This file is helpful in understanding the concept of curriculum. How a curriculum can be constructed and also approaches required for curriculum.

1. CURRICULUM

2. CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM
• A) Meaning
• 1) Etymological:- ‘currer ’which means to
run.
• 2) General:- The ground which the pupils
and the teacher cover to reach the goal of
education.
• 3) Traditional:- Mastery over certain types
of knowledge and skills.
• 4) Modern :- It is a process intended to help
pupil to live in present world & to build the

3. CURRICULUM
• According to Bandi & Wales (2005),
the most common definition derived
from the word Latin root
‘Currere’ which means “racecourse.”
• Bandi & Wales (2005) also stated that
“ for many students, the school
curriculum is a race to be run, a
series of obstacles or hurdles
(subjects) to be passed.”

4. DEFINITIONS:-• 1) Cunningham:- “Curriculum is a tool in the hands of the
artist (teacher) to mould his material (pupils) according to
his ideals (aim and objectives) in his studio (school)”.
• 2. Morroe - “Curriculum includes all those activities which
are utilized by the school to attain the aims of education.
• 3. Froebel - “Curriculum should be conceived as an
epitome of the rounded whole of the knowledge and
experience of the human race.”
• 4. Crow and Crow - The curriculum includes all the
learners’ experience in or outside school that are included
in a programme which has been devised to help him
developmentally, emotionally, socially, spiritually and
morally”.

5. MONROE SAYS
• “The curriculum is the child’s
introduction to life, as schooling is the
preparation for it”.
• Curriculum is a focus of study,
consisting of various courses all
designed to reach a particular
proficiency or qualification.

6. HOW DO WE DEFINE
CURRICULUM?• Curriculum is that which is taught at school.
• Curriculum is a set of subjects.
• Curriculum is content.
• Curriculum is a sequence of courses.
• Curriculum is a set of performance
objectives.

7. HOW DO WE DEFINE
CURRICULUM?
•Curriculum is all planned
learning for which the school
is responsible.
•Curriculum is all the
experiences learners have
under the guidance of the
school. John Delnay (1959.)

8. SYLLABUS
• A syllabus is simply an outline and time line of a
particular course. It will typically give a brief
overview of the course objectives, course
expectations, list reading assignments, homework
deadlines, and exam dates.
• The purpose of the syllabus is to allow the student
to work their schedule for their own maximum
efficiency and effectiveness. It helps to avoid
conflicts with other courses.

9. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
CURRICULUM AND SYLLABUS
1. If the curriculum prescribes the objectives of the system, the
syllabus describes the means to achieve them
2. “A syllabus gives a more focused outline for particular subjects.
It can’t be equated, because a curriculum is for a course but a
syllabus is for a subject,” says Dr. Yasmin Jayathritha
3. The curriculum is the superset and syllabus is the subset of
curriculum.
4. The syllabus is the content, the list of topics/concepts to be
taught, whereas the curriculum is a consideration of the
objectives, the content, methods chosen to achieve those
objectives.

10. 5. A curriculum is typically a guideline set out for educators
that prescribes what they need to teach their students. On
the other hand, a syllabus is a more descriptive list of the
concepts that will be taught in a particular class.
6. One of the major differences between a curriculum and
syllabus is that the latter is often handed out on the first day
of class, while the former is usually not seen by students
unless by request.

11. PRINCIPLES OF CURRICULUM
CONSTRUCTION• 1 . Principles of Child Centeredness
• 2. Principle of Community Centeredness
• 3. Principle of Activity Centeredness
• 4. Principle of Variety
• 5. Principle of Co-ordinations and Integration
• 6 . Principle of Conservation
• 7 . Principle of Creativity
• 8 . Principle of Forward Looking
• 9 . Principle of Flexibility
• 1 0 . Principle of Balance
• 1 1 . Principle of Utility
• 12. Principle of Correlation
• 13. Principle of Motivation
• 14. Principle of Sensitivity to changing Needs and values

12. • Based on actual experiences of students
• Studying current affairs
• Well sequenced curriculum
• According tom aims and objectives

13. 4 FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS IN
CURRICULUM CONSTRUCTION• What educational purposes should an
institution seek to attain?
• What educational experiences can be provided
to attain these purpose?
• How can these educational experiences be
effectively organized?
• How we determined whether these purposes
are being attained?

14. • Sources of educational objectives:
• Learners themselves – needs and
interest
• Contemporary life – critical issues in
life
• Subject specialists – experts in the
area
• Philosophy – education and social
values

15. DETERMINANTS:-
Political
Scientific
Sociological
Psychological
Philosophical

16. • 1) Philosophical :- Based upon fundamental
principles of philosophy national objectives and
school of educational thought.
• 2) Psychological:- Learner abilities, capacities,
interests, aspects of individual development,
stages of physical & mental development is very
important.

17. • 3) Scientific : To achieve complete development of an
individual & to prepare for complete living
• 4) Sociological : To promote social values of co-
operation, team spirit & developing social skills.
• 5) Political : To develop democratic values of social
justice, equity , socialism, rights & duties.

18. • The following are the bases of transaction of curriculum:
• 1. Social philosophy of the society.
• 2. National needs or State needs.
• 3. Nature of course of study.
• 4. Type of examination system.
• 5. Form of the government.
• 6. Theory and assumptions of human organization.
• 7. Growth and development stage of students.
• 8. Recommendations of national commissions and committee of
education.

19. IMPORTANCE
• A curriculum offers teachers a guideline for assessing
student progress in addition to giving students an
understanding of what is required in order to obtain a
degree or any other qualification.
• Curriculums also prepare students to be confident and
responsible citizens.
•

20. CURRICULUM NEED AND
IMPORTANCE
• 1 . Achievement of educational aims;
• 2. Criteria of suitable teachers;
• 3. Selection of suitable methods;
• 4. Reflects trends in education;
• 5. Providing suitable knowledge;
• 6 . Providing suitable activities and experiences;
• 7 . Providing wholesome influences.
• There are three main factors of educational process
• (a) The aims of education
• (b) The curriculum
• (c) The instructional methods.

21. APPROACHES OF
CURRICULUM
CONSTRUCTION

22. INTEGRATED APPROACH
• An integrated approach allows learners to explore, gather,
process, refine and present information about the topics they
want to investigate without the constraints imposed by
traditional subject barriers. (Pigdon & Woolley, 1992)
• Integrated approach encourages student to see the
interconnectedness and interrelationships between the
different curriculum areas.
• Instead of focusing on learning in isolated curriculum areas,
an integrated approach is based on skill development around
a particular theme that is relevant to students of a particular
class.

23. • Example:- 1. The curriculum set up of mathematic
i.e. general mathematics is an example of
integrated approach. Following are the ways of
integration

24. • a. Cross disciplinary approach:- This approach
examine an issue typically relevant to one discipline
through the lens of another discipline.
• b. Multi disciplinary approach:- This approach
examines an issue from multiple perspectives,
without making a concerted effort to systematically
integrate various disciplines.

25. CHARACTERISTICS OF
INTEGRATED APPROACH
• 1. Wide conceptual knowledge -Integrated approach provides an
opportunity for broader & wider conceptual knowledge.
• 2. Child-centered teaching -Integrated approach promotes child
centered teaching
• 3. Integration of skills with contents- Integrated approach of
curriculum organization promote integration of skills with
contents.
• 4. Teacher as a mediator -The role of a teacher is mediator
between knowledge and child.
• 5. Use of modern method -The integrated approach requires use
of modern methods of teaching such as inquiry based teaching.

26. • 6. Flexibility- No rigid disciplines exist. Integrated approach is
flexible.
• 7. Preparation of future citizens- The main purpose of
integrated approach is to prepare the future citizens of a
society.
• 8. Openness- The approach is open to new ideas and
procedures.
• 9. Multi learning Environment- The approach requires multi
learning environment such as classroom, lab, outdoor,
computer, internet etc.

27. IMPORTANCE / MERITS OF
INTEGRATED APPROACH
• 1. Detailed conceptual understanding This approach
help the learner to get detailed conceptual
understanding of the content.
• 2. Choice based selection of discipline / subject
Integrated approach help the students to select
discipline / subject according to their own interest.
• 3. Creativity This approach foster creativity among
learner.

28. • 4. Promotion of modern methods This approach
promotes modern methods of teaching such as
collaborative learning, cooperative learning etc.
• 5. Development of self concept & socialization
Integrated approach helps in developing self
concept & socialization
• 6. Realistic Application This approach has realistic
applications.

29. LIMITATIONS OF INTEGRATED
APPROACH
• 1. Time Consuming Integrated approach is time consuming as
a single theme analysis is done with different discipline point
of view.
• 2. Need of well equipped & expert teacher Integrated
approach needs well equipped & expert teachers who are
capable of using modern methods of teaching.
• 3. Create confusion If this approach is not handled carefully
then child may get confuse in various disciplines.
• 4. Proper selection & organization of various disciplines
Integrated approach needs expertise to select theme and
organization of various disciplines.

30. INTER-DISCIPLINARY
APPROACH
• This approach examines an issue from multiple
perspectives, leading to a systematic effort to integrate
the alternative perspectives into a unified or coherent
framework of analysis.
• The integrated curriculum approach is successful in
making students more aware of content area
connections, providing a learning environment
supporting academic and social needs, dissolving the
boundaries among the disciplines, and fostering
stronger student/teacher relationships.

31. • Students participating in an integrated curriculum
have demonstrated a more positive attitude about
themselves & school.
• Similarly teachers are provided with a new
opportunity to work together, increasing collegiality

32. DISCIPLINARY APPROACH
• This approach is also known as the subject approach or the traditional
approach, as each subject is separately taught by the teacher in the area
of the particular subject in question.
• For example science was traditionally taught as a subject with different
compartments such as physics, biology, and chemistry as separate
components of the science subject.
• Similarly language was taught as a separate subject from other subjects.
English was taught as being different from Hindi, Oriya, History,
Geography etc.
• Thus each subject has a well defined boundary from which there is no
connection to the other.

33. • Thus the approach in which every subject is taught as a
separate discipline is called as disciplinary approach.
• This approach is based on the premise that, the subject is a
store house of facts, methods, theories, concepts &
generalizations.
• In disciplinary approach the focus is more on the subject & its
content rather than the process. In India the disciplinary
approach is very popular in the higher secondary level. It shall
be the responsibility of teacher to show the connection
between different disciplines (subjects).

34. CHARACTERISTICS OF
DISCIPLINARY APPROACH
• a. In-depth Conceptual Knowledge Every subject has
detailed and in-depth conceptual knowledge
• b. Disciplinary based teaching Each subject is taught as
a separate discipline.
• c. Content based teaching The teaching of disciplinary
based curriculum largely based on content.
• d. Source of knowledge/information In disciplinary
approach the teacher is the main source of knowledge /
information.

35. • e. Main purpose The main purpose of disciplinary
approach is to prepare specialist, scientists etc.
• f. Mastery of the subject The learner is expected to
master the subject matter.
• g. Chalk & talk based teaching This approach mostly
leads to chalk & talk based teaching.
• h. Text book is main authority This approach restrains
student observations, values or conclusions different
from the text book which is the main authority in
disciplinary approach.

36. IMPORTANCE /MERITS OF THE
DISCIPLINARY APPROACH
• a. Expert in the subject This approach develops
expertise in particular subject
• b. Subject Growth The disciplinary approach foster the
growth of the subject.
• c. Time Saving Disciplinary approach is very time saving
in terms of course completion.
• d. Detailed Conceptual Understanding The disciplinary
approach of organizing science curriculum provides
detailed conceptual understanding of the subject.

37. • e. Theory building The disciplinary approach is very
useful in building theory in particular
subject/discipline.
• f. Higher level thinking
• As in disciplinary approach the subject is store
house of theories, concepts, generalizations etc.
This lead to higher level thinking.

38. LIMITATIONS
• 1. Less opportunity for creativity The disciplinary
approach does not provide much opportunities for
students creativity.
• 2. Dropout Disinterest in particular subject / discipline
may lead to dropout.
• 3. Require expert teachers The disciplinary approach
requires highly knowledgeable & expert teachers.
• 4. Less Scope of socialization & social skills Isolated
teaching reduces the scope of socialization and social
skills.