6 The Scope of Curriculum and Development of Curriculum
6 The Scope of Curriculum and Development of Curriculum
“If the curriculum is perceived as a plan for the learning experiences that young people encounter under the direction of the school, its purpose is to provide a vehicle for ordering and directing those experiences.”
–Peter Oliva, 2009
Introduction
The scope of curriculum studies encompasses the theory, planning, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of curriculum. Once the curriculum developers decide what is to be taught, who is to be taught, and who is in control of what the content of the curriculum is, the process can proceed to the planning and development stage. This is followed by the implementation of the curriculum and its evaluation.
Essential Questions
- What processes are involved in the scope of curriculum studies?
- How can curriculum theory be helpful in the curriculum development process?
- How can a needs assessment inform the curriculum development process?
- Why are stakeholders important in the curriculum development process?
- What is involved in writing a good curriculum?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of adopting a commercial curriculum?
Scope of Curriculum Studies
From Curriculum Studies, pp. 36-38 Scope of Curriculum Studies
Curriculum studies incorporate a variety of processes including:
- curriculum theory,
- curriculum planning,
- curriculum design,
- curriculum development,
- curriculum implementation, and
- curriculum evaluation.
Curriculum Theory
What Is Curriculum Theory?
Curriculum theory refers to a set of related statements that give meaning to school curriculum by pointing out the relationships among its elements and directing its development, its use, and its evaluation. It gives justification for practices in curriculum.
According to Urevbu (1990), a curriculum theory provides practical guidance as to:
- “what to teach,”
- “who is taught,”
- who controls its selection and distribution, and
- who gets taught what.
In other words, it is a way of seeing ‘things’ or guiding principles for curriculum.
Functions of Curriculum Theory
What then are the functions of a theory? Most philosophers of science argue that theory has three legitimate purposes:
- to describe,
- to explain, and
- to predict.
Thus, curriculum theory provides educators with a critical perspective about society and its schools. Hence, they describe and explain from a critical perspective.
Curriculum theory is, therefore, important for planning curriculum. It helps in guiding the planning process and then the curriculum development. The theory used is reflected in the product, i.e. the final curriculum.
Curriculum Planning
Curriculum planning can be viewed as the process of gathering, selecting, balancing, and synthesizing relevant information from many sources to design those experiences that will assist the learner to attain the goals of education (Glen, Hass, 1980).
Curriculum planning is the thinking or conception stage of the curriculum development process. Thu