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Jump to navigationJump to searchNew page: '''Curriculum''' has many different conceptions. It may include any educational experience. It may also be conceived as a conversation, relationships, and it is this [[phen...
'''Curriculum''' has many different [[conceptions]]. It may include any educational [[experience]]. It may also be conceived as a [[conversation]], [[relationships]], and it is this [[phenomenon]] of [[plurality]] that is inherent in the new [[paradigm]] view of curriculum.
==Definition==
In the first published textbook on “Curriculum” in 1918, [[John Franklin Bobbitt]] noted that the [[idea]] of curriculum has its [[Root (linguistics)|roots]] in the [[Latin]] word for a race-course, and explained curriculum as the course of [[deeds]] and experiences in which [[children]] become the [[adults]] that they should be, for success in adult [[society]]. He explained, further, that curriculum must be understood as encompassing not only those experiences that take place within [[schools]], but the entire scope of formative experience both within and outside of schools. Further, this includes experiences that are not planned or directed, as well as experiences that are intentionally directed (in or out of school) for the purposeful formation of adult members of society. (See image at right.)
Bobbitt saw curriculum as an arena for [[social engineering]]. His formulation has two notable features: 1) He assumed that [[scientific]] experts would be qualified and justified in designing curricula based on expert [[knowledge]] of what qualities are desirable in adult members of society, and what experiences would produce those qualities; and (2) in his definition of curriculum as the experiences that someone ''ought to have'' in order to become the kind of adult that they ''ought to become'', he was defining curriculum as an ideal, rather than as the [[reality]] of whatever course of experience in actuality forms people as they do actually take form.
Contemporary views of curriculum would reject these features of Bobbitt's material, but they retain the basic notion of curriculum as the course of experience in which human being takes form. The formation of human being through curriculum is studied not only at the level of the individual person, but also at the level of groups, [[cultures]], and societies (as, for example, in the formation of a profession or an [[academic discipline]] through the course of its historical experience). The formation of a group is seen as taking place reciprocally with the formation of its individual participants.
Although it appeared formally in Bobbitt's [[definition]], the notion of curriculum as the course of formative experience is also pervasive in the work of [[John Dewey]] (who seriously disagreed with Bobbitt on important issues), in Dewey's work on education spanning decades before and after Bobbitt's work. Although this understanding of "curriculum" may be different from some common uses of the word, it continues to be shared as a common understanding among curriculum professionals and researchers who take conflicting positions on a variety of other issues.
==Curriculum in Formal Schooling==
In formal education or schooling (see [[education]]), a '''curriculum''' (plural '''curricula''') is the set of course and their content offered at an institution such as a [[school]] or [[university]]. In some cases, a curriculum may be partially or entirely determined by an external body (such as the [[National Curriculum for England]] in [[England|English]] schools). In the [[United States|US]], the basic curriculum is established by each [[state]] with the individual [[school district]]s adjusting it to their desires. Each state, however, builds its curriculum relying heavily on the input of national groups selected by the [[United States Department of Education]], for example the [http://www.nctm.org/ National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)] for mathematics instruction. In [[Australia]] each state's Education Department sets the various curricula. UNESCO's [http://www.ibe.unesco.org/ International Bureau of Education] primary mission is to study curriculum and how it is implemented throughout the world.
Note that the term ''curriculum'' may relate to the range of courses that students can select from (as defined above) but may also relate to a specific learning programme. In the latter context, the curriculum describes the collective teaching, learning and assessment materials that are available for that particular course.
A crucial aspect for learning, understanding through the stimulation of [[imagination]], is absent in the so called "[[neo-conservative]] curriculum", which instead stresses the less effective aspects of the amount of knowledge and of logico-mathematical thinking., Norman, R. (2000) ''Cultivating Imagination in Adult Education'' Proceedings of the 41st Annual Adult Education Research. Egan, K. (1992). ''Imagination in Teaching and Learning''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
A crucial part of the curriculum is the definition of the course objectives which are often expressed in terms of '''learning outcomes''' and normally includes the '''assessment strategy''' for the program. These learning outcomes (and assessments) are often grouped into '''units''' (or modules) and the curriculum, therefore, comprises a collection of such units, each specializing on a specific part of the curriculum. So a typical curriculum would include units on communications, numeracy, information technology, inter-personal skills together with more specialized provision.
==See also==
*[[education]]
*[[core curriculum]]
*[[pedagogy]]
==References==
* Bobbitt, John Franklin. The Curriculum. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1918.
* Jackson, Philip W. "Conceptions of Curriculum and Curriculum Specialists." In Handbook of Research on Curriculum: A Project of the American Educational Research Association, edited by Philip W. Jackson, 3-40. New York: Macmillan Pub. Co., 1992.
* Pinar, William F., William M. Reynolds, Patrick Slattery, and Peter M. Taubman. Understanding Curriculum: An Introduction to the Study of Historical and Contemporary Curriculum Discourses. New York: Peter Lang, 1995.
*Kelly, A.V. (1989) The Curriculum: theory and practice 3rd Ed
*[http://hnn.us/articles/22591.html National Education Standards...They're Back!] (article)
*[http://www.brook.edu/press/books/NATLSTDS2.HTM Diane Ravitch, National Standards in American Education A Citizen's Guide] (book)
*[http://www.wcci-international.org/ World Council for Curriculum and Instruction]
[[Category: General Reference]]
==Definition==
In the first published textbook on “Curriculum” in 1918, [[John Franklin Bobbitt]] noted that the [[idea]] of curriculum has its [[Root (linguistics)|roots]] in the [[Latin]] word for a race-course, and explained curriculum as the course of [[deeds]] and experiences in which [[children]] become the [[adults]] that they should be, for success in adult [[society]]. He explained, further, that curriculum must be understood as encompassing not only those experiences that take place within [[schools]], but the entire scope of formative experience both within and outside of schools. Further, this includes experiences that are not planned or directed, as well as experiences that are intentionally directed (in or out of school) for the purposeful formation of adult members of society. (See image at right.)
Bobbitt saw curriculum as an arena for [[social engineering]]. His formulation has two notable features: 1) He assumed that [[scientific]] experts would be qualified and justified in designing curricula based on expert [[knowledge]] of what qualities are desirable in adult members of society, and what experiences would produce those qualities; and (2) in his definition of curriculum as the experiences that someone ''ought to have'' in order to become the kind of adult that they ''ought to become'', he was defining curriculum as an ideal, rather than as the [[reality]] of whatever course of experience in actuality forms people as they do actually take form.
Contemporary views of curriculum would reject these features of Bobbitt's material, but they retain the basic notion of curriculum as the course of experience in which human being takes form. The formation of human being through curriculum is studied not only at the level of the individual person, but also at the level of groups, [[cultures]], and societies (as, for example, in the formation of a profession or an [[academic discipline]] through the course of its historical experience). The formation of a group is seen as taking place reciprocally with the formation of its individual participants.
Although it appeared formally in Bobbitt's [[definition]], the notion of curriculum as the course of formative experience is also pervasive in the work of [[John Dewey]] (who seriously disagreed with Bobbitt on important issues), in Dewey's work on education spanning decades before and after Bobbitt's work. Although this understanding of "curriculum" may be different from some common uses of the word, it continues to be shared as a common understanding among curriculum professionals and researchers who take conflicting positions on a variety of other issues.
==Curriculum in Formal Schooling==
In formal education or schooling (see [[education]]), a '''curriculum''' (plural '''curricula''') is the set of course and their content offered at an institution such as a [[school]] or [[university]]. In some cases, a curriculum may be partially or entirely determined by an external body (such as the [[National Curriculum for England]] in [[England|English]] schools). In the [[United States|US]], the basic curriculum is established by each [[state]] with the individual [[school district]]s adjusting it to their desires. Each state, however, builds its curriculum relying heavily on the input of national groups selected by the [[United States Department of Education]], for example the [http://www.nctm.org/ National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)] for mathematics instruction. In [[Australia]] each state's Education Department sets the various curricula. UNESCO's [http://www.ibe.unesco.org/ International Bureau of Education] primary mission is to study curriculum and how it is implemented throughout the world.
Note that the term ''curriculum'' may relate to the range of courses that students can select from (as defined above) but may also relate to a specific learning programme. In the latter context, the curriculum describes the collective teaching, learning and assessment materials that are available for that particular course.
A crucial aspect for learning, understanding through the stimulation of [[imagination]], is absent in the so called "[[neo-conservative]] curriculum", which instead stresses the less effective aspects of the amount of knowledge and of logico-mathematical thinking., Norman, R. (2000) ''Cultivating Imagination in Adult Education'' Proceedings of the 41st Annual Adult Education Research. Egan, K. (1992). ''Imagination in Teaching and Learning''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
A crucial part of the curriculum is the definition of the course objectives which are often expressed in terms of '''learning outcomes''' and normally includes the '''assessment strategy''' for the program. These learning outcomes (and assessments) are often grouped into '''units''' (or modules) and the curriculum, therefore, comprises a collection of such units, each specializing on a specific part of the curriculum. So a typical curriculum would include units on communications, numeracy, information technology, inter-personal skills together with more specialized provision.
==See also==
*[[education]]
*[[core curriculum]]
*[[pedagogy]]
==References==
* Bobbitt, John Franklin. The Curriculum. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1918.
* Jackson, Philip W. "Conceptions of Curriculum and Curriculum Specialists." In Handbook of Research on Curriculum: A Project of the American Educational Research Association, edited by Philip W. Jackson, 3-40. New York: Macmillan Pub. Co., 1992.
* Pinar, William F., William M. Reynolds, Patrick Slattery, and Peter M. Taubman. Understanding Curriculum: An Introduction to the Study of Historical and Contemporary Curriculum Discourses. New York: Peter Lang, 1995.
*Kelly, A.V. (1989) The Curriculum: theory and practice 3rd Ed
*[http://hnn.us/articles/22591.html National Education Standards...They're Back!] (article)
*[http://www.brook.edu/press/books/NATLSTDS2.HTM Diane Ravitch, National Standards in American Education A Citizen's Guide] (book)
*[http://www.wcci-international.org/ World Council for Curriculum and Instruction]
[[Category: General Reference]]
