Curriculum: An Introduction
Douglas Gosse, PhD
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education Office A145
Nipissing University 100 College Drive, Box 5002 North
Bay, Ontario, Canada P1B 8L7 Email:
douglasg@nipissingu.ca
TEL: 705-474-3461, x. 4810
What is curriculum??
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Gosse, D. (1995). What is curriculum? (Master's degree paper). St.
John's: Memorial University.
“Curriculum is more than a course of study at school, college, etc., from the Latin
word for “run,” as Webster's dictionary would lead us to believe . . . curriculum
should address the rapidly changing needs of society to contribute to the
development of productive citizens.”
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Curriculum?
There are many ways of viewing curriculum:
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Explicit curriculum
 1. Explicit curriculum refers to what is consciously
and intentionally presented. It is the official
curriculum, or written curriculum, which gives the
basic lesson plan to be followed, including objectives,
sequence, and materials, what is taught by the
teacher, and the learning outcomes for the student.
This is the overt curriculum, the "official" and
"operational" curriculum of Posner, or, as described
by MacLean, the "program" and would include the
methods, subject matter and materials.
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2. Implicit curriculum
 2. Implicit curriculum includes the norms and values
of the surrounding society, the setting in which the
learning occurs (including the decoration and set-up
of the area), and the broader environment in which
education occurs. This is the covert, or Posner's
"hidden" curriculum.
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3. Null curriculum
 3. Null curriculum consists of what is not taught.
Consideration must be given to the reasons behind
why things are not included in the explicit curriculum
or recognized in examination of the implicit
curriculum.
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4. Extracurricular curriculum
 4. Extracurricular curriculum includes experience
(planned and unplanned) outside of the immediate
educational session, and includes total church
community and home religious activities. This has
been broadened beyond Posner's concern about
planned learning to include all learning outside the
immediate educational setting.
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5. Experience as curriculum
 5. Experience as curriculum is "what happens to the
[learner], what the [learner] sees, understands,
appreciates and loves and also what the
[learner]dislikes, fears, repudiates." (MacLean, p.2)
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Helen Zidowecki 1995 (RR1 Box 279, Litchfield, Maine
04350, 207-582-5308, www.hzmre.com)

The Webster's New World
Dictionary of the American
Language (Simon and Schuster,
1984) describes curriculum as
derived from Latin currere and
includes concepts of "a running,
course, race, career." The term
applies to a studies required for
graduation or to all of the
courses offered in a school. And
even the plural can be "ula" to
"ulums."
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Hemmings, A. (2000). The “Hidden” Corridor Curriculum. The High
School Journal, 83(2), 1-10.
‘Hidden Curriculum’: the unofficial 3 Rs – rules, routines, and regulations,
producing unequal social relations – that govern student life; these are
unplanned lessons, like ghosts in school settings, that may result in
student school failure socially or academically, but affect all.
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Parsons, C., & Brown, P. (2001). Educating for Diversity: An Invitation to
Empathy and Action. Action in Teacher Education, 23(3), 1-4.
In teacher preparation programs, most education students are female and
from white, middle-class backgrounds. They tend to equate diversity as
'otherness' and themselves as 'normal.' We need to succeed in making
difference personal, bridging empathy and action.
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Grauerholz, L. (2001). Teaching Holistically to Achieve Deep Learning.
College Teaching, 49(2), 44-50.
Holistic teaching seeks to provide a safe environment for students to
express their ideas and feelings openly. The intent also is to
acknowledge and legitimate the many different voices and experiences
of our students, especially those who have historically been silenced in
traditional classroom settings.
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