Curriculum vs Instruction (1) Definitions

Oliva, P. F. (2004). Developing the curriculum (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Part I. The curriculum: Theoretical dimensions

Chapter 1. Curriculum and instruction defined

1. Conceptions of curriculum
A discipline of study and a field of practice, elusive, esoteric, lacking clean boundaries, not action-oriented (like supervision, administration, instruction). Not a real, total, tangible, visible entity.

2. Certification & curriculum
There is not a certifiable field labeled curriculum (seems that curr. can't exist by itself. It has to be with a subject area or one of more fields)

3. Interpretations of curriculum
A "field of utter confusion" (Grumet, 1988). Can be conceived in a narrow way (as subjects taught) or in a broad way (as all the experiences of learners, both in school and out, directed by school).

• "...that series of things which children and youth must do and experience by way of developing abilities to do the things well that make up the affairs of adult life; and to be in all respects what adults should be. " (Bobbit, 1918)
• "all the experiences children have under the guidance of teachers." (Caswell & Campbell, 1935)
• "...a plan for providing sets of learning opportunities for persons to be educated." (Saylor, Alexander, & Lewis, 1981)
• "...a plan for learning." (Taba, 1962) - it contains
  
  • a statement of aims and of specific objectives
  • selection and organization of content
  • patterns of learning and teaching
  • a programs of evalution
    
• "...the formal and informal content and progress by which learners gain knowledge and understanding, develop skills, and alter attitudes, appreciations, and value under the auspices of that school." (Doll, 1996)
• "...that reconstruction of knowledge and experience that enables the learner to grow in exercising intelligent control of subsequent knowledge and experience." (Taner & Taner, 1995)
• Oliver's (1977) four basic elements
  
  • The program of studies
  • The program of experiences
  • The program of services
  • The hidden curriculum (school values, teacher emphases, enthusiasm, physical & social climate, etc)
    
• Gagne's (1967) four elements
  
  • Subject matter (content)
  • The statement of ends (terminal objectives)
  • Sequencing of content
  • Preassessment of entry skills required of students
    
• a "structured series of intended learning outcomes." "the output of a 'curriculum development system' and as an input into an 'instructional system'." (Johnson, 1967)
• "If we are to achieve equally, we must broaden our conception to include the entire culture of the school - not just subject matter content." (Gay, 1990)
• "what is taught to students, both intended and unintended information, skills, and attitudes." (Sowell, 1996)
• "an assemblage of competing doctrines and practices." (Kliebard, 1998)
• "a desired goal or set of values that can be activated through a development process culminating in experiences for students." (Wiles & Bondi, 2002)
• "a course of life" led by teachers as curriculum makers (Clandinin & Connelly, 1992)
• "Curriculum understood as symbolic representation refers to those institutional and discursive practices, structures, images, and experiences that can be identified and analyzed in various ways, i.e., politically, racially, autobiographically, phenomenologically, theologically, internationally, and in terms of gender and deconstruction." (Pinar, Reynolds, Slattery, & Taubman, 1996)

4. Definitions by purposes, contexts and strategies

• Purposes: a statement of what the curriculum is meant to achieve does little to help us sharpen a definition of what curriculum is
• Contexts:
  
  • Essentialistic: transmit the cultural heritage, prepare pupils for the future
  • Progressive: child-centered, the development of the individual learner
  • Reconstructionist: educate youth to solve social problems and change society for better
  • Feminist: curriculum as a "project of transcendence, our attempt while immersed in biology and ideology to transcend biology and ideology." (Grumet, 1988)
    
• Strategies: misconceptions when the theorist equates curriculum with instructional strategies, for example --
  
  • the curriculum as a problem-sovling process: define curriculum in terms of an instructional process (problem-solving techniques, the scientific methods, or reflective thinking
  • the curriculum as group living: define curriculum around ins. techniques providing opportunities for group living
  • the curriculum as individualized learning/programmed ins. - specifications of systems by which learners encounter curricular content through the process of ins.

Overall, neither purpose, context, nor strategy provides a clear basis for defining curriculum.
Curriculum - ends
Instruction - means