CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
Definitions of Curriculum
• Comes from the Latin word “currere” which means to run; the course of the race.
• The sum of all learning content, experiences and resources that are purposely selected,
organized and implemented by the school.
• Involves the general aims which the schools are to pursue. (De la Cruz, 1982)
• The collection of learning experiences proposed as a result of deliberation of student
attainment. (Garcia, 1973)
• The organized set of content and activities that a school uses as basis for educating
students. (Grayson, 1977)
Other Definitions of Curriculum
• List of subjects
• Learning experiences
• Intended learning outcomes
• Planned learning experiences
• As a discipline
• Content or subject matter
Curriculum Development is where an educator plans learning activities and assessment that
create meaningful and engaging learning experiences.
Types of Curricula in Schools
• Recommended Curriculum – Basic Education (DepEd), Higher Education (CHED)
• Written Curriculum – Includes documents such as syllabi, modules, books
• Taught Curriculum – Putting life to the written curriculum
• Supported Curriculum – Support materials that teachers need to make learning
meaningful
• Assessed Curriculum – Evaluated to determine if learning outcomes are achieved
• Learned Curriculum – What students actually learned; changes in behavior
• Hidden/Implicit Curriculum – Indirect lessons that impact learner behavior
The Teacher as a Curricularist
• Knows the curriculum
• Writes the curriculum
• Plans the curriculum
• Initiates the curriculum
• Innovates the curriculum
• Implements the curriculum
• Evaluates the curriculum
------------------------------------------------------------
CURRICULUM FROM DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW
Traditional Point of View
Curriculum is the body of subjects or subject matter prepared by teachers for students to
learn.
Robert M. Hutchins – Curriculum as permanent studies (grammar, reading, rhetoric, logic,
mathematics).
Arthur Bestor – Focus on intellectual training and fundamental disciplines.
Joseph Schwab – Discipline as the sole source of curriculum.
Philip H. Phenix – Curriculum consists entirely of knowledge from disciplines.
Progressive Point of View
Curriculum is defined as the total experiences of the individual.
John Dewey – Reflective thinking unifies curricular elements.
Smith, Stanley, Shore – Curriculum as sequence of potential experiences.
Marsh and Willis – All classroom experiences planned and learned.
Caswell and Campbell – Curriculum includes all planned and enacted classroom
experiences.
------------------------------------------------------------
MAJOR FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM
• Philosophical
• Historical
• Psychological
• Social
Philosophical Foundations
Perennialism – Focus on reason and classical subjects.
Essentialism – Focus on basic skills and core subjects.
Progressivism – Focus on democratic living and learning by doing.
Reconstructionism – Education for social change and reform.
------------------------------------------------------------
PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
Major Theories:
Behaviorism – Pavlov, Thorndike, Skinner, Bandura
Cognitivism – Information processing, Piaget’s stages of development
Constructivism – Knowledge constructed by learners (Piaget, Bruner, Vygotsky)
Humanism – Maslow, Rogers, Combs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
• Survival
• Safety
• Love and belonging
• Esteem
• Self-actualization
------------------------------------------------------------
HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS
Franklin Bobbit – Curriculum as a science based on students’ needs.
Werret Charters – Curriculum planning based on students’ needs.
William Kilpatrick – Child-centered purposeful activities.
Harold Rugg – Emphasized social studies.
Hollis Caswell – Curriculum organized around social functions and learner interests.
------------------------------------------------------------
SOCIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
Sociology – Study of social beings.
Curriculum must consider the relationship between school and society.
Key Thinkers:
John Dewey – Education improves society through organized experiences.
Ruth Benedict – Society shapes personality.
David Riesman – Traditional, Inner-directed, Other-directed societies.
Daniel Bell – Post-industrial, knowledge-based society.
------------------------------------------------------------
MORAL CHARACTER EDUCATION
• Teaching good behavior and values.
• Includes human rights, ethics, social, economic and political life.
• Performance character includes grit, perseverance and resilience.
Thank You.