C.

Ways of Approaching a Curriculum

Four ways of approaching curriculum theory and practice:

1. Curriculum as a body of knowledge to be transmitted.
Syllabus, naturally, originates from the Greek.
Basically it means:

A concise statement
Table of the heads of a discourse.
The contents of a treatise.
The subjects of a series of lectures.

Those who compile a syllabus tend to follow the traditional textbook

approach of an order of contents, or a pattern prescribed by a logical
approach to the subject, or consciously or unconsciously the shape of a
university course in which they may have participated. Curzon (1985)

Curriculum
is a body of
knowledgecontent
and/or
subjects.

Students
Through Education

Education in this sense is the process by which these are transmitted or delivered
to students by the most effective methods that can be devised.
2. Curriculum as an attempt to achieve certain ends in students product.
The dominant modes of describing and managing education are today couched in
the productive form. Education is most often seen as a technical exercise.

Objecti

Planne
Set

Applied

Measur
ed
(Produc
ts)

Objectives are set, a plan drawn up, and then applied, and the outcomes (products)
measured.
We can see how these concerns translate into a nicely-ordered procedure: one that
is very similar to the technical or productive thinking: (Taba 1962)
Step 1: Diagnosis of need
The teacher who is also the curriculum designer starts the process by
identifying the needs of students for whom the curriculum is planned.
For example, the majority of students are unable to think critically.
Step 2: Formulation of objectives

After the teacher has identified needs that require attention, he or she
specifies objectives to be accomplished.

Step 3: Selection of content

The objectives selected or created suggest the subject matter or content of
the curriculum. Not only should objectives and content match, but also
the validity and significance of the content chosen needs to be
determined.
I.e. the relevancy and significance of content.
Step 4: Organization of content
A teacher cannot just select content, but must organize it in some type of
sequence, taking into consideration the maturity of learners, their
academic achievement, and their interests.
Step 5: Selection of learning experiences
Content must be presented to students and students must be
engaged with the content. At this point, the teacher selects
instructional methods that will involve the students with the content.
Step 6: Organization of learning experiences
Just as content must be sequenced and organized, so must the
learning activities. Often, the sequence of the learning activities is
determined by the content. But the teacher needs to keep in mind the
particular students whom he or she will be teaching.

Step 7: Determination of what to evaluate and of the ways and means of doing it.
The curriculum planner must determine just what objectives have been
accomplished. Evaluation procedures need to be designed to evaluate
learning outcomes.
The attraction of this way of approaching curriculum theory and practice is that it is
systematic and has considerable organizing power. Central to the approach is the
formulation of behavioural objectives providing a clear notion of outcome so that
content and method may be organized and the results evaluated.

Reporter: Tin Flores