Gosh, there are certainly many things to find when searching for the definition of curriculum. The definitions I've found tend to be very broad and don't really give me much more than I already knew about what a curriculum was. Wikipedia gives curriculum this definition - In formal education or schooling (cf. education), a curriculum is the set of courses, course work, and content offered at a school or university. The Webster-Merriam Dictionary gives curriculum this definition - 1 : the courses offered by an educational institution; 2 : a set of courses constituting an area of specialization. John Kerr gives it a slightly different, and to me, a slightly more useful definition - All the learning which is planned and guided by the school, whether it is carried on in groups or individually, inside or outside the school. Then as I dug deeper I found that people have even broken down the definition of curriculum into 4 or more parts, types or approaches. This link had a very lengthy list to define curriculum - http://www.uwsp.edu/Education/lwilson/curric/curtyp.htm. Whoa. My head is spinning now.
I guess if I could pick a definition that spoke to me the most personally and one I would use to guide my own thinking at this point would be the definition given by John Kerr that I referenced above and italicized for easy finding. Of course, I could be completely off base in my newer thinking on curriculum after my research into just the definition. I reserve the right to change my preference and definition with newer thinking.
I think for the course I am finding that my biggest question I want answered is, "What should the curriculum include?" I think knowing 'what' a curriculum should include, although I fear that there is no easy answer there either, will help me better in determining what a good working definition of curriculum is. I work as a grade 1 teacher and plan on staying in the elementary arena at this point (but who knows where the winds will take me next year). Due to the area I work in, I think my inquiry project question will be, "What should an elementary school curriculum include?" I am borrowing this from Ed's list, but I think this is the best way to direct my own learning.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Audrey, thanks for your definition of curr. I agree that the Kerr definition is pretty useful. It certainly gets at a couple of important pieces—the learning planned by the school and the acknowledgement that it includes elements both inside and outside of school. The only thing I would add is that it also included things NOT specifically planned by the school. For example, all kids learn a lot (and not necesarily in the curriculum) about who is treated fairly and equitably. Do some kids bet more preferential treatment because of the position or status of their parents. Kids pick up on this. While certainly not planned...these types of things are nevertheless part of the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteYour inquiry topic is a good one and well worth pursuing.