CHAPTER 2 - The Teacher as a Knower of Curriculum

Lesson 2 – Approaches to School Curriculum

OBJECTIVES:

1. Describe the different approaches to school curriculum.

2. Explain by example how the approaches clarify the definition of curriculum.
3. Reflect on how the three approaches interrelate with each other .

THREE WAYS OF APPROACHING A CURICULUM

1. Curriculum as a Content or Body of Knowledge – It is quite common or traditionalists to equate a

curriculum as a topic outline, subject matter or concepts to be included in the syllabus or a book. For
example, a primary school mathematics, curriculum consists of topics on addition, multiplication,
subtraction, division, distance, weight and many more. Another example is in secondary school science
that involves the study of biological science, physical science and earth science. Textbooks tend to begin
with biological science such as plants and animals, physical science with the physical elements, force and
motion, earth science with the layers of the earth and environmental science with the interaction of the
biological and physical science and earth’s phenomena, climate, vegetation followed by economic
activities such as agriculture, mining, industries, urbanization and so forth.

If curriculum is equated as content, then the focus will be the body of knowledge to be
transmitted to students using appropriate teaching method. There can be likelihood that teaching will
be limited to the acquisition of acts, concepts and principles of the subject matter, however, the content
or subject matter can also be taken as a means to an end.

All curricula have content regardless of their design or models. The fund of knowledge is the
repository of accumulated discoveries and inventions of man from the explorations of the earth and as
products of research. In most educational setting, curriculum is anchored on a body of knowledge or
discipline.

FOUR WAYS OF PRESENTING THE CURRICULUM

1. Topical Approach where much content is based on knowledge, and experiences are included;
2. Concept approach with fewer topics in clusters around major and sub-concepts and their interaction,
with relatedness emphasized;
3. Thematic approach as a combination of concepts that develop conceptual structures, and
4. Modular approach that leads to complete units of instruction.

CRITERIA IN THE SELECTION OF CONTENT

1. Significance. Content should contribute to ideas, concepts, principles and generalization that should
attain the overall purpose of the curriculum. It is significant I content becomes the means of
developing the cognitive, affective or psychomotor skills of the learner. As education is a way of
preserving culture, content will be significant when this will address the cultural contest of the
learner.
2. Validity – The authenticity of the subject matter forms its validity. Knowledge becomes obsolete with
the fast changing times. Thus there is a need or validity check and verification at a regular interval,
because content which may be valid in its original form may not continue to be valid in the current
times.
3. Utility – Usefulness of the content in the curriculum is relative to the learners who are going to use.
Utility can be relative to time. It may have been useful in the past but may not be useful now or in
the future.
4. Learnability – The complexity of the content should be within the range of experiences of the
learners. This is based on the psychological principles of learning. Appropriate organization of
content standards and sequencing o contents are two basic principles that would influence
learnability.
5. Feasibility– Can the subject content be learned within the time allowed, resources available,
expertise of the teachers and the nature of the learners? Are there contents of learning which can
be learned beyond the formal teaching learning engagement? Are there opportunities provided to
learn these?
6. Interest – Will the learners take interest in the content? Why? Are the contents meaningful? What
value will the contents have in the present and future life of the learners? Interest is one of the
driving forces or students to learn better.

Guide in the Selection of the Content in the Curriculum

1. Commonly used in the daily life.

2. Appropriate to the maturity levels and abilities of the learner.

3. Valuable in meeting the needs and competencies of the future career.

4. Related to other subject fields or discipline or complementation and integration.

5. Important in the transfer or learning to other disciplines.

BASIC Principles of Curriculum Content

1. Balance . Content should be fairly distributed in depth and breadth. This will guarantee that
significant contents should be covered to avoid too much or too little o the contents needed within
the time allocation.
2. Articulation. As the content complexity progresses with the educational levels, vertically or
horizontally, across the same discipline smooth connections or bridging should be provided.
This will assure no gaps or overlaps in the content. Seamlessness in the content is desired
and can be assured if there is articulation in the curriculum. Thus, there is a need o f team
among writers and implementers of curriculum.
3. Sequence. The logical arrangement o the content re fers to sequence or order. This can be
done vertically or deepening the content or horizontally or broadening the same content. In
both ways, the pattern usually is from easy to complex. What is known to the unknown,
what is current to something in the future.
4. Integration. Content in the curriculum does not stand alone or in isolation. It has ways of relatedness
or connectedness to other disciples whenever possible. Contents should be infused in other
disciplines whenever possible. This will provide wholistic or unified view of the curriculum instead of
segmentation. Contents which can be integrated to other disciplines acquire a higher premium than
when isolated.
5. Continuity. Content when viewed as a curriculum should continuously flow as it was before, to where
it is now, and where it will be in the future. It should be perennial. It endures time. Content may not
be in the same form and substance as seen in the past since changes and developments in
curriculum occurs. Constant repetition, reinforcement and enhancement of content are all elements
of continuity.

CURRICULUM AS A PROCESS

Curriculum as a process is seen as a scheme about the practice of teaching. It is not a package of
materials or a syllabus of content to be covered. The classroom is only a part of the learning
environment where the teacher places action using the content to achieve an outcome. Hence the
process of teaching and learning process becomes the central concern of teachers to emphasize critical
thinking, thinking meaning-making and heads-on, hands-on doing and many others.
As a process, curriculum links to the content. While content provides materials on what to teach,
the process provides curriculum on how to teach the content. When accomplished, the process will
result to various curriculum experiences for the learners. The intersection of the content and process is
called the Pedagogical Content Knowledge or PCK. It will address the question: If you have this content,
how will you teach it?
To teachers, the process is very critical. This is the very side of the coin: instruction, implementation,
teaching. These three words connote the process of the curriculum. When educators ask teach: What
curriculum are you using? Some of the answers will be 1. Problem-based. 2 Hands-on, Minds –on 3.
Cooperative Learning 4. Blended Curriculum 5. On-line 6. Case—based and many more. These responses
approach curriculum as a Process. These are the ways of teaching,. Ways of managing the content,
guiding learning, methods of teaching and learning and strategies of teaching or delivery modes. In all of
these, there are activities and actions that every teacher and learner do together or learners are guided
by the teacher. Some of the strategies are time-tested traditional methods while others are emerging
delivery modes.

When curriculum is approached as a PROCESS, guiding principles are presented.

1. Curriculum process in the form of teaching methods or strategies are means to achieve the end.

2. There is no single best process or method. Its effectiveness will depend on the desired learning
outcomes, the learners, support materials and the teacher.

3. Curriculum process should stimulate the learners’ desire to develop the cognitive, affective,
psychomotor domains in each individual.

4. In the choice of methods, learning and teaching styles should be considered.

5. Every method or process should result to learning outcomes which can be described as cognitive,
affective, psychomotor.
6. Flexibility in the use of the process or methods should be considered. An affective process will always
result to learning outcomes.

7. Both teaching and learning are the two important processes in the implementation of the curriculum.

CURRICULUM AS A PRODUCT.

Besides viewing curriculum as content that is to be transmitted, or process that gives action using
the content, it has also been viewed as a product. In other words, product is what the students desire
to achieve as a learning outcomes.
The product from the curriculum is a student equipped with the knowledge, skills and values to
function effectively and efficiently. The real purpose of education is to bring about significant changes in
students, pattern of behavior. It is important that any statement