SJUT – FAHE

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
CT 201:
PRINCIPLES OF CURRICULUM
DEVELOPMENT AND TEACHING

© Partson, D.T. (PhD)

23.10.2024
 MODULE 1:
UNDERSTANDING CURRICULUM AND TEACHING:
TERMS AND CONCEPTS, THEORIES AND ISSUES.
1.1 Foundations of Teaching
1.2 Understanding conflicting concepts of
curriculum
1.3 Defining curriculum terms and concepts
1.4 Examining various types of curriculum
structures, frameworks and processes.
 CURRICULUM, Defined
• Specialists in curriculum have failed to reach
consensus on the definition of the term
curriculum.
• Based on practice than theory hence its definition
is influenced by practical experience of the
authors.
• Since authors are of different background in
religious ethnicity and geography. They also come
from different educational institutions and
different parts of the educational institution.
• Different and conflicting definitions of the term
curriculum.
• These numerous definitions can be slightly
confusing.
 Etymological Meaning of Curriculum
• The term curriculum stems from the Latin
word “currere” which means to run or race.
• Hence, to run or race a course.
• Referring to the course of deeds and
experiences through which children grow to
become mature adults.
• A curriculum is prescriptive, and is based on
a more general syllabus which merely
specifies what topics must be understood
and to what level to achieve a particular
grade or standard.
Curriculum encompasses the entire scope of
formative deed and experience occurring in and out
of school.
Experiences that are unplanned and undirected.
Experiences intentionally directed for the
purposeful formation of adult members of society.
A curriculum may also refer to a defined and
prescribed course of studies which students must
fulfill in order to pass a certain level of education.
For example, an elementary school curriculum
meaning all the subjects that will be taught during a
school year at that elementary school.
• Curriculum is viewed as a set of planned
experiences encountered by students in
classroom setting. It includes a wide range of
activities.
• Pre determined aims, goals and objectives
describing what students should learn
(anticipated learning outcomes and
behaviours).
• In its broadest sense a curriculum may refer to
all courses offered at a school.
 F. Bobbit (1918)
• To Bobbitt, the curriculum is a social
engineering arena. Curriculum defined as
the deeds-experiences the student ought
to have to become the adult he or she
ought to become.
• Hence, he defined the curriculum as an
ideal, rather than as the concrete reality
of the deeds and experiences that form
people to who and what they are.
 Tanner and Tanner (1980)
• The cumulative tradition of organised
knowledge
• Planned learning experience
• Cognitive and affective content and process.
• An instructional plan
• Instructional end or outcome.
 Kerr (1968)
• All learning planned or guided by the school
carried by groups or individuals in and out of
school.
• What about unplanned activities?
 Robert Gagne (1967)
• Sequence of content units arranged in
a sequential order
• What about those that are not
sequenced?
• Teaching should be organized and in a
sequential fashion.
 Ralph Tyler (1949)
• All learning of students which is planned and
directed by the school to attain its educational
goals.
• Does the school plan what is learned?
 Caswell and Campbell (1935)
• All of the experiences children have under the
guidance of the teacher.
• Does this mean learning only occur at school?
 Print (1993)
• All planned learning opportunities offered by
the organization to learners and the
experiences learners encounter when the
curriculum is implemented.
• Planned
• Unplanned
• Inside
• Outside school.
 Question 1
• In your own words give the meaning of the
term Curriculum.
• Giving examples from Tanzanian context
discuss the types of school curriculum.
 Education From 1978 Todate
• Curriculum as a process used for instruction of
planning
• Developmental process that provides sets of
learning opportunities to educate the
students
• Written plans outlining what students will be
taught.
• Prescribed body of knowledge/ skills that can
be taught to students
 What would Dewey mean for
Tanzanian Schools?
• Reading, Writing, Arithmetic (math) , known
as ‘three Rs’
• Secondary subject courses such as
Biology ,Social studies, Language (English).
• Should computer technology be included?
• In Dodoma area, should there be carpentry,
auto mechanics, hairstyling be taught in
schools? Repair or Technology?
 Frank Bobitt’s View (1918) of
Curriculum
• Curriculum is a range of experiences, direct
and indirect that develop the abilities of an
individual through training exercises.
• These training experiences provide skills
necessary for living and working in a society.
• Harold Rugg (1927) adds that skills taught
should prepare you for controlling the
situations.
 What Does Bobitt and Rugg Mean?
• Bobitt uses the term ] “training” “necessary”, “living
and working in society”.
• Rugg uses the term “training” and “controlling life
situations”.
• How does this differ from the term “academics”?
• What would be an educated person in the 1920s,
1960s, 2009 and 2017 in Tanzania?
• Has there been changes from the 1920s todate?
 Other Educator’s Definitions for
Curriculum
• Caswell and Campbell (1935) define
curriculum as all of the experiences children
have under the guidance of teacher. Does this
mean all happens at school is learning?
• Write down two examples of what could be
learned other than academics or vocational
skills.
• Ralph Tyler (1950) defines curriculum as all
the learning experiences that occur at school
• Tyler states that carefully planned and directed
learning experiences help the school attain its
goals.
• Does this mean that schools carefully plan what
is learned by students?
• Hilda Taba (1962) builds on Tyler’s definition by
including a statement about goals & objectives.
• Written goals clarify what to teach.
• Selection and organization of content that can
be evaluated for teaching results.
• Should we measure curriculum mastery by the
student? Test or demonstrate?
 Robert Gagne’s Ideas About Curriculum

• Gagne (1967) saw curriculum as a sequence of

content units arranged in a sequential fashion.
• Previous taught units in sequences need to be
mastered before presenting new units.
• This is known as “prerequisite” skills and must
be tested for mastery prior to introducing a
new unit of learning.
 Baker and Pophan (1970)
• Instruction should be measured to determine
if learning has occurred
• Test students with a pre-test of two or three
questions.
• If not mastered, then re-teach the parts not
learned.
 Characteristics of Curriculum
• The following are the characteristics of
Curriculum:-
1.Curriculum as an experience
2.As an intention
3.As a process
4.As a content/subject matter
5.As a cultural reproduction
 Curriculum as an Experience
• A set of planned learning experiences
encountered by students in and
outside classroom/schools.
• Students reflects upon the
experiences and monitor one’s
thoughts and actions in the
curriculum context
• A teacher acts as a facilitator to
enhance learners personal growth.
 Curriculum as an Intention
• Pre- determined aims, goals and
objectives describing what students
should learn.
• There are two stands
1. intentions statements planned for
students commencing a curriculum
2. statement of behaviour for
students exiting the curriculum
 Curriculum as a Process
• Personal growth and self actualisation
through learning experiential learning.
• Development of the students awareness
and self confidence as a professionally
practicing social worker
 Curriculum as a Subject Matter
• Combining subject matter to
form a body of content to be
taught.
• Traditional academic disciplines.
Curriculum as a Cultural Reproduction

• Passing on the salient knowledge

and values used by one generation
to the succeeding generation
• Reflect the culture of a particular
society.
 Common Points For Curriculum
Definitions
• Involves scope and sequence of general
learning tasks for students
• Can involve both academic and social side of
the students
• What is taught from the curriculum should be
measured for students learning mastery.
• Curriculum content can be affected by social
norms, religious beliefs, local village values,
culture and economic skills needed
 CONCLUSION
Curriculum :
•Is everything you learn at school.
•Written down in sequential manner –
easy to difficult.
•Respect mental, emotional and physical
development of the student.
•Ways to measure teacher effectiveness
and students learning
 DIMENSIONS AND TYPES OF
CURRICULUM

There are three dimensions of

curriculum, namely:-
1.Formal
2.Informal
3.Non formal dimension
 FORMAL DIMENSION
• Official or mandated curriculum
• Prescribed subjects and courses offered
at various level in and outside class
• Manifests in the course of study in
school
• Programme of teaching and learning
activities organised around defined
content areas and assessed in various
ways.
 NONFORMAL DIMENSION
• Co-curricular
• Out of class activities or programmes in
and out of class
• Flexible and less rigid
 INFORMAL DIMENSION
• Hidden
• Norms, values and behaviours enhanced at
school
• Learn by exposure
• Extra-curricular activities that take place on
campus.
• Activities that are not part of the formal
requirements of the course or programme of
study but which nevertheless contribute to
and in many ways define the culture of the
campus.
SEMINAR QUESTION 2
 Curriculum Categories
• Curriculum reflects the models of instructional
delivery chosen and used.
• Curriculum could be categorized according to
the common psychological classifications of the
four families of learning theories
1. Social
2. Information Processing
3. Personality
4. Behavioural.
Curriculum should be:
•Child-centered
•Society-centered
•Knowledge-centered, or
•Eclectic.
 Philosophical Orientations
• Mental discipline: memorization of facts
• Behaviourism: shaped by environment/reinf
• Perennialism: western civilization
• Essentialism: transmission of trad/moral va
• Existentialism: individual free to determine
• Constructivism: learners constructs his own
understanding of reality objects,people,even
• Reconstructivism :remodeling oppressive str
• Progressivism: focus on whole child not
content or teacher.
 TYPES OF CURRICULUM
• Leslie Owen Wilson 2005 proposed 11 types of
curriculum.
1. Overt, Explicit, Or Written Curriculum
2. Hidden Or Covert Curriculum
3. The Null Curriculum
4. Societal Curriculum
5. Phantom Curriculum
6. Concomitant Curriculum
7. Rhetorical Curriculum
8. Curriculum-in-use
9. Received Curriculum
10.The Internal Curriculum
11.The Electronic Curriculum
OVERT, EXPLICIT, OR WRITTEN CURRICULUM
• Also known as the "official" or the
"formal" curriculum
• Consists of the experiences related
to content, instructional procedures,
and materials for teaching specified
subject areas
• Usually formally outlined by a
designated government agency
 EXTRA-CURRICULUM
• Consists of formally recognized and
sanctioned activities outside the formal
classroom setting
• Designed to extend, enrich, and/or
supplement the explicit curriculum
• Designed also toward the "whole"
student or enriching the affective
component.
 THE HIDDEN OR COVERT CURRICULUM
• Also known as the implicit curriculum or the covert
curriculum
• Consists of the accidental or undersigned aspects of
education; considered by-products by many educators
• Consists of the informal interactions of teacher and
student; is often viewed as a product of the school
ethos or culture.
• The way the school is organized
• The way the teacher talks to the pupil
• The way we as educators listen to those whom we serve
in schools.
 All these affect the values which are transmitted, and affect
the self-worth and self-concept of the pupil.
 THE NULL CURRICULUM
• Also known as the "non-curriculum"
• Consists of the missing components of
educational life; in other words,
students often learn as much from what
is NOT taught as what IS taught .
• That which we do not teach.
• Giving students the message that these
elements are not important in their
educational experiences or in our society.
 PHANTOM CURRICULUM
• The messages prevalent in and through
exposure to any type of media.
• These components and messages play a
major part in the enculturation of
students into the predominant meta-
culture, or in acculturating students into
narrower or generational subcultures.
 CONCOMITANT CURRICULUM
• What is taught, or emphasized at home,
• Those experiences that are part of a family's
experiences, or related experiences sanctioned by the
family.
• This type of curriculum may be received at church, in
the context of
 Religious expression,
 Lessons on values,
 Ethics or morals and Molded behaviours,
 Social experiences based on the family's preferences.
 RHETORICAL CURRICULUM
• Elements from the rhetorical curriculum are
comprised from ideas offered by policymakers,
school officials, administrators, or politicians.
• This curriculum may also come from those
professionals involved in concept formation and
content changes
• From those educational initiatives resulting from
decisions based on national and state reports,
public speeches, or from texts critiquing outdated
educational practices.
• The rhetorical curriculum may also come from the
publicized works offering updates in pedagogical
knowledge.
 Seminar Question 3
• Discuss the dimensions of curriculum in
the context of Tanzanian curriculum.
 CURRICULUM-IN-USE
• The curriculum-in-use is the actual
curriculum that is delivered and
presented by each teacher.
• The formal curriculum (written or
overt) comprises those things in
textbooks, and content and concepts
in the district curriculum guides.
 RECEIVED CURRICULUM
• Those things that students actually
take out of classroom; those
concepts and content that are truly
learned and remembered.
• The gap between what is taught and
what is learned—both intended and
unintended—is large
 INTERNAL CURRICULUM
• Processes, content, knowledge
combined with the experiences and
realities of the learner to create new
knowledge.
• While educators should be aware of
this curriculum, they have little
control over the internal curriculum
since it is unique to each student.
 SOCIETAL CURRICULUM
• This is the Massive, ongoing, informal curric of
Family,
Peer groups,
Neighborhoods,
Churches organizations,
Occupations,
Mass media and
Other socializing forces that "educate" all of
us throughout our lives.
 Seminar Question 4
 With examples, distinguish between
Curriculum and Syllabus.
 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
• If you apply Benjamin’s ideas(in the Saber-Tooth
curriculum) to our Secondary school Curricula
towards the year 2025; Tanzania being a middle
economy country:
a)What would happen if there was no any
curriculum in a country/nation?
b) What do you think are the purposes of
secondary education in Tanzania? (4 points)
c) There are certain forces which lead to curriculum
change. With reference to your country, discuss
four factors that may lead to curriculum change.
 Assignment Structure
• Font Size: 12
• Font Type: Times New Roman
• Space between the Lines: 1.5
• The Whole Paper Should Be 6 Pages:
o 1 Front Page
o 4 For the entire work
o 1 For Reference/bibliography
• Deadline: Friday: January 2025 Time:
1600hours
• CRs of each group to collect all the Papers.
 Curriculum Terms and Concepts
• Studying curriculum discipline, terms
like curriculum design, curriculum
planning and curriculum
development are your constant
companion
• What is curriculum development?
• What is curriculum design?
• What is curriculum planning?
 Curriculum Planning
• Curriculum planning refers to the creation of a
curriculum
• Organization of various elements of a curriculum,
such as the core objectives (e.g. a competences to
achieve), subject, unit definitions, activities,
assessments, and resources
• Careful planning and organising of every aspect of
the curriculum.
• Making decisions about:
• The purpose of learning
• How the purpose might be implemented in teaching
and learning situation
 Curriculum Design
Curriculum Design may be defined as a
strategic process of informed and deliberate
construction of learning opportunities.
A process of analysing, choosing and
synthesizing curricular elements, learning
process, assessment criteria and evaluation
process to create a programme of learning.
Structure, pattern or organisation of the
curriculum.
 Curriculum Development
• Curriculum Development can be defined
as the systematic planning of what is
taught and learned in schools as
reflected in courses of study and school
programs
• Gradual, evolution and growth through
design and planning of a curriculum.
• Devising and piloting curricular materials
through deploying human resource and
other resources.
THE END OF MODULE 1