Curriculum core definition Curriculum is the embodiment of a programme of learning and includes philosophy, content, approach and assessment.

explanatory context A curriculum may be set down as a formal document but it is argued that this is only a part of the full curriculum, which also includes non-formal elements in the learning process. analytical review NTNC (2002) define curriculum as: A program of courses to be taken in pursuit of a degree or other objective. Wojtczak (2002) defines curriculum as: An educational plan that spells out which goals and objectives should be achieved, which topics should be covered and which methods are to be used for learning, teaching and evaluation. Coles (2003) argues that it curriculum is much more than that: A curriculum is more than a list of topics to be covered by an educational programme, for which the more commonly accepted word is a syllabus. A curriculum is first of all a policy statement about a piece of education, and secondly an indication as to the ways in which that policy is to be realised through a programme of action. In practice, though, a curriculum is more than even this; it is useful to think of it as being much wider. As a working definition of a curriculum I would say that it is the sum of all the activities, experiences and learning opportunities for which an institution (such as the Society) or a teacher (such as a faculty member) takes responsibility either deliberately or by default. This includes in such a broad concept of curriculum the formal and the informal, the overt and the covert, the recognised and the overlooked, the intentional and the unintentional. A curriculum is determined as much by what is not offered, and what has been rejected, as it is by positive actions. And very importantly the curriculum that actually happens that is what is realised in practice includes informal contact between teachers and learners as well as between the learners themselves, and this has been termed the hidden curriculum which often has as much influence on what is learnt as the formal curriculum that is written down as a set of intentions. And it includes what you decide to do on the spur of the moment. So in fact it is useful to think of there being three faces to a curriculum: the curriculum on paper; the curriculum in action; and the curriculum that participants actually learn. The EduQnA.com (2007) site states: I advocate the definition of curriculum that suports a complex network of physical, social and intellectual conditions that shape and reinforce the behavior of individuals, and takes in consideration the individual's perceptions and interpretations of the environment in order to reinforce the learning objectives and to facilitate the evaluation procedures. associated issues related terms sources Coles, C., 2003, The development of a curriculum for spinal surgeons, Observations following the Second Spine Course of the Spinal Society of EuropeBarcelona 16th 19th September 2003, http://www.eurospine.org/Teachers %20Course/C_Coles_report_03.html, not available at this address 28 February 2011. EduQnA.com, 2007, What is the meaning of curriculum? and what are the examples of curriculum? available at http://www.eduqna.com/Other/175-other.html, accessed 28 February 2011. Northeast Texas Network Consortium (NTNC), 2002, Distance Learning College Glossary. http://www.netnet.org/students/student%20glossary.htm, not avilable at this address, 3 February 2011. Wojtczak, A., 2002, Glossary of Medical Education Terms, http://www.iime.org/glossary.htm, December, 2000, Revised February 2002, accessed 2 February 2011.

THE CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM In a sense, the task of defining the concept of curriculum is perhaps the most difficult of all, for the term curriculum has been used with quite different meanings ever since the field took form. Curriculum, however, can be defined as prescriptive, descriptive, or both. Prescriptive definitions provide us with what ought to happen, and they more often than not take the form of a plan, an intended program, or some kind of expert opinion about what needs to take place in the course of study (Ellis, 2004, p. 4). Analogous to prescriptive curriculums are medical prescriptions that patients have filled by pharmacists; we do not know how many are actually followed. The best guess is that most are not (Ellis, 2004, p. 4). This is parallel to the prescribed curriculum for schools where the teacher, like the patient, ultimately decides whether the prescription will be followed. In essence, the developer proposes, but the teacher disposes (Ellis, 2004, p. 4). To understand the nature and extent of curriculum diversity, it might be useful at this juncture to examine the prescriptive and descriptive definitions offered by some of the past and present leaders in the field. The prescriptive definitions in the list below, which are arranged chronologically, have been chosen simply for their representativeness. Curriculum is a continuous reconstruction, moving from the childs present experience out into that represented by the organized bodies of truth that we call studies . . . the various studies . . . are themselves experiencethey are that of the race. (John Dewey, 1902, pp. 1112) Curriculum is the entire range of experiences, both directed and undirected, concerned in unfolding the abilities of the individual; or it is the series of consciously directed training experiences that the schools use for completing and perfecting the unfoldment. (Franklin Bobbitt, 1918, p. 43) [The curriculum is] a succession of experiences and enterprises having a maximum lifelikeness for the learner . . . giving the learner that development most helpful in meeting and controlling life situations. (Rugg, 1927) The curriculum is composed of all the experiences children have under the guidance of teachers. . . . Thus, curriculum considered as a field of study represents no strictly limited body of content, but rather a process or procedure. (Hollis Caswell in Caswell & Campbell, 1935, pp. 66, 70) [The curriculum is] all the learning experiences planned and directed by the school to attain its educational goals. (Ralph Tyler, 1957, p. 79) A curriculum usually contains a statement of aims and of specific objectives; it indicates some selection and organization of content; it either implies or manifests certain patterns of learning and teaching. . . . Finally, it includes a program of evaluation of the outcomes. (Hilda Taba, 1962, p. 11) Curriculum is a sequence of content units arranged in such a way that the learning of each unit may be accomplished as a single act, provided the capabilities described by specified prior units (in the sequence) have already been mastered by the learner. (Robert Gagne, 1967, p. 23) [Curriculum is] all planned learning outcomes for which the school is responsible. . . . Curriculum refers to the desired consequences of instruction. (James Popham & Eva Baker, 1970, p. 48) The word curriculum means output of the curriculum development process that is intended for use in planning instruction. (Michael Schiro, 1978, p. 28) Curriculum is a plan for providing sets of learning opportunities for persons to be educated. (J. Galen & William Saylor in Saylor, Alexander, & Lewis, 1981, p. 8) The curriculum is not a tangible product, but the actual day-to-day interactions of students, teachers, knowledge and milieu. (Catherine Cornbleth, 1990)

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