculum and their through readings or lectures. It may be once a week, twice a
understandings and experiences of this curriculum. Four distinct categories of description emerged week, or over a semester.
from the data, in which the curriculum is conceptualized as: Category B- adding extra units to the program as electives, or
providing students with increased flexibility of delivery or
Category A: The structure and content of a unit (subject)- the curriculum is defined by what is taught in avenues such as via the internet.
the individual unit or subject, and articulated in the unit outline. Category C focuses on finding what suits and motivates the
Category B: The structure and content of a program of study- curriculum as a program of study that students. Likely to be achieved in maintaining open
encompasses multiple units. communication.
Category C: The students’ experience of learning- moving away from the curriculum as a product Category D- to promote change in both teacher and student by
provided for students, to a process that enables student learning. The content and delivery of a unit, achieving the goal of student learning from their teachers and
and its structure within the program as a whole, is an integral part of the curriculum but is only one part teachers also learn from their students. This is likely to be
of a broader process. achieved by increasing student participation in class discussions.
Category D: A dynamic and interactive process of teaching and learning - the understanding of
curriculum as a collaborative process of learning, with the teacher and student acting as co-constructors
of knowledge.

REFERENCES:

Marsh, Colin J. (2009). Key Concepts for Understanding Curriculum Fourth Edition. London England: Taylor and Francis Routledge.

Walker, Decker F., & Soltis, Jonas F. (1997). Curriculum and Aims Third Edition. Teachers College, Columbia University Newyork, and London: Teachers College Press.

Kumar, Ashwani. (2019). CURRICULUM IN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS Understanding Colonial, Ideological and Neoliberal Influences. Gewerbestrasee 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

Goodlad, John I. (1960) Curriculum: The State of the Field. Review of Educational Research, 30(3), pp. 185-198.

Fraser, Sharon. P., & Bosanquet, Agnes. M., (2006). The Curriculum? That’s just a unit outline, isn’t it? Studies in Higher Education, 31(3), pp. 269-284. London England: Taylor and Francis Routledge.