Meaning, nature and scope of curriculum, Relationship between

curriculum and syllabi

CURRICULUM

The word, ‘curriculum’ is derived from the Latin word "Currere." Currere means to
run / to proceed. The word refers to the ‘course of deeds and experiences through
which children grow to become mature adults’(Hlebowitsh, 2004). Curriculum is
thus, a well-defined and prescribed course of studies which students must complete
for them to pass a given level of education. It is a predetermined subject matter in a
planned sequence of experiences leading to certifiable completion. Curriculum is
the base for the learning outcomes and activities through which the teaching and
learning process moves in advance.

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. In a broader sense, it refers to the total learning experiences of individuals
not only in schools but in society as well.

Traditional Concept of Curriculum

The traditional system of education used curriculum exactly in a similar sense

when it insisted on the acquisition of mastery over certain skills and certain areas
of knowledge, as the sole aim of education. The teacher was expected to train his
pupils for realising the aim of education ‘by leading them through the curriculum,
prescribed in the purpose’. So, the term ‘curriculum’ came to signify a group of
subjects or courses of study arranged in a particular sequence, for instructional
purposes in schools. In olden days life was simple and the needs of the society
were also not very complicated and numerous. So only a few subjects in the
curriculum were considered synonymous with academic subjects of instruction.

Modern Concept of Curriculum

Modern curriculum covers all the wider areas of individual and group life. It
encompasses all the meaning and desirable activities outside the school provided
that these are planned, organized and used educationally. As such, curriculum is
something more than textbooks, more than the subject matter, and even more than
the courses of study. It is now viewed as a pursuit with no rigidly fixed goal, rather
a ‘race’ in which the goal and the course, leading to that goal, are both fixed in
advance.

Narrow and Broader Meaning of Curriculum

In its narrow sense, curriculum means the plan reach the aims and objectives of
education. It is restricted to classroom activities concentrating on the study of a
few subjects in a major field of study. It is just a tool to achieve the aim of teaching
a subject.
• It is limited to classroom activity;
• It emphasis teaching subjects;
• It works to produce certificate and degree;
• It develops only mental ability; and
• It is more under teacher and administrative control.

In its broader sense, curriculum means not only the study of academic subjects
traditionally taught in schools, but also includes the sum total of all experiences
that a pupil receives through the manifold activities in a school.
• It includes total experiences given by manifold activities;
• Includes both curricular and co-curricular activities;
• It works to develop the personality of the child;
• It has a more creative and forward outlook; and
• It is child-centred

Teaching-learning process does not operate in a vacuum. Certain planned

experiences have to be providing in school so that optimum human development
according the, needs of a particular country is possible. Curriculum is the crux of
the whole educational process. Without curriculum, cannot conceive any
educational endeavor. School curriculum of a country, like its constitution, reflexes
the ethos of the country. In the since curriculum is the path through which the
student has to go forward in order to reach the goal envisaged by education.
Usually the term curriculum is understood as a group of subject prescribed for
study in a particular course. Thus the term curriculum in recent years has come to
mean all the planned activities and experiences available to the student under the
direction of the school. Curriculum is dynamic and changes according to the needs
of the pupil and society. The curriculum offered by a school to students should not
be simply a collection of separate bits of information and unrelated experiences.
Schools need to be concerned with a ‘total curriculum’. There must be vertical and
horizontal organisation of the curriculum elements. To achieve the objectives of
education teacher need to employ suitable instructional methods and procedures.
But this he can do only when he knows what efforts he is to make and in what
order. In other words, he should know the aspects of curriculum which consists of
subjects, activities and experiences in the properly graded form. Curriculum is in
fact the warp and woof of the completely educational process.

Concept of Curriculum

• Curriculum is the base in education on which the teaching-learning process is

planned and implemented.
• Curriculum includes all planned learning experiences organized by a school
based on the educational aims and objectives.
• Curriculum is the sum total of the academic and non-academic experiences of a
school. It is based on educational intended outcomes to fulfill the personal and
social growth of the learners.

Meaning and Definitions

The term 'Curriculum' is of Latin meaning, action of running and courses of action
, race thus indicating that curriculum is the ground through which the education
has to pass in order to reach a definite goal. In the past the term was taken to mean
a collection of knowledge and skill. It did not then imply the educand's needs, but
instead the knowledge and skills of the specialists working in different spheres. But
the modern interpretation of the term is clarified by Bent and Kronenburg, who
suggest that the curriculum is the organised form of subject matter, specially
prepared to meet the requirements of children. Hence, now curriculum includes
those experiences and activities which provide the student with the knowledge and
the skills he will require in facing the various situations of real life. Obviously, the
term 'Curriculum' cannot be restricted to a list of books because it must include
other activities, the environment of the school and numerous other elements not
taught by books. In the words of Bent and Kronenburg, "Curriculum in its broadest
sense, includes the complete school environment involving all the courses,
activities, reading and association furnished to the pupils in the school."

Definitions : Following are the definitions of Curriculum given by some authors

Saylor : "Curriculum is a plan for providing sets of learning opportunities for

persons to be educated."

Pratt : "Curriculum is an organised set of formal education and/or training

intentions."

Wiles and Bondi : "Curriculum is a plan for learning whereby objectives

determine what learning is important."

Wheeler : "Curriculum is the planned experiences offered to the learners under the
guidance of the school."

Oliva (1982) stated that “Curriculum is a plan or programme for all experiences
which the learner encounters under the direction of the school.”

Carter V. Good: “Curriculum is a body of prescribed educative experiences under

school supervision designed to provide the individual with the best possible
training and experiences to fit him for the society of which he is a pan and to
qualify him for a trade or profession.”

Concepts of Curriculum: The concepts of curriculum are described with the help
of following points:

1) Curriculum is experience: It is obvious, that the aim of curriculum is to

provide experience to the educand so that he may achieve complete
development.
2) Curriculum is means or tools: The educator is compared to an artist and
the curriculum as one of the instruments or tools used by him to develop the
educand according to and in conformity with the aims of education.
3) Curriculum is environment: In modern times, this term is interpreted in
this more liberal sense because there is no questioning the fact that the
child’s education is influenced by not only books, but the playgrounds,
 library, laboratory, reading room, extracurricular programmes the
educational environment and a host of other factors.
4) Curriculum involves all activities: In the light of the various definitions of
curriculum given above, it is possible to arrive at a definition of the terms
which includes all the points mentioned in these definitions. Briefly, the
curriculum is the means of achieving the goals of education.
5)

BASES OF CURRICULUM:

1) Aims of education
2) Philosophy of education:
3) Sociological basis:
4) Psychological basis:

THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF CURRICULUM:

1) Synthesis of subject and life:

2) Complete development:
3) Development of democratic values
4) Builds confidence of education.
5) Realization of values:
6) Development of knowledge:
7) Creation of a useful environment:

SCOPE OF CURRICULUM:

Curriculum, is therefore, very comprehensive in its scope. It touches all aspects of

the life of the pupils- the need and interest of the pupils, environment which should
be educationally congenial to them, ways and manners in which their interests can
be handled and warmed up, the procedures and approaches which cause effective
learning among them, the social efficiency of the individuals and how they fit in
with the community around. It is intimately related with the individual as a
member of the society. It embodies the educational philosophy, the values which it
aims to achieve, the purposed it wants philosophy, the values it aims to achieve
purposes it wants to realise and the specific goals that it wants to achieve. The
emphasis is on the child. In the total education of the child, all the subjects’ likes
history, geography, science and language are but tools. These are the means, and
therefore, the children must not be made to fit in such study.

NATURE OF CURRICULUM

A curriculum is-
• A sum of the school subjects and other activities;
• A mirror which reflects a school’s curricular and co-curricular activities; and
• Includes all subjects, which help a child in its cognitive development.
• Curriculum includes many activities such as classroom lesson, cultural activities,
laboratory activities, workshop, and sports activities.
• Curriculum is the totality of experiences.
• Curriculum provides experiences to respond, react, and reflect on various
processes of learning. It depends on the learner, and as to what he experiences.
• Curriculum is based on intended learning outcome.
• Curriculum, in one sense, is cultural reproduction- Concepts of knowledge and
skills such as values, religion, and political system are incorporated in the
curriculum, which in turn reflects belief and all cultural aspects.
• It is an agenda for social reconstruction- Schools provide an agenda of
knowledge, which is curriculum based, and this guides students to enrich society
and cultural institutions.

Importance of Curriculum in Schools

Curriculum has a broader meaning, and helps in achieving educational aims and
objectives. Curriculum is needed in schools since it contributes in the following
ways:

• Gives necessary constructional frame to achieve educational aims. It indirectly

shows the specific path to achieve educational aims and gives effective learning to
students by providing a variety of learning experiences.
• Curriculum mainly helps in children’s all- round development. It builds a
balanced personality and helps to use of leisure time constructively.
• Curriculum coordinates the processes of learning-teaching-evaluation.
• It develops creativity and forward outlook
• It contributes to bring equality of education.
• Curriculum helps teachers to maintain quality education. It sets standards, goals,
and learning outcomes that enable teachers to judge whether or not students are
able to move onto the next level.
• An effective curriculum provides teachers, students, administrators, and
community stakeholders with a measurable plan and structure for delivering
quality education.
• Curriculum develops discipline to achieve educational aims. It makes educational
aims move in a right path through which develops discipline.
• It provides opportunity to students to participate in curricular and co-curricular
activities.
• It helps to develop qualities such as friendship, co-operation, compassion and
love for social justice via various social settings.
• It develops democratic values such as liberty and fraternity among students.
Society needs a curriculum, which is functional and relevant to achieve educational
goals.
• A curriculum identifies learning outcomes, standards, and core competencies that
students must demonstrate before advancing to the next level. An evidenced based
curriculum acts as a roadmap for teachers and students to follow on the path to
academic success. It helps to understand the diverse culture, social system, and
cultural heritage of people living in different parts of the country.
• A curriculum is needed in carrying successfully educational programmes.
 CURRICULUM AND SYLLABUS:

Many people still equate a curriculum with a syllabus. An UNESCO publication

entitled Preparing Text Book Manuscripts “(1970)” has differentiated between the
curriculum and syllabus. The curriculum sets out the subjects to be studied, their
order and sequence and so ensures some balance between humanities and science
and consistency in the study of subjects, thus facilitating inter subject links. It
follows that the curriculum determines the amount of school times allotted to each
subject, the aim of teaching each subject, the place of the motor skills which take
time to acquire and possibly, the variations between rural and urban school
teaching. The curriculum in the schools of developing countries is often directly
related to the requirements for developments. The syllabus determines the basic
content of instructions in a given subject and the range of knowledge and skills
which the pupils must acquire and establish in detail the themes and individual
points to be studied in each school year. The syllabus is a refined detail of the
curriculum at a particular stage of learning for a particular subject.
CURRICULUM SYLLABUS

Curriculum is based on the philosophy, Syllabus does not take into account
goals and values of education. these factors.
Curriculum refers to all the educational Syllabus refers to a list of unelaborated
activities of the school in the widest headings or book let.
possible sense.
Curriculum is the sum total of school It is basically concerned with school
subjects, learning experiences and subjects.
activities.
There is prescribed co-curricular and No prescribed co-curricular and extra-
extra – curricular activities in the curricular activities in the form of
curriculum. syllabus.
Curriculum includes not only indoor Syllabus is concerned with activities
activities but also out-door activities of mostly undertaken in the class room (in-
the school. door activities).
The curriculum has a countless role to The syllabus has a limited role to play
play and it is considered as a plan, an and has less significance in the
experience, a subject matter or content educational world.
and as a field map.
It is an inclusive concept. It includes It is a part of a curriculum.
syllabus also.

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