The compiler and distributor of this material do not own any of the contents in this lecture notes.

Due credits
and acknowledgments are given to authors and creators of the cited references― (ABL)

Chapter 1
UNDERSTANDING CURRICULUM
This chapter explores significant pieces of literature and theories that will help curriculum workers,
teachers, and students understand basic concepts of curriculum, types of curriculum foundations, and
curriculum conceptions. In this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Define curriculum;
2. Analyze the different types of curriculum;
3. Discuss different curriculum foundations; and
4. Discuss different curriculum conceptions.

DEFINITIONS OF CURRICULUM
Many book on curriculum present various images, characterizations, and definitions of the term curriculum.
To analyze or discuss all of these definitions would be a massive endeavor since there are more than eleven
hundred books written about curriculum (Schubert 1980). Presented in this chapter are just a few definitions
provided by Beauchamp (1982), Eisner (1985), Glatthorn (2006), Marsh (2004), Oliva (2005), Pinar (1995),
Posner (1995), Reid (2006), Saylor (1981), and Schubert (1986), among others.
1. Curriculum as a list of subjects.
- Permanent or Traditional subject offered in the school.
- Example: Mathematics, Language, Science, Music, Arts and others
2. Curriculum as learning experiences.
- Students’ curricular and co-curricular activities.
- The learning experiences they encounter inside or outside the school.
- Example: Hidden curriculum
o Things learned by the students as a result of their experiences in the school with their peers,
schoolmates, teachers, school staff, or the values they learned from a school program.
- Curriculum includes the school culture.
3. Curriculum as intended learning outcomes.
- List of learning competencies or standards that student should learn ins chool
4. Curriculum as planned learning experiences.
- This includes documents specifying contents, objectives, or general ideas of what students should
know in schools or in a specific discipline.
5. Curriculum as a discipline.
- This definition has its own principles, theories, and practices.
6. Curriculum as content or subject matter.
- This definitions views curriculum as a series of topics under each subject area.
It is important that curriculum workers have a common understanding of what curriculum is. Their
personal definition of curriculum defines the curriculum product that they will produce. Many curriculum
projects fail, and many curriculum researches appear vague because of an unclear understanding of the field of
curriculum. Besides, only few people are experts in curriculum studies, especially in the Philippines, who may
be consulted regarding these projects and researches.

Activity 1: Write your personal definition of curriculum. Explain your definition.

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Reference: Curriculum Development by Greg Tabios Pawilen

The compiler and distributor of this material do not own any of the contents in this lecture notes. Due credits
and acknowledgments are given to authors and creators of the cited references― (ABL)

DIFFERENT TYPES OF CURRICULUM

Several curriculum scholars (see Glatthorn, Boschee, and Whitehead 2006); Print 1993; Tanner 2007) cited nine
types of curriculum depending on how curriculum is used in various institutions.
1. Ideal or recommended curriculum.
- This refers to what scholars propose as the most appropriate curriculum for the learners.
- For example, different professional organizations or various disicplines in different universities may
propose curriculum innovations or alternative curriculum content as a result of their researches.
- Ideal or recommnede curriculum may also develop as an alternative response to various curricular
problems and issues.
- Curriculum standards recommended by professional organizations are example of ideal or
recommended curriculum. Many of these various curriculum standards are recommended by
professional organizations as alternative to the current contents of the curriculum.
- Curriculum standards are products of their latest researches on the nature of the different disciplines
and the deveopments in various academic fields.
Activity 2: Browse the Interent and check some examples of an ideal curriculum suggested by
professional organizations. List example bellows.
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2. Intended, Official, or written curriculum.

- This refers to the official curriculum embodied in approved state curriculum guides (Glatthorn et al.
2006).
- It is the curriculum prescribed by the government.
- In the Philippine context. These are the prescribed courses from different government agencies:
o The Department of Education (DepEd)
o The Commision on Higher Education (CHED)
o The Technical Education and skills Development Administrations (TESDA)
- Example of this tyoe of Curriculum are :
o The Kindergarten Curriculum Standards
o The K-12 Curriculum
o CHED Memorandum Order No. 20, Series of 2013 (for General Education)
o TESDA Module and Competencies

Activity 3: What are the benefits and possible pitfalls of having an official curriculum prescribed to all
schools?
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3. Implemented curriculum.
- This toe of curriculum refers to the actual implementation of the curriculum or what teachers in the
school teach.

Reference: Curriculum Development by Greg Tabios Pawilen

The compiler and distributor of this material do not own any of the contents in this lecture notes. Due credits
and acknowledgments are given to authors and creators of the cited references― (ABL)
- In many cases, teachers modify and improve their curriculum based on the needs of the students or
whenever there are new ideas in various disciplines that are important to teach to the students.
- Academic freedom among faculty members in college may also influence how professors plan and
implement their courses.
Activity 4: Discuss the roles of teachers and other curriculum workers in ensuring the success of the
implemented curriculum.
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4. Achieved curriculum or learned curriculum.

- This refers to the result of the curriculum or what students actually learned in school (Print 1993).
- The achieved curriculum reveals whether the students learned or whether the schools are successful
in attaining their curriculum goals and objectives.
5. Tested Curriculum.
- This is a set of learning that is assessed in teacher-made classroom tests, curriculum-referenced tests,
and in standardized test. (Glatthorn et al. 2006)
6. Entitlement Curriculum.
- This refers to what the people or the general society believes learners should expect to learn in the
educational system for them to become good members of the society.
7. Supported Curriculum.
- This refers to the curriculum that is reflected on and shaped by the resources allocated to support or
deliver the official curriculum. (Glatthorn et al. 2006)
8. Null or censored Curriculum.
-This refers to the various curriculum contents or topics that must not be taught to the students. (Tanner
& Tanner 2007)
Activity 5: List examples of a null or censored curriculum.
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9. Hidden Curriculum.
- This refers to various skills, knowledge, and attitudes that students learn in school as a result of their
interaction with other students, staff, and faculty members.
- This is not actually taught in formal classroom learning, it can be a product of students’ schooling.
- The Hidden Curriculum is very powerful in developing the school culture (Print 1993)
Activity 6: List examples of a Hidden Curriculum.
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CURRICULUM FOUNDATIONS
Curriculum development scholars like Tyler (1949); Taba (1962); Eisner (1985); Saylor, Alexander, and
Lewis (1981); Print (1993); Sowell (1996); and Tanner and Tanner (2007) generally identified three categories
of sources for curriculum foundations:

Reference: Curriculum Development by Greg Tabios Pawilen

The compiler and distributor of this material do not own any of the contents in this lecture notes. Due credits
and acknowledgments are given to authors and creators of the cited references― (ABL)
1. Studies of learners and learning theory (psychology);
2. Studies of life (sociology and anthropology); and
3. Studies of nature and value of knowledge (philosophy).
These curriculum sources or foundations influence curriculum developers in framing different curriculum
conceptions and in developing curriculum.
Psychology as a discipline deals with understanding human behavior, which is important in curriculum
development. According to Print (1993), psychology can provide information in five important areas:
1. Educational Objectives
2. Student Characteristics
3. Learning Processes
4. Teaching Methods
5. Evaluation Procedures
Meanwhile, studies about the society and culture-sociology and anthropology, respectively – affect all
curriculum processes. Sowell (1996) pointed out that knowledge about the society and its culture is important in
selecting the content of the curriculum. It provides a clear understanding of the context in which curriculum is
developed. Studies about the society and culture help curriculum workers in understanding several social and
educational issues that affect curriculum processes and education in general.
Philosophy as a foundation helps curriculum workers in understanding the nature of knowledge and what
subjects or topics are worthwhile. This is very important in making decisions about the contents of the
curriculum. Ornstein and Hunkins (1993) mentioned that philosophy provides curriculum workers with a
framework or base for organizing schools and classrooms. It also provides educators with a framework for
broad issues and tasks, such as determining the goals of education, the content and its organization, and the
teaching and learning processes.

CURRICULUM CONCEPTIONS
Curriculum workers have different ideas about curriculum matters and curriculum development processes.
They have different points of view about curriculum concerns, goals of what a curriculum should accomplish,
and how a curriculum should be designed or constructed. This explain the presence of various curriculum
orietations or conceptions. McNeil (2006), Eisner (1985), and Print (1993) identified six curriculum
conceptions:
1. Academic rationalist conception.
- Considered as the oldest among curriculum conceptions
- It stresses the importance of different bodies of knowledge, known as discipline or subject areas, as
the focus of the curriculum
2. Cognitive processes conception.
- Seeks to develop a repertoire of cognitive skills that are applicable to a wide range of intellectual
problems.
- The subject matters are instruments or tools for developing these cognitive skilla that are lasting in
the lives of individuals.
3. Humanistic conception.
- Stresses the idea that curriculum or education is an instrument for developing the full potentials of
individuals.
- It seeks to help individuals to discover and develop their unique identities.
- It stresses that curriculum should focus on the needs and interest of individuals.
4. Social reconstructionist conception.
- Views the school or schooling as agency for social change.
- It stresses that curriculum should respond to the different needs, issues, problems, and demans of the
society.
5. Technological conception.

Reference: Curriculum Development by Greg Tabios Pawilen

The compiler and distributor of this material do not own any of the contents in this lecture notes. Due credits
and acknowledgments are given to authors and creators of the cited references― (ABL)
- It is preoccupied with development of means to achieve curriculum or educational goals.
- It views schooling as a complex system that can be analyzed into its constituent components.
6. Eclectic conception.
- This is where curriculum workers find themselves aligning their ideas with two or more curriculum
conceptions.
- This curriculum conception reiterates the realities in curriculum development that each of the
curriculum conceptions is to be considered and influential to a certain extent in designing
curriculum.

ELEMENTS OF A CURRICULUM
In general, a curriculum has four important elements. These elements must be present in all curriculum
documents or before a document can be called curriculum. These four elements are curriculum intent, content,
learning experiences and evaluation.

Curriculum Intent

Content

Learning Experiences

Evaluation
Figure 1. Curriculum Elements

1. Curriculum intent.
- The term used by Print (1993) to mean the direction that curriculum dvelopers wish to go to as a
result of participating in the curriculum.
- It includes the aims, goals, and objectives found in any curriculum document.
o Aims – broad statements of social or educational expectations. Aims include what is hoped to
be achieved by the total curriculum.
o Goals – more specific than the aims. Goals are general statements of what concepts, skills,
and values should be learned in the curriculum.
o Objectives – specific learning outcomes. It includes specific concepts, skills, and values that
should be learned by the students. Usually, objectives are used in making decisions or
planning about instruction.
2. Content.
- It includes the different topics to be learned or covered in a curriculum.
- These topics are based on the curriculum intents.
- Contents may include values, concpets, or skills that are I,portant for the learners to learn.
3. Learning experiences.
- It includes all instructional strategies that are useful for the implementation of the curriculum.
- These may appear in the form of activities, strategies, methods, or approaches that are useful in
implementing the curriculum or teaching the content.

Activity 7: Provide examples of curriculum content and learning experiences. Examine their relationship.
Content Learning Experiences

Reference: Curriculum Development by Greg Tabios Pawilen

The compiler and distributor of this material do not own any of the contents in this lecture notes. Due credits
and acknowledgments are given to authors and creators of the cited references― (ABL)

4. Evaluation.
- It includes the different ways and tools used for evaluating whether or not the curriculum intent was
realized.
- Evaluation tools are also used to evaluate the performance of the learners after they have undergone
the curriculum.
Hilda Taba (1962) observed that all curricula, no matter what their particular design, are composed of
certain elements.
 A curriculum usually contains a statement of aims and specific objectives.
 It indicates some selection and organization of content.
 It either implies or manifest certain patterns of learning and teaching, whether because the objectives
demand them or because the content organization require them.
 It includes a program of evaluation of the outcomes.
Understanding the different element of curriculum will help curriculum workers especially the teachers in
designing curriculum and in analyzing the different curriculum materails that are offered to schools and
students.

Reference: Curriculum Development by Greg Tabios Pawilen