20 Definitions of Curriculum by Various Scholars
INTRODUCTION
Curriculum is often one of the main concerns in the educational field. What kind of curricula should we offer to learners? Educators and teachers are concerned about what choices are to make about teaching content and methods. As for the parents, they would like to know what their children are going to learn. Learners are also concerned about what kinds of content they are going to have in class. “Curriculum” seems to be considered greatly as what teachers are going to teach and, in other words, what learners are going to learn. In fact, “curriculum” is also closely related to how well the learners learn the outcomes. Thus, as an umbrella term, “curriculum” includes a lot of issues, for example, teaching curriculum, learning curriculum, testing curriculum, administrative curriculum and the hidden curriculum. This paper presents relevant literature associated with the term “curriculum” to help clarify what is the entity that we need to be concerned about in the school context.
20 Definitions of Curriculum by Various Scholars
According to Bestor, (1956) the curriculum must consist essentially of disciplined study in five great areas: 1) command of mother tongue and the systematic study of grammar, literature, and writing. Mathematics, sciences, history, foreign language. Albert Oliver (1977): curriculum is “the educational program of the school” and divided into four basic elements: program of studies, program of experiences, program of service, hidden curriculum.
- Othanel Smith (1957): A sequence of potential experiences is set up in the school for the purpose of disciplining children and youth in group ways of thinking and acting. This set of experiences is referred to as the curriculum. Bobbit (1918): Curriculum is that series of things which children and youth must do and experience by way of developing abilities to do the things well that make up the affairs of adult life; and to be in all respects what adults should be. Daniel Tanner & Laurel N. Tanner (1988) “that reconstruction of knowledge and experience systematically developed under the auspices of the school (or university), to enable the learner to increase his or her control of knowledge and experience.”
David G. Armstrong (1989): “is a master plan for selecting content and organizing learning experiences for the purpose of changing and developing learners’ behaviors and insights.” Decker Walker (1990): A curriculum consists of those matter: A. that teachers and students attend to together, B. that students, teachers, and others concerned generally recognize as important to study and learn, as indicated particularly by using them as a basis for judging the success of both school and scholar, C. the manner in which these matters are organized in relationship to one another, in relationship to the other elements in the immediate educational situation and in time and space. Goodman (1963): A set of abstractions from actual industries, arts, professions, and civic activities, and this abstraction are brought into the school-box and taught.
20 Definitions of Curriculum by Various Scholars
Hilda Taba (1962): “All curricula, no matter what their particular design, are composed of certain elements. 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, whether because the objectives demand them or because the content organization requires them. Finally, it includes a program of evaluation of the outcomes. Hass (1980): The curriculum is all of the experiences that individual learners have in a program of education whose purpose is to achieve broad goals and related specific objectives, which is planned in terms of a framework of theory and research or past and present professional practice.
- Galen Saylor, William M. Alexander, and Arthur J. Lewis (1974): ” define curriculum as a plan for providing sets of learning opportunities to achieve broad goals and related specific objectives for an identifiable population served by a single school center for persons to be educated.” Robert Hutchins (1936): The curriculum should consist of permanent studies-rules of grammar, reading, rhetoric and logic, and mathematics (for the elementary and secondary school), and the greatest books of the western world (beginning at the secondary level of schooling).
I Sampson Blessing Archibong define curriculum as anything and everything that teaches a lesson, planned or otherwise because humans are born learning, and therefore the curriculum encompass a combination of the hidden, informal, formal, political and societal curricula as students learn continuously through experiences and modeled behaviours from their teachers and other members of staff whether administrative, ancillary or otherwise.
THE CONCEPT OF HIDDEN CURRICULUM
A hidden curriculum is a side affects of an education, “lessons which are learned but not openly intended” such as the transmission of norms, values, and beliefs conveyed in the classroom and the social environment. Any learning experience may teach unintended lessons. The “Hidden Curriculum” is a term to used to describe the unwritten social rules and expectations of behavior that we all seem to know, but were never taught (Bieber, 1994).
THE CONCEPT OF OFFICIAL CURRICULUM
The official curriculum can be simply defined by the way curriculum itself has been traditionally understood: as the course of study, body of courses, or program of training at a school or university. He defines the taught curriculum as the curriculum the teacher actually teaches in the classroom and the learned curriculum as the curriculum that students actually learn. The next type of curriculum he mentions is the assessed curriculum. This includes what is assessed in the tests prepared by teachers and the government. The supported curriculum includes the textbooks and other resources that support the curriculum. As the last type of curriculum, he mentions the hidden curriculum which is the non-intended curriculum that students learn from their environment, or the policies of the school.
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OFFICIAL CURRICULUM AND HIDDEN CURRICULUM
Official Curriculum | Hidden Curriculum |
Mostly deals with young children and adolescents | Deals with people of all ages |
Confers certification to the learning achieved | May or may not award certification to the learning achieved |
Takes place within educational institutions | Can take place inside or outside educational institutions |
In general, classrooms have the same teachers and the same students every day. | Generally, the programs are usually drop-in. as a result attendance and leadership are not consistent. |
In most cases, classroom activities go on for a number of days. | In most cases, the programs are required to bring to an end each day’s activity since a different group of participants could be in attendance the following day. |
It can be assumed teachers or instructors have undergone a specified level of training in classroom management, educational philosophy, effective teaching strategies, and content. | In contrast, informal curriculum providers have varied levels of experience and knowledge of teaching methods, group management, and expertise in content. |
Teachers and instructors are required to meet certain educational standards. In addition, they must follow a particular curriculum. As a result, it is difficult for them to slot in nontraditional content. | On the contrary, informal programs are more flexible as regards their content. |
It is predictable and can be controlled | One cannot predict or preemptively have power over this kind of curriculum. It is very idiosyncratic and unpredictable. |
THE ROLES OF THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM IN THE ALL-ROUND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEARNERS
- Hidden curricula teach students beyond the subject content of their courses. An educator can design a hidden curriculum to teach positive characteristics such as dignity, humility, hard work, responsibility, and appreciation.
- A hidden curriculum has the potential to positively impact students and even change lives.
- It enables teachers to have the opportunity to model positive values such as humility, empathy, passion for teaching, leadership, and other qualities they hope to convey to students.
- The hidden curriculum act as the moral atmosphere that is a part of every school. The classroom rules, moral orientation o teachers, and text materials create a moral atmosphere for adolescents. The students look up to the teachers or see how they act, so teachers serve as modes of ethical or unethical behaviors. The classroom rules and peer regulations convey how adolescents view cheating, lying, and stealing.
- In school, the learner acquires- the attitudes, beliefs, dressing-sense, and personality of teachers in an informal way.
- The rules and regulations of the playground are acquired by learners in a voluntary way that is information that is a hidden curriculum
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the hidden curriculum cannot be used in isolation from the formal curriculum. Both complement each other and are essential for the academic, vocational and social development of learners. The formal approach stresses academics within prescribed hours while the hidden curriculum emphasize students forming social transient relationships and the acquisition of societal norms, values and beliefs which in turn affects one desire to participate in deviant acts. This is largely due to the unintended social modalities impressed upon them during the teaching and learning process. While researchers argue that the hidden curriculum elevates and perpetuates the culture of the dominant class – a process termed cultural reproduction, they will agree that this curriculum proves more beneficial to oneself and the society in which they live.
20 Definitions of Curriculum by Various Scholars
REFERENCES
UKEssays. (2018) Differentiate among the formal, informal, and hidden curriculum. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/differentiate-among-the-formal-informal-and-hidden-curriculum-education-essay.php?vref=1
Priestley M and Minty S (2013) Curriculum for excellence: ‘A brilliant idea, but…’ Scottish Educational Review 45: 39–52.
Stenhouse L (1975) An Introduction to Curriculum Research and Development. London: Heinemann.
Hyles, B. S., Truatman, M. L., & Schelvan, R. L. (2004). The hidden curriculum: Practical solutions for understanding unstated rules in social situations. USA: Autism Asperger Publishing Co.
Marsh, C. J. (ed.) (1997). Perspectives: Key concepts for understanding curriculum 1. London & Washington, D.C.: The Falmer Press.
Nunan, D. (1988). The learner-centered curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press