MODULE CODE: EDDHODJ

UNIQUE NO: 597552

STUDENT NO: 49713523

2015
NAME: MATONGOANE TW

EDD ASSIGNMENT#2

Tumelo Matongoane
[Company name]
8/31/2015
Introduction
Curriculum has been used and applied with different meaning attached to it since the beginning of
the field. The word “curriculum” from its latin origins means “to run a court”. There are many
conceptions and definitions of the curriculum: as content as learner experiences as behavioural
objectives as a plan for instruction and as a non-technical approach. (Lurenburg, 2011:1)

Over the years there has been various conception of the concept curriculum. The intent of this
assignment is to provide overview of curriculum as a concept; giving different definitions of
curriculum; examining the various aspects/types of curriculum used in schools; Analysing the levels
of curriculum; describing the components of curriculum; and relationships that the types of
curriculum have.

Question 1: There are different definitions and aspects of “curriculum”.

1. Curriculum is:

1.1 "A sequence of potential experiences is set up in the school for the purpose of disciplining
children and youth in group ways of thinking and acting. This set of experiences is referred to as
the curriculum." (Smith, et al., 1957)

1.2. "A general over-all plan of the content or specific materials of instruction that the school
should offer the student by way of qualifying him for graduation or certification or for entrance
into a professional or vocational field." (Good, 1959)

1.3. "A curriculum is a plan for learning." (Taba, 1962)

1.4. "All the experiences a learner has under the guidance of the school." (Foshay, 1969)

1.5. "The planned and guided learning experiences and intended outcomes, formulated through
the systematic reconstruction of knowledge and experience, under the auspices of the school,
for the learner's continuous and willful growth in person-social competence." (Tanner and
Tanner, 1975)

1.6. "Curriculum is often taken to mean a course of study. When we set our imaginations free
from the narrow notion that a course of study is a series of textbooks or specific outline of topics
to be covered and objectives to be attained, broader more meaningful notions emerge. A
curriculum can become one's life course of action. It can mean the paths we have followed and
the paths we intend to follow. In this broad sense, curriculum can be viewed as a person's life
experience." (Connelly and Clandinin, 1988)

Definitions 1.1 – 1.5 are typically those that relate to how teachers and administrators view
curriculum. In fact, these seem to underlie the assumptions about schooling that are held by
children and parents. In general, these five definitions and their related assumptions about
schooling and learning tend to undermine effective integration. However, definition #1.6 may
provide a view that is more consistent with an integrated curriculum that is more meaningful,
relevant, interesting, and engaging. That which an individual learner experiences as a result of
schooling.

2. Prescriptive definition of curriculum.

The prescriptive definition of curriculum are those that give a provision of what “ought” to
happen, and they take a form of a plan, an intended program or some kind of expect opinion
about what needs to take place in the course of study. (Ellis, 2004:4). The following prescriptive
definitions of curriculum have been selected for the representatives:

2.1 John Dewey (1902) defines curriculum as a continuous reconstruction, moving from the
child’s present experience out into that represented by the organised bodies of truth that we
call studies—the various studies are themselves experience—they are that of the race. (Pp.11-
12)

2.2 Frankin Bobbit (1918) defines curriculum as the entire range of experiences, both directed
and undirected, concerned in unfolding the abilities of the individual. (p.43)

2.3 Ralph Tyler (1957) defines curriculum as all the learning experiences planned and directed by
the school attain its educational goals. (p.79)

3. Descriptive definition of curriculum

Descriptive definitions go beyond “how things ought to be” to how things really are in the real
classroom. (Ellis, 2004:5). One can also use “experience” as another term for descriptive
curriculum. The following descriptive definitions have been chosen:

3.1 Glen Hass (1987) defines curriculum as the set of actual experiences and perceptions of the
experiences that each individual learner has of his/her program of education.

3.2 D.F. Brown (2006) defines curriculum as all students school experiences relating to the
improvement of skills and strategies in thinking critically and creatively, solving problems,
working collaboratively with others, communicating wall, writing more affectively, reading more
analytically and conducting research to solve problems.

3.3 Daniel Tanner and Laurel Tanner (1995) define curriculum as the construction of knowledge
and experience that enables the learner to grow in exercising intelligent control of subsequent
knowledge and experience.

4. Different aspects/types of curriculum

1. Official, explicit intended curriculum. This is the prescribed curriculum, also described as
the blueprint for teaching. It is the plan or intentions of, for instance, the Department of
Basic Education. A single plan can be used for different learners, although its contexts can
differ greatly.
 2. Enacted curriculum as practice. This is the curriculum as it is experienced. It is also referred
to as the non- official, implicit curriculum as implemented by a teacher, and is what is actually
taught and learnt. Misunderstandings, resource constraints and so on can interfere with the
teacher’s abilities to implement a curriculum plan exactly as intended.

3. Covert curriculum. This is teaching that is implicit (not spelt out), but nonetheless deliberate
on the part of the teacher or school. It is especially important in early schooling, when
consideration for others, order and obedience, teamwork and cooperation are focal points.
“Play” in early schooling is a deliberate curriculum strategy to develop important attitudes and
skills such as fine motor skills, spatial differentiation and various prenumeracy skills.

4. Hidden curriculum. This is learning that is hidden from the teachers as well as from the
learners. It is another form of implicit learning, which the teachers did not intend and are
probably not even aware of. We consciously learn many things about the world, or learn to see
the world in particular ways, simply by spending a lot of time in the sort of environment that
schools and classrooms present to us.

5. Assessed curriculum. This is the knowledge and skills that are measured to determine learner
achievement or what objectives or learning outcomes have been attained. Assessment is an
important element of a curriculum because it establishes how learners will be measured on
performance.

6. Null curriculum. The null curriculum is what is not taught. Not teaching some particular idea
or sets of ideas may be due to mandates from higher authorities, to a teacher’s lack of
knowledge, or to deeply ingrained assumptions and biases. Teachers and schools may not teach
that Christopher Columbus slaughtered many of the native peoples he encountered when he
"discovered" the Americas. Many teachers are under pressure not to teach evolution.

7. Phantom curriculum. The messages prevalent in and through exposure to any type of media.
These components and messages play a major part in the enculturation of students into the
predominant meta-culture, or in acculturating students into narrower or generational
subcultures.

8. Concomitant curriculum. What is taught, or emphasized at home, or those experiences that

are part of a family’s experiences, or related experiences sanctioned by the family. (This type of
curriculum may be received at church, in the context of religious expression, lessons on values,
ethics or morals, molded behaviors, or social experiences based on the family’s preferences.)

9. Rhetorical curriculum. Elements from the rhetorical curriculum are comprised from ideas
offered by policymakers, school officials, administrators, or politicians. This curriculum may also
come from those professionals involved in concept formation and content changes; or from
those educational initiatives resulting from decisions based on national and state reports, public
speeches, or from texts critiquing outdated educational practices. The rhetorical curriculum may
also come from the publicized works offering updates in pedagogical knowledge.
10. Curriculum-in-use. The formal curriculum (written or overt) comprises those things in
textbooks, and content and concepts in the district curriculum guides. However, those “formal”
elements are frequently not taught. The curriculum-in-use is the actual curriculum that is
delivered and presented by each teacher.

11. Received curriculum. Those things that students actually take out of classroom; those
concepts and content that are truly learned and remembered.

12. The internal curriculum. Processes, content, knowledge combined with the experiences and
realities of the learner to create new knowledge. While educators should be aware of this
curriculum, they have little control over the internal curriculum since it is unique to each
student. Educators can explore this curricula by using instructional assessments like “exit slips,”
reflective exercises, or debriefing discussions to see what students really remember from a
lesson. It is often very enlightening and surprising to find out what has meaning for learners and
what does not.

13. The electronic curriculum. Those lessons learned through searching the Internet for
information, or through using e-forms of communication. (Wilson, 2004) This type of curriculum
may be either formal or informal, and inherent lessons may be overt or covert, good or bad,
correct or incorrect depending on ones’ views. Students who use the Internet on a regular basis,
both for recreational purposes (as in blogs, wikis, chatrooms, list serves, through instant
messenger, on-line conversations, or through personal e-mails and sites like Twitter, Facebook,
or YouTube) and for personal online research and information gathering are bombarded with all
types of media and messages. Much of this information may be factually correct, informative, or
even entertaining or inspirational. But there is also a great deal of other e-information that may
be very incorrect, dated, passé, biased, perverse, or even manipulative. The implications of the
electronic curriculum for educational practices are that part of the overt curriculum needs to
include lessons on how to be wise consumers of information, how to critically appraise the
accuracy and correctness of e-information, as well as how to determine the reliability of
electronic sources. Also, students need to learn how to be artfully discerning about the
usefulness and appropriateness of certain types of information. Like other forms of social
interaction, students need to know that there are inherent lessons to be learned about
appropriate and acceptable “netiquette” and online behaviors, to include the differences
between “fair and legal usage,” vs. plagiarism and information piracy
QUESTION 2

South Africa boarded on a radical change of education and training between 1989 and 1994, and
subsequently on reviews of the curriculum. One of the most challenging aspects of the initial
transformation has been the adoption of an OBE approach that underpins the introduction of
Curriculum 2005(C2005). C2005 has tried to capture aspects of all three of the approaches
discussed above, but just as there was tension between the three different approaches of Tyler,
Stenhouse and Freire, so there was tension between different aspects of policy. Tyler used the
narrow definition of “curriculum”, while Stenhouse argued for a broader definition and Freire
just assumed a broader definition. But that was only their starting point. The main focus of their
debate was on what should go into a curriculum and how it should be approached. For this
reason, these different approaches become useful tools for sharpening our understanding and
interpretation of C2005, both its revisions and the amended NCS, referred to as the Curriculum
and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS).

The following universal principles in approaches to curriculum, but also to teaching and learning,
are to be found in the views of Tyler, Stenhouse and Freire.

o Experiential learning
o Clarity of focus
o Expanding opportunities
o Defining outcomes, aims or objectives
o Importance of knowledge, skills and values
o Evidence of achievement
o Individual learning
o What and whether we learn is more important than when we learned it

Tyler wanted structure in the teaching and learning situation and argued that there should be
clarity of focus in what you want to teach, how you want to teach and how you want to assess.
Therefore, the first step in effective teaching is to define objectives (outcomes), keeping in mind
that these objectives should be context-bound.

The teacher should ask four basic questions:

1. What educational purposes should the school seek to achieve? (By “purpose” Tyler was
referring to behavioural objectives (developed by gathering information from three
sources: the subject matter, the learners and the society).
2. What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to achieve these
purposes?
3. How can these educational experiences be effectively organised?
4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being achieved?

Tyler argued that individual learning would ensure that each learner achieved the set objectives
(outcomes). We can interpret this to mean that educational experiences should be derived from
objectives, based on the results of an analysis of the situation (learner, subject, society), and that
objectives should be filtered through a philosophical / psychological screen before being
finalised. It is important to develop citizens who are able to solve problems and can engage in
democratic processes.

The principles mentioned above have their roots in the competency-based education movement
and mastery learning. They are based upon the premise that we can help learners to create
definite and reliable evidence of achievement. This model focuses on the need to create
favorable learning conditions as regards time, teaching strategies and learning success.

A more detailed look at competency-based learning reveals that Stenhouse’s ideas of a teaching-
learning process prepare learners for success in fulfilling various life roles. It is important to test,
adapt and evaluate the process to see whether it is an enlightening one, and in that manner
expand opportunities for application. Stenhouse stressed the importance of doing research
while teaching and of following the route of “design down, deliver up” – a developmental
process where the teacher can change the teaching-learning environment according to context
and learners’ needs. The learner should change in the teaching-learning process to internalize
information and form opinions of his or her own.

Mastery learning promotes the idea that all learners can achieve the desired teaching outcomes
if given favorable learning conditions such as flexibility, sufficient time and alternative ways of
learning. Freire focused on these aspects; he wanted teachers and curriculum developers to
make sure that educational experiences could be used in real life. Experiential learning was of
utmost importance: learners should be able to reflect on the value of learning. What is also
considered here is the perception of what the ideal learner in a particular field should look like,
be like, act like and think like. Freire felt it was important to identify specific knowledge in order
to attain a skill which could be applied in practice as the connection between reflection and
action.

Approaches to curriculum planning according to Tyler, Stenhouse and Freire:

Ralph Tyler Lawrence Stenhouse Paolo Freire

• Sees curriculum as a • Sees curriculum as a • Thinks about the purpose
product (objectives / process with objectives not of a curriculum – it must
instrumental approach) • set at the start, but changing serve to liberate learners to
Has a linear focus on the end in the teaching process make links and understand
product; cannot branch off in language, experiences and
the middle • Focuses on descriptiveness their daily struggle

• Knowledge must be
speculative.

• Objectives, content, • Guidelines and professional • Intellectual, social and

methods and sequence development are important. political liberation – how
questions learners feel about
 • Learners should know what knowledge and whether
to do with content. experiences can be used in
everyday life
• Understanding and criteria
are central to the process.
• Educational purposes, • Carries out research while • The way in which we teach
experiences etc. are teaching, evaluates while may change learners – it is
important. researching, and changes the always political (empowers or
process of reaching goals. domesticates the learners).

• Negotiates understanding
with learners.
• Do research to find the best • Tests, adapts and evaluates • Learners should be able to
content to include in the process to see if it is reflect on the value of
curriculum / evaluate enlightening. learning.
content.
• Learners should “change”
in the learning process.

Question 3

In table form, compare the main differences between the NCS and CAPS.

Concept / feature / NCS CAPS

dimension
Structure of qualification Gr R to 9 (as outlined in RNCS CAPS = Gr R to 12 GETC is
2002) General Education and not mentioned in CAPS Only
Training Certificate (GETC) exit level is at Gr 12 (NSC)
mentioned in overview Conceptual shift to 13 years
document, with exit level at of schooling as the new norm
Gr 9 GETC never realized in
practice
Critical outcomes Explicitly mentioned Also incorporated in aims and
curriculum content and skills
CAPS phrases Critical
Outcome 2 as “work
effectively as individuals and
with others as members of a
team” (specific reference to
invidual)
Development outcomes Reflect on and explore a Not mentioned explicitly
variety of strategies to learn
more effectively Participate
as responsible citizens in the
life of local, national and
global communities Be
culturally and aesthetically
sensitive across a range of
social contexts Explore
education and career
opportunities Develop
entrepreneurial opportunities
Purpose(s) Reflect on and explore a No explicit list of purposes
variety of strategies to learn given (but a similar list is
more effectively Participate included in NSC SAQA
as responsible citizens in the document for FET)
life of local, national and
global communities Be
culturally and aesthetically
sensitive across a range of
social contexts Explore
education and career
opportunities Develop
entrepreneurial opportunities
Principles NCS = OBE, described as CAPS = “encouraging an
“participatory, learner- active and critical approach
centred and activity-based to learning, rather than rote
education” and uncritical learning of
given truths”

Inclusivity Mentioned in passing Foregrounded and described

in detail as one of the general
aims
Outcomes / objectives Learning outcomes Concepts, content and skills