CURRICULUM &
TEACHING
DED 0122: CURRICULUM & TEACHING
INSTRUCTOR:
SAID A.S.YUNUS
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lecture, students
should be able to:• Define the concept of curriculum
• Identify types of curricula.
• Differentiate between traditional
approach and competency based
approach
What is curriculum?
• It is not easy to define this concept.
• Curricularists often have difficult
time in answering this question.
• Curriculum is one of the most
challenging concepts to define in
education.
• It has got very diverse definitions.
• Curriculum can be defined broadly as
a systematic plan of instruction. Yet,
curriculum must be viewed as
different from instruction.
• It means that, what we teach differs
from how we teach it.
What is Curriculum?
• Moore (1998) defines curriculum as all
the planned and unplanned learning
experiences that students undergo
while in school setting.
• Every school /district / region /
country has a planned, formally
acknowledged curriculum as well as an
unplanned, informal and the hidden
one.
What is curriculum?
• Ornstein & Hunkins (2004) define
curriculum as a plan for action or a
written document that includes
strategies for achieving desired goals
or ends.
• The steps of the planner are
sequenced in advance. The plan has a
beginning and end, as well as a process
so that the beginning can progress
to an end.
What is curriculum?
Oliva (2009) Curriculum is:
• That which is taught in schools
• A set of subjects
• Content
• A program of studies
• A set of materials
• A sequence of courses
• A set of performance objectives
• A course of study
Cont…
• Everything that goes on in the school,
including extra-class activities, guidance
and interpersonal relations
• That which is taught both inside and
outside of school directed by the school
• Everything that is planned by school
personnel
• A series of experiences undergone by
learners in school
• That which an individual learner
experiences as a result of schooling
Types of Curricula
• Educational theorist Cuban (1993)
suggests that there are at least four
different curricula in use in our
schools namely; official curriculum,
taught curriculum, learned
curriculum, and tested curriculum.
The Official Curriculum
• "The official curriculum is what state
and district officials set forth in
curricular frameworks and courses of
study. They expect teachers to teach
it; they assume students will learn
it."
The Taught Curriculum
• The taught curriculum is what
teachers, working alone in their rooms,
actually choose to teach. "Their
choices derive from their knowledge
of the subject, their experiences in
teaching the content, their affection
or dislike for topics, and their
attitudes toward the students they
face daily."
The Learned Curriculum.
• The learned curriculum. Beyond what
test scores reveal about content
learning, students also learn many
unspecified lessons embedded in the
environment of the classroom.
Depending on what the teacher
models, the student will learn to
process information in particular
ways and not in others.
Cont…
• They will learn when and when not to
ask questions and how to act
attentive. They may imitate their
teacher's attitudes. They learn about
respect for others from the
teacher's own demonstration of
respect or lack thereof. The learned
curriculum is much more inclusive
than the overtly taught curriculum.
The Tested curriculum.
• The tested curriculum. "What is tested
is a limited part of what is intended by
policy makers, taught by teachers, and
learned by students." The farther
removed teachers are from the actual
construction of the tests, the worse
the fit between the other curricula and
what is tested. Standardized tests
often represent the poorest
assessment of the other
curricula.
Another types of curriculum
• According to Moore (1998) basically
students experience four kinds of
curricula in school settings namely:
explicit curriculum, hidden curriculum,
integrated curriculum and extra
curricular programmes.
The Explicit Curriculum
• The explicit curriculum is the formal
acknowledged curriculum selected by a
state or a school or school district.
• It focuses on goals, objectives, subject
matter, and organization of instruction.
• It encompasses the sequence of
courses, goals, and objectives
mandated by the state; the curriculum
guide developed by the school district;
and the textbooks used in the
classroom.
The Hidden Curriculum
• The hidden curriculum is the “unintended”
curriculum.
• It consists of those learning experiences,
both negative and positive, that are not
part of the explicit curriculum but that
result in changes in the attitudes, beliefs,
and values of students.
• The teacher must be constantly aware of
the hidden curriculum that may be
communicated or modeled in his/her
classroom
The Integrated Curriculum
• The integrated curriculum is the kind of
curriculum in which disciplines are blended,
fused, or unified.
• There are two basic approaches to
integration of a district or school
curriculum: adapting an existing curriculum
and creating a new curriculum.
Cont…
• The basic strategies for integrating
existing curriculum is to look for common
elements or connections. There are natural
relationships between most subjects, and
these can form the basis of integration.
• Creating a new curriculum is not an easy
task. The first step in the process is to
select an appropriate theme. Once the
theme has been determined, the
curriculum planners should identify
subtopics related to the central themes
and activities related to the subtopic.
Extracurricular activities
• Extracurricular activities are
elective extensions of the explicit
curriculum that do not carry credit
toward graduation.
• Extracurricular activities are
generally geared toward community
needs, students interests and
aspirations ( ambitions) and social
issues. They serve to reinforce and
add spice to school’s more formal
curriculum.
Difference between Traditional
Approach & Competency based
Approach
• ..\..\..\Desktop\Difference between
traditional approach and competency
based approach.docx
Reference
• Cuban, L. (1995). The Hidden Variable:
How Organizations Influence Teacher
Responses to Secondary Science
Curriculum Reform. Theory Into
Practice, Vol. 34, No. 1, 4-11.
• http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/i
mportance-of-curriculum-10893.html