CURRICULUM: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module the learners will

 Comprehend the meaning of curriculum

 Able to categorise curriculum and to identify components of curriculum
 Understand the different categories of curriculum
 Understand the major foundations of curriculum
 Comprehend different curriculum designs used in education

Introduction

Dear friends, welcome to the session on Conceptual framework of Curriculum. In this

session we will discuss the fundamental aspects of curriculum including the components, types
and major foundations of curriculum.

As we all know defining the term Curriculum is not an easy matter. Perhaps the most
common definition derives from its Latin roots ‘Currere’, which means ‘racecourse’ or race.
Indeed for many students the curriculum is a race to be run, a series of obstacles or hurdles to
be passed. In education, a curriculum is referred to as the sum of the experiences that a child
receives in the educational setting. Depending on how broadly educators define or employ the
term, curriculum typically refers to the knowledge and skills that students are expected to
learn.

A curriculum is an inevitable part of any learning institution and there is no existence

of educational institutions without a curriculum and hence the curriculum is treated as the
heart and soul of any learning institutions. The changes that happens in our society necessitate
a dynamism for the curricular process.

Curriculum can be seen as a means of achieving specific educational goals and

objectives. In this sense, a curriculum can be regarded as a checklist of desired outcomes. In
the curriculum development process, generally speaking, the objectives are clear and specific
in behavioural and observable terms.

According to the modern concept, curriculum-does not mean only the academic
subjects traditionally taught in schools but it includes the sum total of experiences that pupil
receives through the manifold activities that go on in the school, in the classroom, library,
laboratory, workshop, play-grounds and in the numerous informal contacts between teachers
and pupils. In this sense, curriculum touches the life of the students at all points and help in the
evolution of a balanced personality. Thus a curriculum is a systematic arrangement of the sum
total of selected learning experiences planned by a school for a defined group of students to
attain the aim of particular educational programme.
CURRICULUM PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS

Curriculum processes are the procedures involved in creating, using, and evaluating the
curricula represented in various documents or products such as guides, syllabi, and others.
Processes Curriculum processes is a collective term that encompasses all of the considerations
about which curriculum workers ponder and ultimately use to make choices in the development
and evaluation of a curriculum project.

These processes involve changes that some students, teachers, school staff, and
community members welcome, but that others resist either actively or passively. Evaluation of
existing curricula for the purpose of determining strengths and weaknesses may occur as the
first step in curriculum revision. This evaluation is commonly referred to as needs assessment.
Curriculum products or projects result from curriculum development processes and provide the
bases for instructional decisions in classrooms.
 Curriculum projects include curriculum guides, courses of study, syllabi, resource
units, lists of goals and objectives, and other documents that deal with the content of schooling.
Curriculum guides usually include details about the topics to be taught predetermined teaching
goals and suggestions for instructional strategies. Curriculum guidelines furnish information
about predetermined learning outcomes and
are generally less complete than curriculum
guides. Courses of study or syllabi usually
specify the content, the learning outcomes, and
time allocations for the various topics.
Sometimes a rationale for the choices of
content is included in syllabi. Resource units
typically include learning outcomes,
suggestions for teaching, sources of
information, and prepared instructional units.
Lists of curriculum goals and objectives, along
with their rationales, are another form of
project.

To put it brief curriculum gains as a field of study, it is having a basic foundation,

content knowledge, as well as research principles and theories. At this juncture before moving
to the details of curriculum organization, it is worth enough to understand the major principles
of curriculum construction.

PRINCIPLES OF CURRICULUM CONSTRUCTION

The major principles of curriculum construction are:

1. Principles of Child Centeredness

2. Principle of Community Centeredness
3. Principle of Activity Centeredness
4. Principle of Variety
5. Principle of Co-ordinations and Integration
6. Principle of Conservation
7. Principle of Creativity
8. Principle of Forward Looking
9. Principle of Flexibility
10. Principle of Balance
11. Principle of Utility
1. Principle of Child Centeredness.

This principle upholds that the curriculum should be child-centred. Child's needs,
abilities, interests, aptitude, circumstances and age level must be taken to consideration while
framing a curriculum. He/she should be placed in the central figure of any curriculum designing
process. The child should be central figure in any scheme of curriculum construction.

2. Principle of Community centeredness.

Though the child's development and growth is the main consideration of curriculum
construction, yet his social behaviour is also to be suitably developed, both the individual
development and the social development of the child deserve equal attention. He is to live in
and for the society.

The needs of the community, the life of the community, the aspirations of the
community has to be comprehensively treated in the curricular construction process.

3. Principle of Activity Centeredness.

The curriculum must be pragmatic rather than static. It should centre around multi-
faceted domains of the learner rather than keeping triviality. It should provide well selected
activities according to the general and specific interests and developmental stages of children.
It should provide constructive, creative and project activities. The purposeful activities both in
the class-room and outside the class-room should be provided.
4. Principle of Variety.

The curriculum should be broad and comprehensive to cater to varied needs of

heterogeneous categories of pupil so that they are able to take up subjects and participate in
activities according their capacities and interests.

The changing nature of the pupil also to be considered. The pupils in the rural area and
urban area needs separate ‘treatment’. Needs of boys and girls are also different. So these
considerations should be reflected in the curriculum.

5. Principle of Co-ordination and Integration.

Of course, the pupils are to be provided with selected experiences through various
subjects and activities but these must be well integrated. Various subjects and activities have
to serve the same ultimate purpose, the achievement of the aims of education. The activities
and subjects should not be put in water-tight compartments but these should be inter-related
and well integrated so as to develop the whole child.

6. Principles of Conservation.

Education aims to preserve and transmits the culture and this is highly essential for the
human progress. By culture it means the traditions, customs, attitude, skills, content values and
knowledge. Therefore for preservation, transformation and transmission of culture, appropriate
weightage of the above said elements is to be given considering their educational values and
the developmental stage of pupil.

7. Principle of Creativity.

Preservation of culture is essential to sustain and maintain a balanced social system.

Instead of a passive transmission, a transmission of culture after its enrichment is needed. This
is only possible by providing optimum provision in the curriculum with vision. The
conservation of culture helps to sustain the society. The culture should not be simply
transmitted but also to be enriched. There should be provision in the curriculum to develop he
creative powers of the child so that he becomes a contributory member society.

8. Principle of Forward Looking.

Education is to enable the child to lead a successful social life. So the curriculum should
not be restricted to the present needs alone. The needs of his future life should also be
considered. The curriculum should also include knowledge, skills, experiences, influences etc.
which will develop in the child abilities and power to make effective adjustments in the later
life.

9. Principle of Flexibility.

In the contemporary world, rapid developments are taking place in various fields.
Consequently the needs of society are hanging. The content of curriculum cannot be same for
all times to come. It should not be static. It must be dynamic and change with the changing
demands.

10. Principle of Balance.

The curriculum must maintain a balance between subjects and activities, between direct
and indirect experiences, between academic and vocational education, between compulsory
and optional subjects, between formal and informal education, between individual and social
aims of education etc.

11. Principle of Utility.

Curriculum should be useful rather than ornamental. It should not only include
traditional subjects. The curriculum must have practical utility for students. So there should be
some provision for technical and vocational education in the curriculum.

From the above discussion it is clear that the various principles of curriculum
construction should be kept in mind while designing a curriculum. Various regional and
national conditions should also be considered.

Now we will have a short discussion on the different levels of curriculum.

Levels of Curriculum

One useful starting point when studying what is curriculum is to consider three levels,
namely the planned curriculum, the enacted curriculum and the experienced curriculum. Let us
see what is meant by planned curriculum

The planned curriculum is all about what knowledge is of most worth – the important goals
and objectives. This is referred as curricular authority- the legitimacy of standardised curricular
guidelines. Planned curriculum is that type of curriculum which refers to the planned programs
of objectives contents, instructions and assessments offered by an educational institution.

The enacted curriculum deals with the professional judgement about the type of curriculum
to be implemented and evaluated. The enacted curriculum comprises the teacher and student
interactions focused on instructional materials and the teacher-intended curriculum. Teachers
have to judge the appropriate pedagogical knowledge to use the. Teachers’ professional
authority in enacting the curriculum may cause conflicts with the planned curriculum. The
enacted curriculum reflects the daily curricular experiences of a student within instructional
settings exemplified by assignments, instructional practices and managed content. The teachers
play a more direct role than textbooks in the enacted curriculum as they make the final decisions
about what gets taught.

The experienced curriculum refers to what actually happens in the classroom. The
experienced curriculum refers to how the learner responds to, engages with, or learns from the
events, people, materials, and social or emotional environment of the classroom. Consideration
of the experienced curriculum as a measure for student learning requires that the holistic,
experienced meaning that classroom participation has for learner is determined and then
evaluated against the significance of that experience in terms of its educational value.

Components of Curriculum
A curriculum is generally having five major components:
(1) A framework of assumptions about the learner and the society such as learners’ capacity
and ability, aptitudes and potential for learning, motivation, needs, interests and values as well
as society’s orientation to nurturing or using the individual gainfully.
(2) Aims and objectives
(3) Content or subject-matter with selection of what is to be taught and learnt, scope of the
subject-matter and its sequence.
(4) Modes of transaction which deals with the process of teaching-learning and includes
methodology of teaching, learning experiences, learning environments and learning materials
inside and outside the institution.
(5) Evaluation methods and techniques for students.
 Curricula differ from each other on the basis of the extent of emphasis given to each of
these elements, the extent and manner of linking these elements with each other and the style
of decision-making pertaining to each of these elements.

TYPES OF CURRICULUM

The following represent the major types or models of curricula used in schools today
Overt, explicit, or written curriculum

Is simply that which is written as part of formal instruction of schooling experiences. It may
refer to a curriculum document, texts, films, and supportive teaching materials that are overtly
chosen to support the intentional instructional agenda of a school. Thus, the overt curriculum
is usually confined to those written understandings and directions formally designated and
reviewed by administrators, curriculum directors and teachers, often collectively.

Societal curriculum

This type of curriculum is the massive ongoing, informal curriculum of family, peer groups,
neighbourhoods, churches, organizations, occupations, mass media, and other socializing
forces that “educate” all of us throughout our lives. This type of curricula can now be expanded
to include the powerful effects of social media and how it actively helps to create new
perspectives, and can help to shape both individual and public opinion.

The hidden or covert curriculum

A hidden curriculum is a side effect of education, which are learned but not openly
intended such as the transmission of norms, values, and beliefs conveyed in the classroom and
the social environment. It should be mentioned that the break time is an important part of the
hidden curriculum. The hidden curriculum may include both positive and negative messages,
depending on the models provided and the perspectives of the learner or the observer. Although
the hidden curriculum conveys a great deal of knowledge to its students, the inequality
promoted through its disparities among classes and a social status often invokes a negative
connotation.

The null curriculum

Null curriculum means a course that has no content. That which we do not teach, thus
gives students the message that these elements are not important in their educational
experiences or in our society. Since it is physically impossible to teach everything in schools,
many topics and subject areas must be intentionally excluded from the written curriculum.
When certain subjects or topics are left out of the overt curriculum, school personnel are
sending messages to students that certain content and processes are not important enough to
study. Unfortunately, without some level of awareness that there is also a well-defined implicit
agenda in schools, school personnel send this same type of message via the hidden curriculum.
These are important to consider when making choices. We teach about wars but not peace, we
teach about certain select cultures and histories but not about others. Both our choices and our
omissions send messages to students.

Phantom curriculum

The phantom curriculum is the messages transmitted through media. Types of media have
expanded with the development of the internet and exposure to social media and e-learning
particularly around discussions boards which once were verbal in nature in face-to-face
tutorials but now leave a digital footprint. Coupled with the ever increasing amount of phantom
curriculum available through media is the ease of access to it through portable devices.

Concomitant curriculum

Concomitant curriculum, through its very nature, overlaps with both the hidden and societal
curriculum. It is what is taught and practised at home; through religious expression, morals,
ethics, behaviours and families’ social experiences. What is taught, or emphasized at home, or
those experiences that are part of a family’s experiences, or related experiences sanctioned by
the family.

Rhetorical curriculum

Elements from the rhetorical curriculum are comprised from ideas offered by policymakers,
school officials, administrators, or politicians. So in essence the rhetorical curriculum are the
guidelines provided by the overarching educational body that help and shape both pedagogical
and content and any changes and development of the curriculum. The rhetorical curriculum
may also come from the publicized works which include educational journals offering updates
in pedagogical knowledge.

Curriculum-in-use

The formal curriculum comprises those things in textbooks, and content and concepts in the
district curriculum guides. However, those “formal” elements are frequently not taught. The
curriculum-in-use is the actual curriculum that is delivered and presented by each teacher.

The Received curriculum

It is those things that students actually take out of classrooms; those concepts and content
that are truly learned and remembered. It could be a conscious or deliberate decision by a
teacher to impart curriculum to students or possibly an unconscious decision by the teacher to
omit parts of the official curriculum. This is where a mismatch occurs between those who have
planned the curriculum those who deliver the curriculum and, therefore, determines what parts
of curriculum the students have the opportunity of taking out of the classroom.

The internal curriculum

Processes, content, knowledge combined with the experiences and realities of the learner
to create new knowledge. While educators should be aware of this curriculum, they have little
control over the internal curriculum since it is unique to each student. It is often very
enlightening and surprising to find out what has meaning for learners and what does not.

The electronic curriculum

Electronic curriculum refers to computer-based learning, electronic educational materials,

online data bases to search for materials, online evaluations and assessments, and formal
academic communication through email. The infrastructure such as internet enabled
classrooms, digital and multi-media equipment and access and equipping students with laptops
to be able to participate and integrate fully as components of the E-curriculum.

DIFFERENT CURRICULUM DESIGNS USED IN EDUCATION

Curriculum designs used in educational scenario includes the following types

1. Subject Centred curriculum

2. Teacher centred curriculum
3. Learner centred curriculum
4. Activity/Experience curriculum
5. Integrated curriculum
6. Core curriculum
7. Broad field curriculum
8. Hidden curriculum
Subject Centred Curriculum: In subject-centred curricula, the subject matter itself serves as
the organizing structure for what is studied and how it is studied. In its purest form, the
curriculum for each subject-area is designed by subject-matter experts and is intended to be
studied. In this type, the teaching-learning experiences and evaluation is subject based.

Teacher centred curriculum : Teacher-centred curriculum refers to a body of assumptions

about the purposes of education, beliefs about knowledge, learners, and learning observable in
teacher behaviours and classroom practices. Teacher-centred curriculum embraces an
orientation toward education as a venue for socializing students toward enacting their roles in
society through mastery of particular skills and traditional values. Beliefs associated with
teacher-centred curriculum focus on specific knowledge, including official curriculum and core
curriculum. From this orientation, knowledge becomes a commodity transmitted from teachers
to learners who are presumed to be receptive vessels.

Learner centred curriculum: The students are given more importance in this type of
curriculum design. Learner centred design emphasizes individual development and their
approach to organizing the curriculum merges from the needs, interests and purposes of
students’ freedom to develop naturally. The role of the teacher is that of a guide to meet the
needs of the child according to the societal demands.

Activity/Experience curriculum : Activity curriculum means curriculum design in which

the interests and purposes of children determine the educational programme of activities being
planned co-operatively by teacher and pupils and activity learning/ teaching means any
learning or teaching situation, such as project work which is characterized by participation on
the part of learner, as opposed to passive learning of information from a lecture, talk or
observed demonstration.

Integrated curriculum : An integrated curriculum allows children to pursue learning in a

holistic way, without the restrictions often imposed by subject boundaries. An integrated
curriculum implies learning that is synthesized across traditional subject areas and learning
experiences that are designed to be mutually reinforcing. This approach develops the child’s
ability to transfer their learning to other settings. Integration focuses on making connections
for students, allowing them to engage in relevant, meaningful activities that can be connected
to real life.

Core Curriculum : Core curriculum is defined as essential or key aspect of a subject or

discipline covered in the curriculum for the study and mastery by all groups of students with
the same level of learning. Core curriculum is about the competencies required of all students
and here students study an area in a deep manner.

Broad field curriculum: The broad fields design combines two or more related subjects into
a single broad field of study, for example, Language Arts combines the separate but related
subjects of Reading, Spelling, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Composition. The Broad
Fields, commonly found in elementary and middle grades, is an attempt to overcome the
 fragmentation and compartmentalization characteristic of the subject-centred design. The
intent is to achieve a greater integration of learning experiences.

Hidden curriculum : A hidden curriculum can be defined as the lessons that are taught informally,
and usually unintentionally, in an educational system. These include behaviours, perspectives, and
attitudes that students pick up while they're at school. This is contrasted with the formal curriculum,
such as the courses and activities students participate in.

Dimensions of curriculum designs

Horizontal and vertical organization are two necessary dimensions of any curriculum
design. Vertical organization deals with the longitudinal arrangement of the design
components. Horizontal organization deals with the side-by-side arrangement of the
components in the curriculum design as illustrated in the following diagram.

CURRICULUM
ORGANIZATION

HORIZONTAL VERTICAL
ORGANIZATION ORGANIZATION

SCOPE INTEGRATION CONTINUITY SEQUENCES

A spiral concept of the curriculum provides for both horizontal (widening of knowledge) and
vertical (deepening of knowledge) aspects of the curriculum design simultaneously. The figure
shows the concept of horizontal and vertical articulation from preschool to adult.

SUMMARY
The term curriculum often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or
to a view of the student's experiences in terms of the instructional goals. Paradoxically, the
term curriculum has a long history despite its apparently recent common usage. Curriculum
may incorporate the planned interaction of pupils with instructional content, materials,
resources, and processes for evaluating the attainment of educational objectives. Curriculum is
split into several categories, the explicit, the implicit, the excluded and the extra-curricular.
Educators define curriculum in different ways in part because they bring to that task different
perceptions of what curriculum should be.

GLOSSARY

Behaviourism : Behaviourism is a theory that the study of the human mind should be based on
people's actions and behaviour, and not on what they say that they think or feel.

Constructivism: Constructivism is a theory of learning based on the idea that knowledge is

constructed by the knower based on mental activity. Learners are considered to be active
organisms seeking meaning.

Curriculum : A curriculum is the combination of instructional practices, learning experiences,

and students' performance assessment that are designed to bring out and evaluate the target
learning outcomes of a particular course.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What are the different types of curriculum?

Overt, explicit, or written curriculum, societal curriculum, the hidden or covert curriculum, the
null curriculum, phantom curriculum, concomitant curriculum, rhetorical curriculum,
curriculum-in-use, received curriculum, the internal curriculum and the electronic curriculum

2. Explain horizontal and vertical dimensions of curriculum designs

Horizontal and vertical organizations are two necessary dimensions of any curriculum design.
Vertical organization (sequence, continuity) deals with the longitudinal arrangement of the
design components. Horizontal organization (scope, integration) deals with the side-by-side
arrangement of the components in the curriculum design. A spiral concept of the curriculum
provides for both horizontal (widening of knowledge) and vertical (deepening of knowledge)
aspects of the curriculum design simultaneously. The figure below shows the concept of
horizontal and vertical articulation from preschool to adult.
Check your progress
1. The word "curriculum" began as a Latin word which means --------
a. subject b. discipline c. a race d. an exploration

2. Which foundation of the curriculum is based on the individual difference of the learner
a. Philosophical foundation b. Psychological foundation c. Socio cultural foundation d.
Historical foundation

3. The type of curriculum that existed during the ancient times in which the purpose of
teaching was for survival.
a. Hidden curriculum b. Core curriculum c. Integrated curriculum d. Saber-
tooth curriculum.
Answers: C, B, D

REFERENCES

1. Wesley Null (2011). Curriculum: From Theory to Practice, Rowman & Littlefield
2. Alistair Ross (2003). Curriculum: Construction and Critique. Routledge

WEB LINKS

1. https://www.cukashmir.ac.in/departmentdocs_16/study%20material%20curriculum%
20studies.pdf
2. https://research-education-edu.blogspot.com/2014/08/types-of-curriculum.html
3. https://thesecondprinciple.com/instructional-design/types-of-curriculum/
4. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4b27/4bc0f86b4444371fd362cb0f74048445bdff.pdf
5. www.khayma.com/.../curriculum%20concepts%20nature%20and%20purposes.pdf
6. https://www.edglossary.org/curriculum/