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9
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Curriculum ‘is, of course, a Latin word carried directly over into English. Its first Latin
meaning was “a running,” “a race,” “a course,” with secondary meanings of a “racecourse,” “a career.”
Egan, K. (Spring 2003). Cited in Journal ofthe Canadian Association
for Curriculum Studies, l(l ), p. 10
ACTI~————————-
How would you define curriculum?
Definitions of curriculum
Is curriculum all the knowledge that students are taught? This concept sees curriculum as
a product external to the learner. At the other end of the continuum, curriculum is mostly
defined by what students learn and so is considered an internal, intellectual process. Marsh and
Willis (2003) presented eight definitions. One definition of curriculum is ‘the subjects that are
most useful for living in contemporary society’ (p. 8), limiting curriculum to subject knowledge
and ignoring the active participation of the students in learning. Another definition suggests
that ‘curriculum is all the experiences learners have under the guidance of a school’ (p. 9). This
ignores all the other learning that shapes students’ readiness to participate when they are at
school. The broadest definition of curriculum is ‘all the experiences that learners have in the
course ofliving’ (p. 10). This view acknowledges the role of society in shaping the curriculum
experienced by learners. Other useful working definitions might include ‘an interrelated set of
plans and experiences that a student takes under the guidance of a school’ (p. 13) and ‘subject
content and skills that make up an educational program’ (Morrison, Ross & Kemp, 2004, p. 2).
Whichever definition you accept, curriculum is influenced by a variety of factors which
inform the final planning that is implemented in a class. Figure 9.1 highlights the six factors
which influence the curriculum and so determine the type of content, processes, products and
learning environment that the students experience.
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…
Chapter 9 Curriculum development 93
Philosophical Political Social Cultural Ethical Environmental
Curriculum
I
I
Content Processes Product Environment
Figure 9.1: Influences on curriculum planning
To inform you of the knowledge needed Figure 9.2 highlights the various layers of
understandings for the teacher.
Content
Knowledge
Community
Spiritual
Products
Figure 9.2: Total curriculum planning
School
Philosophy
policy
Table 9.1: The layers of the total curriculum planning framework
Environment Community School
—–..-..-;.-~” ———-

Where does the curriculum come from?
Year/Grade
Implementation
Environment

Product
–~—.—-·———-~-~-~-~1
–·~—~v~~n~__j
The ‘set of plans and experiences’ used by teachers with students is developed at many different
levels and curriculum development (Marsh & Willis, 2003) takes place at national, State,
district/region/diocese, school and class levels. The four levels at which curriculum is developed
I
l
94 Part C Preparing for practice
are ‘societal, institutional, instructional and experiential curricula’ (Sowell, 2005, citing Goodlad
and Su, p. 5). The levels may be characterised by their relationship with the learner for whom
the curriculum is being written with societal being the most distant and experiential the most
involved.
Curriculum is created and documented at a societal level in the form of guidelines and
syllabus documents. Working through the institutional and instructional levels curriculum is
implemented in learning environments such as schools and classrooms. At the experiential level
curriculum is evaluated as to its effectiveness for the students and this knowledge is used to
modify curriculum design and implementation. This whole curriculum process is cyclical.
Table 9.2: Levels of curriculum development

Instructional Stage/grade/class planning
Experiential Student experience
Forms of curriculum
No student involvement
limited teacher involvement
No student involvement
High level of teacher involvement
— –~—-
High level ofleacher involvement
Possibly collaboration between teachers
Medium level of student involvement (depending on teacher”s style)
Total student involvement in collaboration with the teacher
The term ‘curriculum’ is often qualified by the addition of adjectives:
.I national curriculum
.I core curriculum
.I school-based curriculum
.I negotiated curriculum
.I hidden curriculum
.I curriculum mapping
.I anti-bias curriculum
~./ integratedcurriculum.
ACTIVITY
What other forms of curriculum can you think of?