Defining the curriculum Defining the curriculum is a very complex issue as the term curriculum means different things

to different people. There is a lack of consensus in the field as to what is a curriculum. The problem of curriculum exists because of the nature of what is being defined. Curriculum is a social phenomenon as it is created by the members of a society to serve a specific purpose. It is therefore important for each teacher to work out a clear idea about what the term means based on his/her own philosophies and the context in which he/she operates. According to Cornbleth (1990) how we conceive of curriculum and curriculum making is important because our conceptions and ways of reasoning about curriculum reflect and shape how we see, think and talk about, study and act on the education made available to students. The following is a sampling of the wide spectrum of definitions of curriculum that exist. 1. The curriculum is not a tangible product but the actual, day-to-day interactions of students, teachers, knowledge and milieu. The curriculum encompasses what others have called curriculum practice or the curriculum -in-use (Cornbleth 1990). 2. Curriculum is often taken to mean a course of study. When we set our imaginations free from the narrow notion that a course of study is a series of textbooks or specific outline of topics to be covered and objectives to be attained, broader more meaningful notions emerge. A curriculum can become ones life course of action. It can mean the paths we have followed and the paths we intend to follow. In this broad sense, curriculum can be viewed as a person's life experience (Connelly and Clandinin (1988). 3. The term curriculum is used to refer to planned learning experiences. It refers to the what of education (F. Parkay and G. Hass 2000). 4. A curriculum can be defined as the planned educational experiences offered by a school which can take place anywhere at any time in the multiple context of the school (E.A Todd 1965). 5. Curriculum is an explicitly and implicitly intentional set of interactions designed to facilitate learning and development and to impose meaning on experience (Miller and Seller 1985). 6. A general over-all plan of the content or specific materials of instruction that the school should offer the student by way of qualifying him for graduation or certification or for entrance into a professional or vocational field (Good 1959). 7. A curriculum is a plan for learning ( Hilda Taba 1962) 8. The curriculum of a school is 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 C. Doll 1996).

Prepared by: Dr. Carmel Roofe-Bowen 09