Lesson: Elements and Types of Curriculum
Lesson: Elements and Types of Curriculum
Lesson: Elements and Types of Curriculum
“Curriculum usually consists of a statement of aims and objectives indicating the selection
and organization of content.”
- Hilda Taba (1962)
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1. Aims, Goals, and Objectives
The school’s mission spells out how it intends to carry out its
vision. The mission targets to produce the kind of persons the students
will become after having been educated over a certain period of time.
Examples of a school’s mission:
1. To produce globally competitive lifelong learners
2. Commits to the total development of individuals for life
FOCUSING adjustment and to the upliftment of the economically
CONTENT deprived but deserving students through quality instruction,
updated facilities, and curricula responsive to the needs of
time
The school’s vision and mission are further translated into goals which are broad state-
ments or intents to be accomplished. Data for the sources of school goals may include the learners,
the society, and the fund of knowledge.
Examples of school goals:
1. Build a strong foundation of skills and concepts
2. Efficient and effective administration responsive to the needs of the
university and community
In a curriculum, these goals are made simple and specific for the attainment of each learn-
er. These are called educational objectives. Benjamin Bloom (1956) and Robert Mager (1962)
de- fined educational objectives in two ways:
1. explicit formulations of the ways in which students are expected to be changed by the
educative process; and
2. intent communicated by statement describing a proposed change in learners.
Benjamin Bloom and his associates classified three big domains of objectives. These are
cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. Each domain is composed of specific skills,
attitudes, and values which are presented in hierarchy.
A. Cognitive Domain (Bloom et al., 1956) - domain of thought processes
1. Knowledge - recall, remembering of prior learned materials in terms of facts, concepts,
theories, and principles. It is the lowest cognitive level.
2. Comprehension - ability to grasp the meaning of the material. It indicates the lowest
form of understanding.
3. Application - the ability to use learned material in new and concrete situation
4. Analysis - the ability to breakdown material into component parts so that its
organizational structure may be understood
5. Synthesis - ability to put parts together to form a new whole
6. Evaluation - ability to pass judgment on something based on given criteria
“Curriculum is the total effort of the school to bring about desired outcomes in and out of
school situation.”
- Alexander and Saylor (1981)
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1. Aims, Goals, and Objectives
Valuing - concerned with the worth or value a student attaches to a particular phenomenon, object or behavior
Organization - concerned with bringing together different values and building a value system
Characterization by a value or value complex - developing a lifestyle from a value system
C. Psychomotor Domain (Sim pson, 1972) - domain on the use of psychomotor attributes
Perception - use of sense organs to guide motor activities
Set - refers to the readiness to take a particular type of action
Guided response - concerned with the early stages in learning complex skills. Imitation and trial and error are some
ways of doing
Mechanism - responses have become habitual. Performance skills are with ease and confi-
dence.
Complex overt responses - skillful performance and with complex movement patterns
Adaptation - skill well-developed that the ability to modify is very easy
Origination - refers to creating new movement patterns to fit the situation. Creativity is evi- dent.
“Whatever the mode of expression, the subject matter is the substantive hard core of the
curriculum.”
- Beauchamp (1968)
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2. Content or Subject Matter
“Curriculum is a plan for providing sets of learning opportunities for persons to be educated.”
- J. Galen Saylor (1981)
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3. Experiences
“Curriculum is a tool in the hands of the artist (teacher) to mold his material (student) in
his studio (classroom.”
- Cunningham (1998)
4. Assessment/Evaluation
Learning occurs most effectively when students receive feedback, i.e. when they receive information on what they
have already (and have not) learned. The process by which this infor- mation is generated is assessment. It has three
main forms:
Self-assessment, through w hich students learn to monitor and evaluate their own learning. This should be a
significant element in the curriculum because we aim to produce graduates who are appropriately reflective and
critical.
Peer assessment, in which students provide feedback on each other ’s learn- ing. This can be viewed as an
extension of self-assessment and pre-supposes trust and mutual respect. Research suggests that students can learn to
judge each other’s work as reliably as staff.
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4. Assessment/Evaluation
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Glatthorn’s (2000) Types of Curriculum
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Wilson’s (2006) Types of Curriculum
1. Overt, Explicit or Written Curriculum. Is sim ply that w hich is written as part of
formal instruction of schooling experiences. It may refer to curriculum documents, texts,
films, and supportive teaching materials that are overtly chosen to support the intentional in-
structional agenda of a school. Thus, the overt curriculum is usually confined to those written
understandings and directions formally designated and reviewed by administrators, curricu-
lum directors and teachers, often collectively.
2. Societal or Social Curriculum. As defined by Cortes (1981), this curriculum refers
to the massive, ongoing, informal curriculum of the family, peer groups, neighborhoods,
churches, organizations, occupations, mass media, and other socializing forces that “educate”
all people throughout their lives. This type of curriculum can now be expanded to include the
powerful effects of social media (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) and
how it actively helps create new perspectives and shape both individual and public opinions.
3. Hidden or Covert Curriculum. That w hich is implied by the very structure and
nature of schools, much of what revolves around daily or established routines. Longstreet and
Shane (1993) offer a commonly accepted definition for this term – the “hidden curriculum,”
which refers to the kind of learning children derive from the very nature and organizational
design of the public school, as well as from the behaviors and attitudes of teachers and admin-
istrators…. ” Examples include the messages and lessons derived from the mere organization
of schools — the emphasis on: sequential room arrangements; the cellular, timed segments of
formal instruction; an annual schedule that is still arranged to accommodate an agrarian age;
disciplined messages where concentration equates to student behaviors were they are sitting
up straight and are continually quiet; students getting in and standing in line silently; students
quietly raising their hands to be called on; the endless competition for grades, and so on.
4. Null Curriculum. That w hich w e do not teach, thus giving students the message that
these elements are not important in their educational experiences or in our society. Eisner
(1994) first described and defined aspects of this curriculum. He states: There is something of
a paradox involved in writing about a curriculum that does not exist.
Yet, if we are concerned with the consequences of school programs and
the role of curriculum in shaping those consequences, then it seems to
me that we are well advised to consider not only the explicit and im-
plicit curricula of schools but also what schools do not teach. It is my
thesis that what schools do not teach may be as important as what they
do teach. I argue this position because ignorance is not simply a neu-
tral void; it has important effects on the kinds of options one is able to
consider, the alternatives that one can examine, and the perspectives
FOCUSING from which one can view a situation or problems.
CONTENT
Societal or social curriculum can now be expanded to include the powerful effects of social
media (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) and how it actively helps create new
perspectives and shape both individual and public opinions.
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Wilson’s (2006) Types of Curriculum
Null curriculum is simply that which is not taught in schools (Eisner, 1994). It refers to
cer- tain subjects or topics that are left out of the overt curriculum as school personnel are sending
mes- sages to students that particular contents and processes are not important enough to study.
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Wilson’s (2006) Types of Curriculum
Electronic curriculum refers to those lessons that are learned through searching the
Inter- net for information, or through using e-forms of communication (Wilson, 2006).
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Activity 3.1 Dissecting a Curriculum
OBJECTIVES STRATEGIES/METHODS
LESSON
PLAN
Follow-up
Questions:
1. Do the four components fit or match with one another? Explain.
2. Can you consider a lesson plan as a curriculum? Why?
Directions: Draw and complete the follow ing grid with as many words as you can think that would
fit to each letter in the grid based on the given topic. Be guided by the sample grid given be- low.
Curriculum Type
A B C D E F G
H I J K L M N
O P Q R S T U
V W X Y Z
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Activity 3.3 Designing a Multimedia Presentation
Levels of Performance
Criteria 4 3 2 1
Exemplary Accomplished Developing Basic
Content and Organ- Concept is very rele- Concept is relevant to Concept is relevant to Concept is somewhat
ization (50%) vant to purpose. Video purpose. Video is fair- purpose. Video is fair- relevant to purpose.
shows spontaneity of ly well-documented ly well-documented Portions may be poorly
ideas and tells a com- and organized. Format and organized. Format documented and/or
plete, easily followed is easy to follow. Good is easy to follow. Good organized. Progressions
presentation. Well- explanation shows explanation shows are hard to follow. Ex-
documented and orga- good effort. good effort. planation shows some
nized. effort.
Creativity and Ele- Excellent use of video Good use of graphics Minimal use of design Use of elements detracts
ments of Design design. Video and and/or other design elements. No transi- the video. Too many or
(30%) pictures are of good elements. Some tran- tions. Some pictures too gaudy graphics;
quality. Smooth tran- sitions are inappropri- or video clips may be transitions, too many
sitions are appropriate ately placed. Video out of focus or clips. Pictures or video
and aid in delivery of clips or pictures are “shaky”. clips may be out of focus
the content. clear and in focus. or “shaky”.
Audio Editing The audio is clear and The audio is clear and The audio is incon- The audio is cut-off,
(20%) effectively assists in assists in communi- sistent in clarity (too inconsistent, and over-
communicating the cating the main idea, loud/too soft/too dis- powering.
main idea. Back- torted) at time and/or
ground audio is kept the background audio
in balance. overpowers the prima-
ry audio.
Mechanics (10%) Grammar, spelling, Includes 2-3 Includes 3-4 gram- Includes 5 or more
punctuation, and capi- gram- matical, matical, spelling, and grammatical, spelling,
talization are correct; spelling, and punctuation errors; and punctuation errors;
sources are all proper- punctuation some sources are doc- sources are not docu-
ly documented. errors; sources are umented but not cor- mented.
properly documented. rectly.
RUBRIC
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Part A. Identification
ASSESSING
Directions: Identify what is being asked/referred to in each THINGS
item. Scribble your answers on the spaces provided before
each number. LEARNED
Directions: Match the behavioral levels listed in Column A with their corresponding descriptions
written in Column B. Write your answers on the blanks provided before each number.
Column A Column B
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