THE TEACHER AND THE

SCHOOL CURRICULUM
JEA FARIDA R. GUROALIM, LPT
INSTRUCTOR
CHAPTER 1: CURRICULUM ESSENTIALS

Module 1:The Teacher and the School Curriculum

Lesson 1.1 The Curricula in School
Desired Learning Outcomes
• Discuss the different curricula that exist in the schools
• Analyze the significance of curriculum and curriculum development in the
teacher’s classroom
“THE SABER-TOOTH CURRICULUM”
BY HAROLD BENJAMIN (1939)
A man by the name of New-Fist-Hammer-Maker knew how to do things
his community needed to have done, and he had the energy and the will to go
ahead and do them. By virtue of these characteristics, he was an educated man.
New-Fist was also a thinker. Then as now, there were few lengths to which men
would not go to avoid the labor and pain of thought…. New-Fist got to the point
where he became strongly dissatisfied with the accustomed ways of his tribe. He
began to catch glimpses of ways in which life might be better for himself, his
family and his group. By virtue of this development, he became a dangerous
man….
“THE SABER-TOOTH CURRICULUM”
BY HAROLD BENJAMIN (1939)
New-Fist thought about how he could harness the children’s play to better
the life of the community. He considered what adults do for survival and
introduced these activities to children in a deliberate and formal way. These
included catching fish with bare hands, clubbing little woolly horses, and chasing
away saber-toothed-tigers-with-fire. These then became the curriculum and the
community began to prosper- with plenty of food, hides for attire and protection
from threat. “It is supposed that all would have gone well forever with this good
educational system, if conditions of life in that community remained forever the
same.” But conditions changed.
“THE SABER-TOOTH CURRICULUM”
BY HAROLD BENJAMIN (1939)
The glacier began to melt and the community could no longer see the fish
to catch with their bare hands, and only the most agile and clever fish remained
which hid from the people. The woolly horses were ambitious and decided to leave
the region. The tigers got pneumonia and most died. The few remaining tigers left.
In their place, fierce bears arrived who would not be chased by fire. The
community was in trouble.
“THE SABER-TOOTH CURRICULUM”
BY HAROLD BENJAMIN (1939)
One day, in desperation, someone made a net from willow twigs and found
a new way to catch fish- and the supply was even more plentiful than before. The
community also devised a system of traps on the path to snare the bears.
Attempts to change education system to include these new techniques however
encountered “stern opposition.”
“THE SABER-TOOTH CURRICULUM”
BY HAROLD BENJAMIN (1939)
These are also activities we need to know. Why can’t the schools teach
them? But most of the tribe particularly the wise old men who controlled the
school, smiled indulgently at this suggestion. “That wouldn’t be education… it
would be mere training”. We don’t teach fish grabbing to catch fish, we teach it to
develop a generalized agility which can never be duplicated by mere training…and
so on.
“THE SABER-TOOTH CURRICULUM”
BY HAROLD BENJAMIN (1939)
“If you had any education yourself, you would know that the essence of
true education is timelessness. It is something that endures through changing
conditions like a solid rock standing squarely and firmly in the middle of a raging
torrent.
PHILIPPINE EDUCATIONAL LEVELS

1. Basic Education. This level includes Kindergarten, Grade 1 to Grade 6

for elementary; and for secondary, Grade 7 to Grade 10, for the Junior
High School and Grade 11 and 12 for the Senior High School.
2. Technical Vocational Education.This is post-secondary technical
vocational educational and training taken care of Technical Education
and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
3. Higher Education. This includes the Baccalaureate or Bachelor Degrees
and the Graduate Degrees (Master’s and Doctorate).
TYPES OF CURRICULA
1. RECOMMENDED CURRICULUM

Almost all curricula found in schools are recommended. For Basic

Education, these are recommended by the Department of education
(DepEd), for Higher Education, by the Commission on Higher Education
(CHED) and for vocational education by TESDA. These three government
agencies oversee and regulate Philippine education. The recommendations
come in the form of memoranda or policies, standards and guidelines.
2. WRITTEN CURRICULUM

This includes documents based on the recommended curriculum. They

come in the form of course of study, syllabi, modules, books or instructional
guides among others.
3. TAUGHT CURRICULUM

The teacher and the learners will put life to the written curriculum. The
taught curriculum will depend largely on the teaching style of the teacher
and the learning style of the learners.
4. SUPPORTED CURRICULUM

This is described as support materials that the teacher needs to make

learning and teaching meaningful. These include print materials like books,
charts, posters, worksheets, or non-print materials like Power Point
presentation, movies, slides, models, realias, mock-ups and other electronic
illustrations.
5. ASSESSED CURRICULUM

Taught and supported curricula have to be evaluated to find out if the

teacher has succeeded or not in facilitating learning. In the process of
teaching and at the end of every lesson or teaching episode, an assessment
is made.
6. LEARNED CURRICULUM

How do we know if the student has learned? We always believed that if the
student changed behavior, he/she has learned. The positive outcome of
teaching is an indicator of learning.
7. HIDDEN/IMPLICIT CURRICULUM

This curriculum is not deliberately planned, but has a great impact on the
learner. Peer environment, school environment, media, parental pressures,
societal changes, cultural practices, natural calamities, are some factors that
create hidden curriculum.
QUICK ASSESSMENT

Discuss the Saber-tooth Curriculum and answer the following:

a. Does the saber-tooth curriculum still exist at present? Give examples of
your evidence.
b. Describe the kind of curriculum that exists as described in the article.
c. What does the author mean, when he said “A curriculum should be
timeless?” Explain.
d. What is the difference between education and training?
 SPIN A WIN: AGREE OR DISAGREE
1. In the Saber Tooth Curriculum, learning is experiential and authentic.
2. It is a reality that there exist more than one curricula in the teacher’s classroom.
3. A teacher can say with confidence that learning has occurred, if the curriculum has been assessed.
4. Some curricula in the schools/classrooms are unwritten.
5. To establish national standards, teachers should be guided by recommended curriculum in basic and
higher education.
6. Teachers should expect that school curricula are dynamic and changing.
7. Evaluated curriculum makes judgment about learning.
8. Textbooks and modules are written curricula that represent the recommended curricula.
9. Only the Department of Education can recommend a curriculum.
10. In the heart of all types of curricula, the teacher has a major role.
SELF-REFLECT

Write your answer in a bond paper, and pass it on our google

classroom before tomorrow Thursday, Feb 25, 2022 at 11:59pm.

1. Is it necessary for teachers to learn about school curriculum?

Why?
LESSON 1.2
THE TEACHER AS A CURRICULARIST

Desired Learning Outcome:

1. Enhance understanding of the role of the teacher as a
curricularist in the classroom and school
Look at the words inside the box. Read each one of them. Which one
describes the teacher as a curricularist?

Exciting Showing Innovating

Planning
Facilitating Growing Rewarding
Believing

Planning Recommending Showing

Frustrating Copying Showing

CURRICULARIST

Curricularist is a professional who is a curriculum specialist

(Hayes, 1991; Ornstein & Hunkins, 2004; Hewitt, 2006). A person
who is involved in curriculum knowing, writing, planning,
implementing, evaluating, innovating, and initiating may be
designed as curricularist.
THE TEACHER AS A CURRICULARIST

1. knows the curriculum (knower). Learning begins with knowing. The

teacher as a learner starts with knowing about the curriculum, the
subject matter or the content
2. writes the curriculum (writer). The teacher writes books, modules,
laboratory manuals, instructional guides, and reference materials in
paper or electronic media as a curriculum writer or reviewer.
3. plans the curriculum (planner). A good curriculum has to be
planned. It is the role of the teacher to make a yearly, monthly or daily
plan of the curriculum.
THE TEACHER AS A CURRICULARIST

4. initiates the curriculum (initiator). Implementation of a new

curriculum requires the open mindedness of the teacher, and the full belief
that the curriculum will enhance learning. There will be many constraints
and difficulties in doing things first or leading, however, a transformative
teacher will never hesitate to try something novel and relevant.
5. innovates the curriculum (innovator). Creativity and innovation are
hallmarks of an excellent teacher. A curriculum is always dynamic, hence it
keeps on changing.
THE TEACHER AS A CURRICULARIST

6. implements the curriculum (implementor). The curriculum

remains recommended or written will never serve its purpose. Somebody
has to implement it. At the heart of the schooling is the curriculum. The
teacher, as an implementor, gives life to the curriculum plan.
7. evaluates the curriculum (evaluator). How can one determine if the
desired learning outcomes have been achieved? Is the curriculum working?
Does it bring the desired results? What do outcomes reveal?
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING AND PASS IT ON OUR
GOOGLE CLASSROOM.

• Activity 1: Let’s Do a Simple Survey. (by specialization)

• Self-Check
• Self-Reflect