Curriculum Management

Thinking about the Curriculum

Lecture 1
Miriam Teuma
Its Origins

• It has its origins in the running/chariot tracks of

Greece. It was, literally, a course. In Latin
curriculum was a racing chariot; currere was to run.
Activity 1

Imagine that you have been asked to discuss the

curriculum. As you begin to think about what
should be discussed, what kind of questions
come to your mind?
Reflection
• One of the first questions surely is the question
of content.

• Another major area will be the question of

method.

• Another issue that will arise concerns who.

• And another is assessment.

The Basic Curriculum Questions
• What should be taught?

• How should it be taught?

• To whom should it be taught?

• How should it be assessed?

Defining the curriculum
If we are concerned with ‘thinking about
the curriculum’ we need to have some
idea of the basic ‘object’ we are
thinking about.

The problem is that the definition of

‘curriculum’ is defined and
characterised in a number of different
ways.
Thinking about the curriculum is:
• Thinking about what should be ‘in the
curriculum

• Rather than

• What kind of thing the curriculum is

• What is it for and
• What it does
Activity 2

Write down your own definition of curriculum and

give an example describing this way of using
the term.
Response
• The most common way is by reference to content.
(syllabus – the organisation of a litany of subjects)
Weakness? Neglects important dimension of what
students learn

• All the planned educational activities and learning

experiences offered by a school. (programme of
planned activities and is usually incorporated in the
formal documents by which the school describes its
aims and values.
Weakness? Neglects what actually happens
in the classroom.
So
• If we confine ourselves to understanding the
curriculum primarily as a set of policies and
plans then our thinking will inevitably be about
what and how ‘in theory’ we should teach and
questions about whether these policies and
theories can be translated in practice will tend
to be ignored.
Alternatively
• If we define the curriculum as what actually
happens in the classroom, then we will tend to
neglect questions about the intentions,
purposes and aims by which our curriculum
practices should be guided and informed.
No either/or
Stenhouse expressed:
We appear to be confronted by two different views
of curriculum. On the one hand the curriculum is
seen as intention plan or prescription, on the other
as the existing state of affairs in schools. In
essence it seems to me that curriculum study is
concerned with the relationship between these
views of curriculum – as intention and as reality. I
believe that our educational realities seldom
conform to our educational intentions. We cannot
put our policies into practice… The central
curriculum problem is the gap between our ideas
and aspirations and our attempts to operationalise
them.
What should we aim for:

To communicate the essential principles of an

educational proposal in such a form that is
open to critical scrutiny and capable of
effective translation into practice.
Perspectives and Paradigms
The technical Paradigm of Curriculum thinking

• Sputnick (1957)
• Curriculum thinking became a province of
‘experts’
• Tyler ‘Basic Principles of Curriculum and
Instruction’ (1949)
Tyler attempted to:

• View
• Analyse and
• Interpret

The curriculum and instructional

programme of an educational
institution.
He identified four questions:
1. What educational purposes should the
schools seek to attain?
2. What educational experiences can be
provided that are likely to attain these
purposes?
3. How can the educational experience be
effectively organised?
4. How can we determine whether these
purposes are being attained?
Answer to the first question

What educational purposes should

the schools seek to attain?

• He proposes a clear definition of what

educational objectives are.
• He states these as behavioural objectives.
Answer to the second question
What educational experiences can be provided that
are likely to attain these purposes?

• For a given objective to be attained a student must have

experiences that give him an opportunity to practice the kind of
behaviour implied by the objective.
• The learning experiences must be such that the student obtains
satisfaction from carrying on the kind of behaviour implied by
the objective.
• The reactions desired in the experience are within the range of
possibility for the students involved.
• There are many particular experiences that can be used to
attain the same educational objectives.
• The same learning experience will usually bring about several
outcomes.
Answer to the third question
How can the educational experience be
effectively organised?

• A definition of organisation (cumulative arrangement

of learning experiences so that they reinforce one
another both vertically and horizontally)
• An outline of three criteria of effective organisation
(continuity, sequence and integration)
• A definition of the elements to be organised
(concepts, values and skills)
• A description of organising structures
Answer to the fourth question
How can we determine whether these
purposes are being attained?

• His conception of the need for a evaluation

• Some basic notions of evaluation
• A description of evaluation procedures

Results of evaluation may be used to indicate:

strengths and weaknesses in a curriculum; to suggest

explanations for the strengths and weaknesses observed;
to clarify objectives; to direct teachers’ and learners; attention
to the more important aspects of a curriculum;
to guide individual students and suggest directions for follow-
up teaching
Tyler’s Technical Paradigm
It answers questions about:

How to ‘deliver’ a curriculum effectively

but offers no way of answering
questions about what should be
taught why and to whom
The Practical Paradigm of
Curriculum thinking

Schwab 1969 ‘The practical: a Language for the

Curriculum’
who invokes the Aristotelian distinction between
technical and practical discourse
Technical vs Practical
• Technical discourse is • Practical discourse is
the language about how the language about how
to act in order to bring to act in order to realise
about some determined ethical values and goals.
end
Example
Example: • Should a primary
Phonics or word approach schools teacher teach
is the most effective the pupils the mechanics
means to reading? of language or respond
to the pupils’ natural
curiosity and interest?
Reid - 1978
• In practical thinking means and ends are equally
problematic. Each informs and is informed by the
other.
• Educational values are central to curriculum thinking.
However they do not function as ends to which the
curriculum is the instrumental means. Rather values
are realised in and through the curriculum.
• Curriculum thinking is thoughtful, reflective and
morally informed thinking not just the mechanical
following of established principles and rules.
• The responsibility for curriculum lies with practitioners
who make prudent professional judgements about
what is educationally appropriate in a given concrete
situation.
Stenhouse 1970’s
Stenhouse elaborated a view of curriculum
development which:

Advanced a ‘process model of curriculum

development – a model which construed
curriculum development as the process through
which teachers deepen their capacity to
translate their education values into classroom
practice.
For Stenhouse
Curriculum was synonymous with

Professional development which was itself

construed
As a research process which teachers
systematically reflect on their practice and use
the results of this reflection in such a way to
improve their own teaching.
The Critical Paradigm
• This paradigm challenges
• the educational assumptions and activities of
the state.
• Contemporary curriculum may be operating as
an ideological mechanism to legitimate
curriculum irrational and unjust educational
outcomes.
The purpose of this is:
• Not to improve the effectiveness of the curriculum in
achieving given learning objectives and educational
goals
• Nor is it to educate teachers by helping them to make
professional judgements

BUT
To enlighten teachers about the ways in which the
curriculum serves to integrate individuals and society
by reproducing the ideologies and social structures
characteristic of contemporary society.
A changing society
 technology

 an ageing population

 the gap between rich and poor

 global culture and ethnicity

 sustainability

 changing maturity levels in schools

 expanding knowledge of learning

 a changing economy
Students
“When young people have been dancing, singing,
doing fieldwork, contacting people in other
countries in another language, managing
money, experimenting, growing things, cooking
and making things, some people will argue that
enjoyment and purpose have taken over from
real learning”.
They need to know the basics
But what are the basics?

These are the basics:

“dancing, singing, doing fieldwork, contacting
people in other countries in another
language, managing money, experimenting,
growing things, cooking and making
things.”
Because
• In history, the Great Siege will still have taken
place.
• In mathematics, the area of a circle will still be
Πr2.
• Romeo will still fall in love with Juliet.
• In science, litmus paper will still turn red when
dipped in acid and copper will still be a great
conductor.
• Talking of conductors, music will remain the
food of love.
Activity 3
Return to the definition of curriculum you gave in
Activity 2. With which of the ideas mentioned so far
do you have most sympathy?

Which idea is most widespread amongst teachers and

other educational professionals?

What measures can you take to improve on the

ideas you have less sympathy with.
Curriculum Management
Organising and Leading the Curriculum
Lecture 2
Miriam Teuma
Organising the curriculum

1. Visionary – the learnt curriculum (the

skills, knowledge and attitudes that
provides a focus for the discrete
educational experience at the
college.
2. Strategic – the taught curriculum (the
pedagogy, subjects and
organisational culture/learning
environment that will be employed to
deliver the learnt curriculum.
Organisation…..

3. Structural – the enabled curriculum

(the identification, deployments and
management of teachers or
teaching materials, resources and
organisational systems to enable
the taught curriculum to be
delivered.
How?

The head in the clouds with feet

firmly on the ground
Driving forces but also pressures

Student centred vs Subject focused

Process vs Content
Classroom led vs State controlled
Open ended vs Target driven
Management consequences
Three Models of teaching and learning

• A teacher or subject centred approach - where a

predetermined curriculum is delivered.

• A learner centred approach – where the curriculum

is designed depending on the student needs.

• A partnership approach which seeks to bind

teachers and learners to common enterprise
combining external expectations and individual
needs.
The Leader Within
• In taking up leadership you bring to the task
a personal and professional mission to focus
on the success of each child.

• Your primary role is to lead the learning and

teaching in the school to that end.

• You possess a high level of expertise,

knowledge and skill in the design, delivery,
assessment and accountability for the
curriculum.
Realising the Vision
• Your role is to build the vision and focus
the spot light on the way ahead.

• An effective vision is like an unseen

energy field that influences teaching and
shapes decisions and actions into a
unified approach.
Setting directions and planning the journey

• Every journey has plans, milestones and end

points.

• Work with some good navigation tools.

• The efficacy of your planning processes and the

skill with which you and the staff engage with
them are critical to the long term transformation
of the curriculum.
Shaping the high performance team

• Having the right people for the job.

• Gathering the team, building

agreements and commitments, and
building spirit for the work are
fundamental elements of the
leader’s work.
Leading the learning

• Strong curriculum and instructional

leaders keep relentless focus on the
well being of children, their success in
learning and the quality of the teaching
and services assisting them.
Leadership for accountability

• Having good plans and an agreed

approach to the achievement of targets is
vital.

• Knowing how you are going as you make

headway is essential
Leading the Teaching
• Educational leaders are deeply engaged with
their staff in the business of teaching and
learning
• They focus on productive and healthy
classrooms
• Leaders provide artful stewardship over the
total curriculum in the school and work
consistently to ensure its quality and
effectiveness
Building a culture of Professionalism and growth

• Educational leaders build a culture of

learning with the staff, engage with it in
critical reflection, encourage research
and inquiry, share programs and
successes and facilitate learning and
debate about teaching as a professional
practice.
Resourcing Curriculum Delivery

• Strong leaders ensure that the curriculum is

well resourced and equipped in order to
optimise teaching and maximise learning.
• The assets and resources must be
continually renewed to ensure safe and
effective learning
Steering through risk, turbulence and conflict

• Leaders are frequently confronted with

turbulence, crises and inevitable conflict in the
course of an organisation’s journey.
• These occurrences are an essential part of the
process of change and renewal.
 Leadership for sustainable reform

• Effective leaders sustain their focus and drive forward

in small and strategic ways in order to move the
college towards a new way of being.

• Sustaining the mantra for change, maintaining the field

of vision, facilitating transformation at an individual
and whole school level demands systems focused
leadership.
I am Angelica
and this is my
story……
Angelica’s story

• What were your thoughts about the curriculum

work you will have to do in your school to keep
up with her needs?
• What are the teaching implications of this
scenario?
• Will our current school structures serve today’s
five year old well?
The Leader within
“Leadership exists when people are no longer victims of
circumstances but participate in creating new
circumstances…its not about positional power; it’s not
about accomplishments; its ultimately not even about
what we do. Leadership is about creating a domain in
which human beings continually deepen their
understanding of reality and become more capable of
participating in the unfolding of the world. Leadership
is about creating new realities.” (Caldwell, B.1997.)
Leadership
• “…..as the capacity of a human community to
shape its future, and specifically to sustain the
significant processes to do so.”

• “Leadership actually grows from the capacity to

hold creative tension, the energy created when
people articulate vision and tell the truth about
current reality..”

Senge, 1999 “The Dance of Change.”

Effective curriculum leaders are able to develop
a high performance team that undertakes the
work of the mission and enables it to achieve its
goals.

Effective curriculum leaders keep focus on

children and young people as the core of the
mission: their wellbeing, their success in
learning and the quality and safety of the school
environment. They are vigilant about the
participation, access and inclusion of children
as a means to success.
 The Curriculum Leader as
Transformational Facilitator

There are a range of skills the leader must use with

wisdom and competence.

These include:

listening, responding and clarifying to ensure effective

and ongoing communication
positioning and influencing to gather support for change
process integrating and participative design to build
relevance and commitment and
benchmarking, process reviewing and changing to ensure
best practice and progress is measured and embedded.
Thank you for your
participation