Curriculum: Alternative
Approaches, Ongoing Issues
by:
Colin J. Marsh
George Willis
I. The Character of Curriculum
• Defining Curriculum
An Interrelated Set
of Plans and
Experiences that a
Student
undertakes under
the
Guidance of a
School
The Term: Curriculum
Truth: Everyone talks about it, and
everyone has a slightly different
meaning for it.
Important Questions to Ask
• What should count as knowledge?
What knowledge is of the most worth
(Spencer)?
• Who should control the selection of
knowledge?
• Who should participate in the “experience
of curriculum” (Dewey)?
Important Questions to Ask
• How do you best organize a curriculum?
• When and how should changes in a
curriculum take place?
• How do schools evaluate that a curriculum
is best? Who is responsible for the
evaluation? What do you evaluate?
Defining Curriculum
• Currere (Latin) - to run the course (race)the racecourse
• More than 120 definitions of the term
(Portelli)
• Historically used to define the classics of
Greek civilization (Plato and Aristotle)
Cl i p
Definition of Curriculum (Marsh
& Willis)
Curriculum: “an interrelated
set of plans and experiences
that a student undertakes
under the guidance of the
school”the planned curriculum
the enacted curriculum &
and the experienced
curriculum.
Varied but Important Definitions
of Curriculum
• Curriculum is
“permanent” subjects
such as grammar,
mathematics, etc.
• Curriculum is those
subjects useful in
contemporary life
• Curriculum is all
“planned learnings”
for which a school is
responsible - a list of
planned outcomes
• Curriculum is all the
experiences learners
have under the
guidance of the
school.
Varied but Important Definitions
(con’t)
• Curriculum is all the experiences that
learners have in the course of living.
Other ways the term curriculum
is used (Posner) :
• Scope and Sequence - • Textbooks - Day- to
the range and order of
day guide of the
learning experiences
content to teachers and
students
• Syllabus - The plan
for an entire, specific
• Course of Study - a
course
series of courses a
student must go
• Content Outlinethrough
an outline of the
content to be covered
Other Useful Definitions of
Curriculum (Posner)
• The Official Curriculum - the “written”
curriculum in syllabi, courses of study, etc.
• The Operational Curriculum - what is
actually taught (Give an example).
• The Hidden Curriculum - what is taught
and/or learned on issues of gender, class,
and race, authority, who can succeed at
various tasks, what is “appropriate”
behavior (Give an example).
Other Useful Definitions of
Curriculum (Posner):
• Null Curriculum - subject matters not
taught -law, parenting, etc. (Give an
example).
• The Extra Curriculum - includes all those
planned experiences outside of school
subjects, sportsmanship, team play, etc.
(Give an example).
Curriculum and/versus
Instruction?
• Traditional definitions: Curriculum = what
is to be learned ( versus ) Instruction = the
process or how it is taught, i.e., the ends
versus the means.
• (Marsh & Willis) - Hold a holistic, organic
view of curriculum and instruction consistent
with recent trends, i.e.,. school- based
curriculum development (SBCD)- the direct
involvement of teachers in both curriculum
and teaching.