Curricula
Many scholars have looked at the term curriculum differently with an aim of making it simple for the lay man to understand the term.
Looking at some scholars definitions,some put it in ver few words while others go to great lengths to define this term.Looking at Glatthorn's and others definition,the term curricullum has been defined as"......plans made for guiding learning in schools.....and the actualization of those plans in the classroom....".Glatthorn et al(2015).For me,this definition makes it very clear that the planners and the actualizers are different groups of people.Then the related outcome in terms of exprience is also by a different group of people.Then ,this definition introduces the element of an obsever and the question here would be,who is the observer in this case?At this point,i feel that Gatthorn et al limits his definition by stating that learning expriences take place in"a learning environment".In reality,learning does not only take place in a learning environment but also in the uncontrolled,unstructured or nonformal environments.The same shortcomings are noted in Tanner and Tanner definition when they state curriculum to be"the planned learning activities sponsored by the school" Tanner and Tanner (1977),conf.Smith $ Orlovsky(1978).
Having said that,i beleive that the term'curriculum' can mean a while lot of things.Looking at it as a collection of lessons,assessments and other academic andnon academic content that are taught or learnt in school,pragram would sound more inclussive and better.According to Stotsky(2012),curriculum is a plan of action desired to achieve specific goals or objectives through a set of learning activities prescribed by an educational system.Bringing in the 'educational system' here indicates that a curriculum set and run not by a school,but by the government of the day.This is through policies and actors who may understand or not the curriculum that they are implementing.This is why curriculum keepon changing depending on what government feels should be learned and not necessarily on its importance.
As such,curriculum may not have one singular definition yet all definitions may have logical substance.
Curriculum types can be listed as recommended, intentional, learned and null.
The recommended or ideological curriculum is formulated by educational stakeholders as a guide for intentional curriculum, for example, national education policy which identifies vital learning areas and guides formulation of academic standards to be achieved through teaching and learning processes (Bhatti & Jumani 2019). It is often presented as policy recommendations, lists of goals, suggested graduation requirements among other components (Glatthorn 2015).
Intentional Curriculum is composed of written, supported, taught, and tested/assessed curricular, it is a set of learning experiences the school system intentionally intends for its students (Glatthorn 2015). Bhatti & Jumani (2019), posit that intentional curriculum translate broad goals of recommended curriculum into specific learning outcomes. In a nutshell, it is what is planned, taught and tested.
The learned curriculum on the other hand is comprised of what students understand, absorb and retain from both intentional and hidden curricular (not officially approved but part of the school ethos). It is the changes in values and behaviours that occur because of school experiences (Glatthorn 2015). Therefore, it can be defined as the knowledge, skills and conduct that result from interaction with the whole school environment.
Null or excluded curriculum refers to what is not taught or what the learner fails to learn for varied reasons (Bhatti & Jumani 2019). It is what is intended for learning but the teacher may choose to ignore or the student may not understand.
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