Educ90

Write a 3-paragraph essay (introduction, body, conclusion) on the following

questions: a. What is your OWN definition of a curriculum?
b. Do you have a traditional view of a curriculum, a progressive view or
both?
Explain your view based on your definition.

In my own understanding and definition of curriculum, it is a summary of the

things that a school or a certain grade or year level needs to accomplished at
the end of the semester or the school year. Curriculum also refers to the
means and materials with which students will interact for the purpose of
achieving identified educational outcomes. Some educators would say that
the curriculum consists of all the planned experiences that the school offers
as part of its educational responsibility. Then there are those who contend
that the curriculum includes not only the planned, but also the unplanned
experiences as well. Curriculum is often defined as the courses offered by a
school, but it is rarely used in such a general sense in schools. Depending on
how broadly educators define or employ the term, curriculum typically refers
to the knowledge and skills students are expected to learn, which includes
the learning standards or learning objectives they are expected to meet; the
units and lessons that teachers teach; the assignments and projects given to
students; the books, materials, videos, presentations, and readings used in a
course; and the tests, assessments,  and other methods used to evaluate
student learning. This is consist of all the subject areas, time duration for
each subject areas and the lessons that need to be tackle by the teacher
unto his/her learners. It also includes the aims, objectives, teaching content,
teaching strategies, assessment methods, and other components of learning
and teaching in classrooms. Having an accurate,complete and flexible
curriculum is a big help to the education ground. Because somehow, like a
lesson plan it also guides the teacher on how to properly organize the topics
that should be discussed before presenting it to the learners. For me,
curriculum is the building block of the educational system specifically a
certain course because without it, proper and organized learning would not
be possible.

My Definition of Curriculum
I believed that we all keep joining and engaging in rethinking the definition of
curriculum, though inadvertently, because “What we want and need is education pure
and simple” (Dewey, 1938, p. 40).

The first time I encountered the term “curriculum” was when I attended a short
course of teaching skill 5 years ago. At that time, I thought “curriculum” means
“syllabus”, which is the collection of the subjects as well as the topics covered in the
course.

However, when I have explored the term “curriculum” along the course Curriculum
Design, I see that the curriculum is something broader and it covers the syllabus, even
curriculum can be considered as “all the experiences that a child has in school” (Su,
2012, p.85).

Moreover, when interviewing others around me (2019) with the beginning question
“What does the word curriculum mean to you?”, many questions keep popping up
into my mind. What is curriculum, finally? Is there a definition of curriculum that
stands outside the notion of school?

Sometimes, the form of a curriculum is quite similar to business strategy or project

plan, so what determines a document as a curriculum is whether it has the function of
education. If so, what is the educational function? In this piece, I would like to
construct my personal and professional definition of curriculum through reflecting
these questions.

I resonate with the idea of Slattery, that he prefers the broadest possible
understanding of curriculum, which is not separated by the age, the level, the sector,
the grade, the school board. (Alghamdi, 2013, April 2).

It is because, in my point of view, the concept curriculum belongs to the notion

of education rather than school, even though they often appear together.

I think the school is just one of the forms to transform the curriculum into practice,
besides other forms like contests, games, clubs and so on. In this view, I would like to
explore my definition of curriculum from the perspective of education’s essence.

Before seeking outside help, I tried to answer the question “what is education?” and
“what is curriculum?” by myself.

After a few minutes of reflection, I came up with just one keyword for each question,
which are “growth” for “education” and “rules” for “curriculum”. Then the short
definition “curriculum is the rules for learners’ growth” arose in my mind naturally.
This seven-word definition excited me, but I soon realized that it was too brief and
vague. How do the rules look like? What is the kind of growth that is educational? I
kept these questions in my mind and started reading some pieces of the course again.

Iexpected to see the answer in the great book entitled “Experience and Education” of
Dewey (1938), but throughout his work, the word “education” always went with
adjectives like “traditional”, “progressive”, “old” and “new”, and at the final
paragraph, he put an open suggestion of finding out just what education was. At that
time I found myself lost in his suggestion.

I continued with the book of Philip Jackson (2011) with a straightforward title, “What
is education”. God blessed me, he started with the effort to answer Dewey’s suggestion
above philosophically. I was blown away by his sharp and witty text, and I
convincingly agreed with his definition at the end of his journey:

Education is a socially facilitated process of cultural transmission whose explicit goal is

to effect an enduring change for the better in the character and psychological well-being
(the personhood) of its recipients and, by indirection, in their broader social
environment, which ultimately extends to the world at large. (p. 95).

The phrase “process of cultural transmission” caught my eyes as if this were all that I
had been looking for. It seems to indirectly answer my earlier question of rules. As Su
(2012) states,

“Curriculum conceptualized as culture educates us to pay attention to belief systems,

values, behaviors, language, artistic expression, the environment in which
education takes place, power relationships, and most importantly, the norms that
affect our sense about what is right or appropriate” (p.19).

This is exactly the way I treated my students in my milieu on Spiritual Intelligence

Development. More luckily, the entire of his definition answer the second question of
“growth”, and it can be compressed into the phrase “to grow to enable good
purposes”.

From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me2HlTQPS40

I took a few minutes to reflect all over, and came up with a new definition,
“curriculum is the rules system of the cultural chain-game that grows each individual
to enable good purposes”.
I chose the duel “rules” and “game” because I recalled Dewey’s comment (1939), “No
rules, then no game; different rules, then a different game”. (p. 22).

Moreover, in my opinion, the phrase “the rules system of the cultural chain-game”
expresses not only that “the curriculum is also understood as a political and social
agreement”. (UNESCO-IBE, 2016, p. 6) but also that “teacher” and “student” are just
roles in a game, in essence, both are lifelong learners who keep growing to “enable
good purposes”.

After that, I discussed my ideas with my husband Duc Le, who triggered my thinking
about curriculum from the essence of education by associating the curriculum with
the business plan and strategy in the interview (personal communication, April 28,
2019). He suggested me to replace the word “rules system” by “code” since, according
to the dictionary, code means a complicated system of rules, relationships,
or instructions.

Finally, the reform of my definition is “curriculum is the code of the cultural game
system that grows each individual to enable good purposes”.

Looking back on my journey, besides theorists like Dewey, Jackson, Slattery, Su, and
researchers of UNESCO-IBE; I appreciate many people, who can be considered as
stakeholders involved in reforming my definition in various ways. Dr. Ramirez, my
instructor, gave me many valuable leads. My fellow students opened my eyes with
different views of the term curriculum through discussions. My friends and family
made me rethink what I have learned by the fresh views of those who have no
background in educatio

Curriculum Definition Collection

A. 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.  2) mathematics, 3) sciences, 4) history, 5) foreign
language.

Albert Oliver (1977): curriculum is “the educational program of

the school” and divided into four basic elements: 1) program of
studies, 2) program of experiences, 3) program of service, 4)
hidden curriculum.
B. 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.

Bell (1971): the offering of socially valued knowledge, skills, and

attitudes made available to students through a variety of
arrangements during the time they are at school, college, or
university.

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.

Caswell and Campbell (1935):  curriculum is composed of all of

the experiences children have under the guidance of the teacher."

Daniel Tanner and 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.

Duncan and Frymier (1967):  a set of events, either proposed,

occurring, or having occurred, which has the potential for
reconstructing human experience.

Goodman (1963): A set of abstractions from actual industries,

arts, professions, and civic activities, and these abstraction are
brought into the school-box and taught.

Harnack (1968)  The curriculum embodies all the teaching-

learning experiences guided and directed by the school.

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.

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."

Hollis L. Caswell and Doak S. Campbell:  "all the experiences

children have under the guidance of teachers."

J. Galen Saylor, William M. Alexander, and Arthur J. Lewis (1974):

"We 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."

Johnson (1967): Curriculum is a structural series of intended

learning outcomes.  Curriculum prescribes (or at least anticipates)
the results of instruction.  It does not prescribe the means...  To
be used in achieving the results.

Jon Wiles and Joseph Bondi (1989):  curriculum is a goal or set of

values, which are activated through a development process
culminating in classroom experiences for students.  The degree to
which those experiences are a true representation of the
envisioned goal or goals is a direct function of the effectiveness of
the curriculum development efforts.

Krug (1957):  Curriculum consists of all the means of instruction

used by the school to provide opportunities for student learning
experiences leading to desired learning outcomes.

Musgrave (1968):  the contrived activity and experience-

organized, focused, systematic- that life, unaided, would not
provide.

P.  Phenix (1962):  The curriculum should consist entirely of

knowledge which comes from the disciplines... Education should
be conceived as a guided recapitulation of the process of inquiry
which gave rise to the fruitful bodies of organized knowledge
comprising the established disciplines.

Peter F. Oliva (1989): "the program, a plan, content, and learning

experiences."
 Ralph Tyler (1957):  The curriculum is all of the learning of
students which is planned by and directed by the school to attain
its educational goals.

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).

Ronald C. Doll (1988):  "the formal and informal content and

process by which learners gain knowledge and understanding,
develop skills, and alter attitudes, appreciations, and values under
the auspices of that school."

Ronald Doll (1970):  The curriculum is now generally considered

to be all of the experiences that learners have under the auspices
of the school.

Shaver and Berlak (1968):  situations or activities arranged and

brought into play by the teacher to effect student learning.

Smith and Orlovsky (1978): the content pupils are expected to

learn.

Dr. Robert Sweetland's notes  

Comparison of Progressive to Traditional Curriculum

The traditional curriculum was set in a manner that the students had to memories
facts as well as formulas that were never ending. This academic curriculum was
dreary as well as remote based on the view point of the youthful interests. The
students were exposed to a situation of listening to recitations only. Lead discussions
were a nightmare in the traditional curriculum. There was an austere type of life in
the entire classroom. The rules as well as the regulations governing the conducts of
the students were established in unilateral manner by the teachers. The misconduct
of the students was met by severely harsh punishments.

Contrary to the traditional curriculum unflattering sketch, progressive curriculum was

accompanied a practical type of education that was even more pleasant as well as
interesting to the students. This type of curriculum was in a position to offer an
education that was centered to the interests of the child. This is in contrast to the
traditional type of curriculum that was practically grounded on authority based on
ponderous text books as well as a very stern teacher. The condition of the traditional
curriculum made the students less willful. The students also resembled some
obstreperous creatures in need of a kind of taming. The students were also naturally
curios as well as creative. They exhibited worthwhile interest of a very wide range.
The interests qualified for honor by humane pedagogy as well as a broader
curriculum.

The concept of educating the whole child has important implication in the steady
expansion of the scope of the curriculum in the schools. This was especially evident
at the early part of the 20th century ( ). There was the multiplication of the
opportunities in the field of music, recreation, art as well as drama. Junior high
schools were meant for the purpose of the education of the students in their early
adolescent stages. The justification for this is the unique requirements associated
with this age. On the other hand there were high schools reserved for the older
teens. This was based on the requirements for the “tracks” as well as study
programs such as the vocational training, commercial education, academic as well
as the general knowledge. Progressive curriculum also offered for the growth in the
students’ extracurricular activities during each of the levels in school life including
teams as well as clubs. There were also notable improvements in the field of health
care as well as social services for the purpose of satisfaction of the physical as well
as emotional needs of the students.

The introduction of progressive curriculum came with a shift in the procedures of

instructions as well as delivery of materials to the students. This curriculum was
responsible for the envisioning of the teacher in form of a facilitator. This quality
contributes to the encouragement of the students to rake active role in the class
discussions as well as the group projects. This made the whole process of learning
to become fun therefore improving the morale of the students. The introduction of the
field trips as well as the films in the progressive curriculum blurs the boundary of
class work and student play. The curriculum also demands the patience of the
teacher and not being strict as well as staying aloof. This makes the class
atmosphere to be community that is democratic with fair rules and a chance for all to
speak and therefore comfort and success ensues. This is consequential to the
reduction of the students drop out from the schools and this has important
implications in the future life of the students. The large as well as diverse body of the
students results to great improvements in the capacity of the students to learn.

Progressive curriculum was responsible for addressing the three developments of

significance in the life of the Americans. Th most important of these is the ability to
meet the needs of the employers. This also coincided with the time of the surging of
the demand of the semi skilled as well as clerical vacancies. This curriculum has a
provision for the vocations as well as commercial training, which forms a track with
the majority of the students. There was an observed improvement in the preparation
of the graduates for the purpose of meeting the requirements of the expanding labor
market.

The second development relate to the issue of immigration from the urban schools
filled with the Europeans in massive as well as unprecedented numbers. These
students had a requirement for the non academic type of training for them to be the
loyal, the virtuous as well as productive citizens. The third of these developments is
the strength drawn by the progressive curriculum to the relatively expansive notions
with respect to the intervention of the government. This ahs the implication of the
fostering the child’s wellbeing the advocacy of this particular type of kinder as well as
broader schooling in a progressive manner is in line with the spirit of the
interventions responsible for the saving of the children in diverse regions all over
America.

The progressive curriculum has some elements of scientific approach to education.

The decision making process of the 1880 to 1890 urban schools deploration of the
haphazard management was based on partisan considerations ( ) This usually led to
wasteful as well as corrupt policies in most of the situations. With the introduction of
the progressive curriculum, properly trained managers were appointed for the
purpose of overseeing the rapid expansion of the schools. For an administrator in the
progressive curriculum of education to be considered as competent, virtues such as
expertise, the individual’s rationality, the method of standardization as well as
predictability were the traits of important value worth consideration. This clearly
reflects to the expected outcomes of the students undergoing this curriculum as
compared with the traditional curriculum and the competence of the student in
handling matters in the future.

The progressive curriculum also aimed at certainty thus marking the support for the
intelligence testing. There was a requirement to measure the student’s inherent
mental abilities. This was actually a rigorous as well as a fair way for the assignment
of the students to specific courses as well as tracks. The idea to group the childrens
based on their abilities appeared to be more democratic in the progressive
curriculum relative the traditional curriculum that allowed for the holding of all of the
students as having similar standards. The progressive curriculum also facilitated for
the application of the IQ tests for the students although not all of them were in favor
of the tests. However, all skeptics were in favor of the “child study” dealing with
continuous as well as detailed scrutiny the intellectual growth, the social growth as
well as the emotional development of young students.

The table below is a comparison of the elements of traditional curriculum in relation

to the progressive curriculum. The elements indicate the expected outcomes of each
curriculum and its effectiveness in the shaping of the future status of the student

ELEMENT TRADITIONAL PROGRESSIVE

Classrooms Arrangement of seats is in rows Arrangement of seats is in clusters
Seats and desk are bolted down Seats and desk are in beanbags
Students seats face the front Students seats face the tables
teacher face the front Teacher carpeted
Discussion is teacher-center Discussion is a motion
teacher is elevated teacher is active and loud
Quiet classroom Artwork classroom
blackboard front blackboard planted anywhere

Teachers Teacher is stern and strict Teacher is facilitative

Teacher is in-charge Teacher allow the student discussion
Teacher talking Teacher adaptive and flexible
Teacher is authoritative Teacher is project oriented
Hierarchy authority Authority collaborative and in teams
alone cooperative
Teacher is responsible for the curriculum Teacher is usually unprepared

Students Students are obedient Students has freedom of choice

Students taken as empty vessels and receiver Students are independent of teacher
Students are attentive Students are self-motivated
Students are respectful to their teachers Students are collaborative
Students are grade-motivated Students are experienced
Students face standard evaluation Students are evaluated through the multiple
rubrics
Students use single modality Students use multiple modalities

Text and materials Textbooks are in use Text and materials are student-created
Students use workbooks Students use multimedial
rote learning in application multi-source type of learning used
Teach and test approach applied raw materials applied
Objective matters Inter and multi disciplinary in use
Text and materials are provided or pre-generated by the experts Text and materials
are interactive

Activities Students used to sitting and listening Students used to performance

evaluation
Students take notes Students are authentic
mastery multi-level
read individualized
Discussions are teacher-led open-ended discussions applied
prescriptive multiple intelligences

Source:

Although the progressive curriculum has been proved to offer a lasting solution to the
future needs of the students, it has been subjected to some controversies along with
some influences. The curriculum has not been admired by all and therefore its
practices have not been adopted across the entire community. Its implementation
was at peak in the elementary schools, the private schools and the schools in the
segment of the community with wealthier citizens ( ). These are the encraves who
associated the notions of the progressive curriculum with the needed care as well as
the training for the future advantage of their children. Other fields in the society had a
modest impact of the curriculum. The educators in the schools which shunned the
total implementation of the progressive curriculum took some bits as well as pieces
of the progressive curriculum to add to their traditional routines. This is therefore an
indication that despite their rejection of the progressive curriculum, it remains the
basis of the solution to the future needs of the population. Their reluctance for the
adoption of the curriculum was imputed to the exhaustion of the teachers are ready
to adopt the tenets of the curriculum in a serious manner

The broader progressive curriculum has an ultimate purpose, gentler pedagogy as

well as a scientific outlook although some disputes occurred among the proponents.
Competency in the future reconstruction of the entire society for the purpose of
empowering of the disenfranchised, regulation of the corporations as well as the
strengthening of the society. The goals as well as the objectives of education was
equipping of the young generation to fit into the society but not to challenge it. An
education that is useful to the recipient should have the potential of preparing the
candidate with regard to the earning of a living, intelligent voting, wise shopping as
well as the conformation to demands associated with the adult life. Schooling was a
matter enormous importance and the future of the current generation rests on the
hands of the educators.

Progressive curriculum is more beneficial in the elementary schools and the

progressive pedagogy should be a means to achieve intellectual exertion but not a
means of avoiding it. The student’s curiosity as well as their teachers’ flexibility
should tend towards enhancement of the mind but not to diminish it. The significance
of progressive curriculum was further strengthened the “Life Adjustment” education
reform of the 1940s ( ). This required that most of graduates in the high schools were
required to acquire the relevant know-how as well as the appropriate social skills that
would be beneficial to them in the future to an extent exceeding the benefits derived
from algebra as well as French. All the teenagers have a requirement for lessons in
the field of practical matters related to the hobbies, the family life as well a
sfriendship.

Conclusion

According to the opinions of the majority, effective teaching should go beyond the
listing of the facts as well as the dates. In social studies for example, which is usually
a great subject, there exists no right answers as well as wrong answers. The subject
deals with making arguments and at the same time providing a back up for the
proposed arguments. It is therefore the responsibilities of the teachers to become
objective guides for the students through the provision of the desired materials as
well as the information as the basis of the arguments. This is the type of teaching
that is miles ahead of the application of the text books. Despite the
acknowledgements of the merits of progressive curriculum, majority of the school
system have been slow in its implementation. Majority of the parents have been
documented to be unwilling in allowing the teachers as well as the students to
disengage themselves from the previous acad

aditional vs.
Progressive curriculum
POSTED ON MAY 17, 2013  BY CSHELTON20

2
When thinking about all the different eras of education it’s interesting how there’s always a
continuing debate of traditional curriculum design vs. progressive curriculum design.

Traditi
onal curriculum– a linear approach to curriculum design in which the teacher talks and the
student listens. This approach is heavily content driven, presenting the facts and expecting
students to retain the info.
Progressive curriculum– a non-linear approach to curriculum in which the instructor may
incorporate group activities, cooperative learning, manipulatives, technology etc. in order to
enhance the educational experience.
This is quite an interesting debate because in the early 1900s and prior, the only thing that
educators had was the traditional approach. Quite frankly, people in that era seemed to be A LOT
more intelligent than the people of our generation. Of course we are more knowledgeable in this
day in age due to the fact that we have more access to information and more scientific
breakthroughs have been made since the early 20th century. However, our brightest scientists, the
ones who made the most significant contributions to society as we know it today, were products
of the traditional approach to curriculum; scientists like Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Niels Bohr,
Ivan Pavlov, Enrico Fermi, Rosalind Franklin, Watson & Crick just to name a few.  Overall,
Education was simple and people of that era seemed to have had a greater value for education and
knowledge at that time.
The big push to create all of these different alternatives to the traditional curriculum design
initially did not make sense to me because all of my life I had gotten along just fine with
accepting any teacher’s specific teaching style; I just never thought to question it. I guess that
some kids are capable of adapting to any curriculum design and/or instructor delivery style.
Others require a curriculum that is specific to their needs. It was not until I read a book by
Nicholas Carr, entitled The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, that this push for
alternative designs to the traditional curriculum began to make sense.

In this book, Carr explains how technology has altered the way in which our brains work. It has
affected our ability to engage in lengthy readings, understand difficult concepts, and has given us
a shorter attention span. Carr’s article seemingly supports the idea of a progressive curriculum,
considering that our brains no longer work the way in which the traditional curriculum was
designed for.