Curriculum

By Lisa Dickson
EDU 201-2002
December 6, 2018
Let’s look back on the things that
you learned in elementary school,
JR. High or High school.
What did you learn?
What you learned in school
is called curriculum.
Would anyone like to tell
me what they think
curriculum is?

CURRICULUM
 Curriculum has 5 different definitions in the book.
They are:
 1. A course of study, derived from the Latin word
currere, meaning “to run a course.”
 2. Course content, the information or knowledge
that students are to learn.
 3. Planned learning experiences.
 4. Intended learning outcomes, the results of
instruction as distinguished from the means
(activities, materials, etc.) of instruction.
 5. All the experiences that the students have
while at school.
6. Curriculum refers to the experiences, both
planned and unplanned, that enhance (and
sometimes impede) the education and growth of
students. *Questions*
 ElliotEisner, a noted
educational researcher
said that, “schools teach
much more---and much
less—than they intend to
teach. Although much of
what is taught is explicit
and public, a great deal
is not.”
For this reason we need to look at the four
curricula that all students experience.
 The explicit curriculum
 the hidden curriculum
 the null curriculum
 the extracurricular/co-curricular program.
The more we understand these curricula and
how they influence students, the better we will
be able to develop educational programs that
do, in fact, prompt learning and growth.
 The explicit curriculum
 The explicit or overt curriculum represents the
publicly announced expectations the school
has for its students.
 This curriculum is made up of several
components:
 1. The goals, aims, and learning objectives the
school has for its students.
 2. The actual courses that make up each
student’s course of study.
 3. The specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes
that teachers want students to acquire.
The explicit curriculum (2)
 They are written documents such as
course description, curriculum guides that
set forth the goals and learning objectives
for a school or school district, texts
commercially prepared learning
materials, and a teacher’s lesson plans.
 Some examples of explicit curriculum
range from learning how to read, write or
compute, to learning how to appreciate
music, art, and cultures.
**Questions**
 Hidden Curriculum
 Hidden Curriculum (also called implicit
curriculum) refers to the behaviors attitudes,
and knowledge the culture of the school
unintentionally teaches its students.
 What students learn via the hidden curriculum
can be positive or negative, depending on
their day-to-day experiences at school.
 As a result of Hidden curriculum of schools,
students learn more than their teachers ever
imagine.

***EXAMPLES***

**Questions**
 Discussing a curriculum that cannot be observed directly is
like talking about dark matter or black holes, unseen
phenomena in the universe whose existence must be inferred
because their incredible denseness and gravitational fields
do not allow escape. In much the same way, we can
consider the curriculum that we do not find in schools; it may
be just as important as what we do find.
 Null Curriculum
 “Nullcurriculum the options students are
not afforded, the perspectives they may
never know about, much less be able to
use, the concepts and skills that are NOT
part of their intellectual repertoire.” Elliot
Eisner.
 The kind of thinking
that schools foster
among students is
largely based on
manipulations of
words and
numbers—skill that
neuroscience informs
us are performed by
the left hemisphere
of the brain. Right
hemisphere thinking
is imaginative,
subjective, and
poetic is stressed only
incidentally
Japanese schools, for example, require considerably
more art, music and literature, they must study
handicrafts and calligraphy. They would be reluctant
to consider eliminating art, music or physical
education including dance from their curriculum.
*Why do we teach what we do?
*Why do we devote so much curriculum
to language arts, mathematics, science
and history or social studies?
* Why don’t we teach anthropology,
sociology, psychology, law, economics,
filmmaking or architecture?

*Questions?*
“We teach largely what we teach
out of habit, and in the process
neglect areas of study that could
prove to be exceedingly useful to
students” Eisner.
 Extra/ Co- Curricular
 Extracurricular is extra activities outside of
school that are considered additions to
the academic curriculum.
 Co-curricular is extra activities outside of
school that have important educational
goals and not merely extras added to the
academic curriculum.
 Examples of extracurricular and co-
curricular activities are: music, drama,
robotics, sports, student government,
photography, honor societies, debate,
newspaper, yearbook just to name a
few.
 Extra/ Co- Curricular Facts
 The larger the school is, the
less likely kids will take place in
extra activities.
 Those who participate have
higher self-concepts than
those who do not.
 Students who participate in
extra activities tend to have
higher grades.
 Students that could benefit
the most from extra activities
because they are at risk or
below norm in academic
achievement, tend to not
participate.
 Students from low
socioeconomic backgrounds
participate less often. *Questions*
 Curriculum Recap
 What is Curriculum? My favorite answer:
Curriculum refers to the experiences, both
planned and unplanned, that enhance (and
sometimes impede) the education and
growth of students.
 What are the four types of curriculum, what
they mean and what are examples of each.
 The explicit curriculum
 the hidden curriculum
 the null curriculum
 the extracurricular/co-curricular
program.
 Know let’s see what you have learned.