Curriculum
A multitude of definitions
Textbook definition of
curriculum

the formal or informal content and
process by which students gain
knowledge and understanding,
develop skills, and alter attitudes,
appreciations, and values under the
auspices of that school
Textbook definition



what one learns (content)
and how one learns (process)
outcomes in the forms of knowledge,
understanding, skills, attitudes,
appreciations, and values
A Little Clearer


The curriculum is not just a list of courses.
It includes
–
–
–
–
the purposes,
content,
activities,
organizations of the educational program
actually created in schools by teachers, students,
and administrators.
Different Types of
Curriculum
Not all curriculum is formal or
even planned. The curriculum
may be defined in many ways.
The overt, explicit or
written curriculum
Overt, explicit or written
curriculum

Written understandings and
directions formally designated and
reviewed by administrators,
curriculum directors and teachers,
often collectively.
Overt, explicit or written
curriculum


What is written as part of formal
instruction of the schooling
experience.
Refers to a curriculum document,
texts, films, and supportive teaching
materials that are overtly chosen to
support the intentional instructional
agenda of a school.
The written curriculum of
Clarksville Montgomery
Schools
The Hidden or Covert
Curriculum
The hidden or covert
curriculum
Lessons learned from school
that may or may not be
intentional
 Lessons learned from planned
activities of school
 Lessons planned from
interactions from fellow students

The hidden or covert
curriculum
 the
pupil’s own curriculum
used to cope with the
school’s bureaucratic
organization and includes
social relationships within
the school
The hidden or covert
curriculum

kinds of learnings children
derive from the very nature
and organizational design of
the public school, as well as
from the behaviors and
attitudes of teachers and
administrators
Examples of the hidden
curriculum


the messages and lessons derived
from the mere organization of
schools
may include both positive or
negative messages, depending on
the perspective of the learner or
the observer
Examples of the hidden
curriculum


The social structure of the school
The discipline policy of the school
– The use of corporal punishment
– Issues of fairness and rights
– The school rules
The Null Curriculum
The Null Curriculum

What is not taught, thus giving
students the message that
these elements are not
important in their educational
experiences or in our society
The Null Curriculum

Since it is physically impossible
to teach everything in schools,
many topics and subject areas
must be excluded from the
written curriculum - what gets
taught is what is tested
The Null Curriculum

Eisner – “schools have
consequences not only by virtue of
what they do not teach, but also by
virtue of what they neglect to
teach. What students cannot
consider, what they don't
processes they are unable to use,
have consequences for the kinds of
lives they lead “
The Null Curriculum

Eisner- “what schools do not teach
may be as important as what they
do teach -ignorance is not simply a
neutral void; it has important
effects on the kinds of options one
is able to consider, the alternatives
that one can examine, and the
perspectives from which one can
view a situation or problems.”
Phantom Curriculum
Phantom Curriculum
 The
messages prevalent in
and through exposure to
media
Rhetorical Curriculum
Rhetorical Curriculum
ideas offered by policymakers
, school officials,
administrators, or politicians.
 Ideas from those
professionals involved in
concept formation and
content changes

Rhetorical curriculum

Ideas from those educational
initiatives resulting from
decisions based on national
and state reports, public
speeches, or from texts
critiquing outdated
educational practices.
Rhetorical curriculum
 Ideas
from the publicized
works offering updates in
pedagogical knowledge.
Curriculum-in-use
Curriculum-in-use
 The
curriculum-in-use is
the actual curriculum that
is delivered and presented
by each teacher.
Received Curriculum
Received curriculum
 Those
things that students
actually take out of
classroom; those concepts
and content that are truly
learned and remembered
The Extra Curriculum
The Extra Curriculum

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Planned activities outside the school
subjects
It is voluntary
Based on student interests
It is not hidden but an open dimension
of the school experience
Scope and Sequence
Scope and Sequence



The depiction of the curriculum as a
matrix of objectives assigned to
successive grade levels (sequence)
Objectives grouped by themes (scope)
Example – scope and sequence – sixth
grade language arts - Scope and
Sequence