Developing the curriculum chapter 1

CHAPTER 1:
CURRICULUM AND
INSTRUCTION DEFINED
Developing the Curriculum
Eighth Edition
Peter F. Oliva
William R. Gordon II

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e.
© 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
1-2
AFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER YOU
SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
• Identify alternative definitions of curriculum.
• Distinguish between curriculum and instruction.
• Explain in what ways curriculum can be considered
a discipline.
• Create or select a model of the relationship
between curriculum and instruction and describe
your creation or selection.

1-3
CONCEPTIONS OF CURRICULUM
• The track—the curriculum—has become one of the
key concerns of today’s schools.
• The quest for a definition of curriculum has taxed
many an educator.
• In many schools a written plan may be called a
curriculum, but a curriculum encompasses many
more entities than a written plan.

1-4
• The term curriculum can be conceived in a narrow
way (as subjects taught) or in a broad way (as all the
experiences of learners, both in school and out,
directed by the school).
• Curriculum—is built, planned, designed, and
constructed. It is improved, revised, and evaluated.

1-5
• With considerable ingenuity the specialist can
mold, shape, and tailor the curriculum to the needs
of children the school serves.
• Some curriculum theorists combine elements of
both curriculum and instruction in defining the term
curriculum.

1-6
Others find a definition of curriculum in:
• purposes or goals of the curriculum
• contexts within which the curriculum is found
• strategies used throughout the curriculum

1-7
• The purpose of the curriculum:
○ what curriculum does or should do
○ what the curriculum is meant to achieve
• The contexts of the curriculum are the settings within
which it takes shape-three types:
○ essentialist curriculum-designed to transmit the
cultural heritage
○ a child-centered curriculum-designed to focus on
the learner
○ reconstructionist curriculum-aims to educate youth
in such a way that they will be capable of solving
some of society’s pressing problems

1-8
• Text definition - curriculum is perceived as a plan
or program for all the experiences that the
learner encounters under the direction of the
school. In practice, the curriculum consists of a
number of plans, in written form and of varying
scope, that delineate the desired learning
experiences. The curriculum, therefore, may be a
unit, a course, a sequence of courses, the
school’s entire program of studies—and may be
encountered inside or outside of class or school
when directed by the personnel of the school.

1-9
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CURRICULUM AND
INSTRUCTION
• A simplistic view of curriculum is - that which is
taught and instruction as the means used to teach
that which is taught.
• Even more simply, curriculum can be conceived as
the “what” or ends and instruction as the “how” or
means.

1-10
• Both curriculum and instruction are subsystems of
a larger system called schooling or education.
–Decisions about the curriculum relate to plans or
programs and thus are programmatic.
–Decisions about instruction (and thereby
implementation) are methodological.
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

1-11
Four Models:
1. Dualistic
2. Interlocking
3. Concentric
4. Cyclical
Models of the Curriculum–
Instruction Relationship

1-12
Dualistic Model:
• Curriculum sits on one side and instruction on the
other – no intersection.
• Discussions of curriculum are divorced from their
practical application to the classroom.
• Under this model the curriculum and the
instructional process may change without
significantly affecting one another.

1-13
Interlocking Model:
• Curriculum and instruction are shown as systems
entwined.
• The separation of one from the other would do
serious harm to both.

1-14
Concentric Models:
• Mutual dependence is the key feature of concentric
models.
• Two conceptions of the curriculum–instruction
relationship that show one as the subsystem of the
other.

1-15
Cyclical Model:
• Curriculum and instruction are separate entities
with a continuing circular relationship.
• Curriculum makes a continuous impact on
instruction and, vice versa, instruction has impact
on curriculum.
• The essential element of feedback is stressed.

1-16
Most theoreticians today appear to agree with the
following comments:
• Curriculum and instruction are related but
different.
• Curriculum and instruction are interlocking and
interdependent.
• Curriculum and instruction may be studied and
analyzed as separate entities but cannot function in
mutual isolation.

1-17
CURRICULUM AS A DISCIPLINE
What are the characteristics of a discipline?
• Principles - An organized set of theoretical
constructs or principles that governs it.
• Knowledge and Skills - It encompasses a body of
knowledge and skills pertinent to that discipline as
well as the use of an amalgamation of knowledge
and skills from many disciplines.
• Theoreticians and Practitioners – It has
theoreticians and practitioners.

1-18
CURRICULUM SPECIALISTS
Curriculum specialists make contributions by:
• Creatively transforming theory and knowledge into
practice.
• Examining and reexamining theory and knowledge
from their field and related fields.
• Stimulating research on curricular problems.
• Providing leadership to the teachers.

1-19
A FINAL THOUGHT:
•Teachers, curriculum specialists, and
instructional supervisors share leadership
responsibilities in efforts to develop the
curriculum.

Developing the curriculum chapter 1

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Developing the curriculum chapter 1

Similar to Developing the curriculum chapter 1 (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Developing the curriculum chapter 1