Describes curriculum concepts from prescriptive or descriptive, with the nature of a curriculum and its purpose

1. CURRICULUM
CONCEPTS/NATURE &
PURPOSE

2. THE CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM
 Curriculum is a Latin word, ‘Currere’ means ‘the race,
the path, lap or course or runway’ which one takes to
reach a goal applied to a course of study. If the teacher
is the guide, the curriculum is the path.
 The term curriculum has been used with quite different
meanings ever since the field took form. Curriculum,
however, can be defined as prescriptive, descriptive, or
both

3. THE CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM
Prescriptive [curriculum]definitions
provide us with what “ought” to happen,
and they more often than not take the
form of a plan, an intended program, or
some kind of expert opinion about what
needs to take place in the course of study.
(Ellis, 2004, p. 4)

4. THE CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM
Prescriptive Definitions of Curriculum
Author Definition
John Dewey Curriculum is a continuous reconstruction, moving
from the child’s present experience out into that
represented by the organized bodies of truth that we
call studies . . . the various studies . . . are
themselves experience— they are that of the race.
J. L.
McBrien& R.
Brandt
[Curriculum] refers to a written plan outlining what
students will be taught (a course of study).
Curriculum may refer to all the courses offered at a
given school, or all the courses offered at a school in
a particular area of study.
Indiana
Department of
Education
Curriculum means the planned interaction of pupils
with instructional content, materials, resources, and
processes for evaluating the attainment of
educational objectives.

5. THE CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM
The descriptive definitions of curriculum
displayed in Table 1.2 go beyond the
prescriptive terms as they force thought
about the curriculum “not merely in terms of
how things ought to be but how things are in
real classrooms” (Ellis, 2004, p. 5). Another
term that could be used to define the
descriptive curriculum is experience. The
experienced curriculum provides “glimpses”
of the curriculum in action.

6. THE CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM
Descriptive Definitions of Curriculum
Author Definition
Thomas
Hopkins
Those learnings each child selects, accepts, and
incorporates into himself to act with, on, and upon, in
subsequent experiences.
D. F. Brown All student school experiences relating to the
improvement of skills and strategies in thinking
critically and creatively, solving problems, working
collaboratively with others, communicating well,
writing more effectively, reading more analytically,
and conducting research to solve problems.
E. Silva An emphasis on what students can do with
knowledge, rather than what units of knowledge they
have, is the essence of 21st-century skills.

7. THE CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM
The curriculum is the plans made for
guiding learning in the schools, usually
represented in retrievable documents of
several levels of generality, and the
actualization of those plans in the
classroom, as experienced by the
learners and as recorded by an observer;
those experiences take place in a
learning environment that also influences
what is learned.

8. NATURE OF CURRICULUM
The nature of curriculum
encompasses its inherent
characteristics and features which
makes it relevant and usable in the
society that uses it. As such the
points below, tell us the
characteristics of a good curriculum.

9. NATURE OF CURRICULUM –
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD CURRICULUM
1. The Curriculum is
continuously evolving.
-It evolved from one period to another, to the
present.
-For a curriculum to be effective, it must have
continuous monitoring and evaluation.
-Curriculum must adapt its educational activities
and services to meet the needs of a modern and
dynamic community.

10. NATURE OF CURRICULUM –
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD CURRICULUM
2. The Curriculum is based on
the needs of the people.
-A good curriculum reflects the needs of
the individual and the society as a whole.
-The curriculum is in proper shape in
order to meet the challenges of times and
make education more responsive to the
clientele it serves.

11. NATURE OF CURRICULUM –
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD CURRICULUM
3.The Curriculum is
democratically conceived
-A good curriculum is developed through the
efforts of a group of individuals from different
sectors in the society who are knowledgeable
about the interests, needs and resources of
the learner and the society as a whole.
-The curriculum is the product of many minds
and energies.

12. NATURE OF CURRICULUM –
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD CURRICULUM
4. The Curriculum is the result
of a long term effort
-A good curriculum is a product of long
and tedious process.
-It takes a long period of time in the
planning, management, evaluation and
development of a good curriculum.

13. NATURE OF CURRICULUM –
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD CURRICULUM
5. The Curriculum is a
complex of details..
-A good curriculum provides the proper instructional
equipment and meeting places that are often most
conducive to learning.
-It includes the student teacher relationship, guidance
and counselling program, health services, school and
community projects, library and laboratories, and
other school related work experiences.

14. NATURE OF CURRICULUM –
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD CURRICULUM
6. The Curriculum provides for
the logical sequence of
subject matter.
-Learning is developmental.
-Classes and activities should be
planned.
-A good curriculum provides
continuity of experiences.

15. NATURE OF CURRICULUM –
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD CURRICULUM
7. The Curriculum complements and
cooperates with other programs of the
community
-The curriculum is responsive to the needs of the
community.
-The school offers its assistance in the
improvement and realization of ongoing programs
of the community.
-There is cooperative effort between the school
and the community towards greater productivity.

16. NATURE OF CURRICULUM –
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD CURRICULUM
8. The Curriculum has
educational quality.
-Quality education comes through the situation of the
individuals intellectual and creative capacities for social
welfare and development.
-The curriculum helps the learner to become the best
that he can possibly be.
-The curriculum support system is secured to augment
existing sources for its efficient and effective
implementation.

17. NATURE OF CURRICULUM –
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD CURRICULUM
9. The Curriculum has
administrative flexibility.
-A good curriculum must be ready to
incorporate changes whenever
necessary.
-The curriculum is open to revision and
development to meet the demands of
globalization and the digital age.

18. PURPOSE/S OF CURRICULUM
The purpose of the curriculum is encapsulated in the
four capacities –
to enable each child or young person to be a
successful learner, a confident individual, a responsible
citizen and an effective contributor.
The attributes and capabilities can be used by
establishments as a guide to check whether the curriculum
for any individual child or young person sufficiently reflects
the purposes of the curriculum.

19. PURPOSE/S OF CURRICULUM

20. THE K TO 12 ENHANCED BASIC
EDUCATION CURRICULUMConcept
… every graduate of
basic education shall
be an empowered
individual who has
learned, through a
program that is rooted
on sound educational
principles and geared
towards excellence, the
foundations for learning
throughout life, the
competence to engage
in work and be
productive, the ability to
coexist in fruitful
harmony with local and
global communities, the
capability to engage in
autonomous, creative,
and critical thinking,
and the capacity and
willingness to transform
others and one’s self.
Nature
*The curriculum shall be
learner-centered, inclusive
and developmentally
appropriate;
*relevant, responsive and
*research-based;
*be culture-sensitive;
*be contextualized and
global;
*shall use pedagogical
approaches that are
constructivist, inquiry-
based, reflective,
collaborative and
integrative;
*the principles and
framework of Mother
Tongue-Based Multilingual
Education (MTB-MLE)
*use the spiral progression
approach to ensure
mastery of knowledge and
skills after each level; and
*shall be flexible enough to
enable and allow schools
to localize, indigenize and
enhance the same based
on their respective Purpose
*Sufficient
Instructional
Time
*21st Century
skills (IT,
HOTS)
*More Skilled
and Competent
Labor Force
*Recognition as
Professionals
Abroad