What is Curriculum?
A variety of definitions 
But I dont 
work in a 
classroom, 
what does 
curriculum 
have to do 
with me? 
 
 
What is a curriculum?  What is a program? 
 A set of materials 
 A sequence of courses/projects 
 A set of performance objectives 
 A course of study 
 That which is taught in school/org 
 Content 
 Everything that goes on within the school/org including extra-class 
activities, guidance, and interpersonal relationships 
 Everything that is planned by school/org personnel 
 A series of experiences undergone by learners in school/org 
 That which an individual learner experiences as a result of 
schooling/org participation 
How do the two differ? How are they the same? 
According to Google.com  define: program, 
Programs are: 
 a system of projects or services intended to meet a public need; 
"he proposed an elaborate program of public works"; "working 
mothers rely on the day care program 
 course of study: an integrated course of academic studies; "he was 
admitted to a new program at the university" 
 (computer science) a sequence of instructions that a computer can 
interpret and execute; "the program required several hundred lines 
of code 
 
 A program or programme (in management) has at 
least two senses: 1) A collection of projects that are 
directed toward a common goal, e.g., the NASA space 
program; 2) A broad framework of goals to be 
achieved, serving as a basis to define and plan 
specific projects, e.g. the EU's SAPARD Programme. 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Program_(management) 
 Generally defined as an organized set of activities 
directed toward a common purpose or goal, 
undertaken or proposed by an agency in order to carry 
out its responsibilities. In practice, however, the term 
program has many uses and is used to describe an 
agency's mission, programs, functions, activities, 
services, projects, and processes. 
data2.itc.nps.gov/budget2/glossary.htm 
More definitions of program. 
Curriculum is: 
Albert Oliver 
Curriculum is an educational program with four basic 
elements 
  1. The program of studies 
  2. The program of experiences 
  3. The program of services 
  4. The hidden curriculum 
 
Robert Gagne 
Curriculum encompasses 
  1. Subject matter (content) 
  2. Statement of ends (end objectives) 
  3. The sequencing of content 
  4. Preassessment of entry skills 
Hass the curriculum is all of the experiences that 
individual learners have in a program of education 
whose purpose is to achieve broad goals and related 
specific objectives, which is planned in terms of a 
framework of theory and research or past and present 
professional practice. 
 
Kerr 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.  
How does curriculum/program apply to: 
 The university  (athletics, student services, etc.) 
 Business/Industry Training 
 Other settings 
 
How do you define curriculum/program in 
your preferred setting? 
But wait,  
there are other types of curriculum. 
What are they? 
Curriculum Definitions 
Curriculum Planning  VS  Planned Curriculum   
(whats the difference???) 
 
 Tested curriculum 
 Experienced 
curriculum 
 Hidden curriculum 
 Learned curriculum 
 Core curriculum 
 Written curriculum  
 Planned curriculum 
 Taught curriculum 
 Supported curriculum 
How do these terms apply to programs? 
Glatthorns Four Curriculums 
 
      Basic    Enrichment 
Structured    Mastery  Team Planned 
Nonstructured   Organic  Student Determined 
Thought question... 
What types of curriculum do you value most?  Why? 
What does your organization advocate? 
How do these terms apply to programs? 
Now for a bit of history vis--vis 
curriculum and schools . 
http://clarke.cmich.edu/schoolhouse/clark6.jpg 
How did schooling in the US evolve?   
How has that shaped the curriculum?   
How has that shaped educational access?  
1600s Pre-US. Historically, in England, there was a two tiered educational system. For 
the wealthy a tutorial system existed with classical training. For the poor, an apprenticeship 
system. Politically it was believed that the great body of the people were to obey and not to 
govern, and that the social status of unborn generations was already fixed. This was the 
tradition brought to the colonies.
1 
Massachusetts Laws of 1647, Deluder Satan Act, . 
Ordered that every township after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty 
householders, shall appoint one within their town to teach all children as shall resort 
to him to read and write. It is further ordered, that where any town shall increase to the 
number of one hundred families they shall set up a grammar school, the master thereof 
being able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the university.
 2
 
  Note: This Act recognizes the importance of education but did not require 
attendance by all students nor was it necessarily paid for with public funds.  
1776  Thomas Jefferson, in a report to the Virginia legislature, called for a public school 
system. Its purpose was to develop an intelligent citizenry and to provide educational 
opportunities that guarantee each individual the chance for optimal development. It was 
turned down.
3 
 
 
Elementary Schools 
 The graded elementary school with eight levels was established in 1818. 
4
 
 Until the 1840s -- The education system was highly localized and available only to 
wealthy people.
 4
 
 By 1850, 45% of children attended school and direct tax support for elementary 
education was a generally accepted practice. 
5
 
 Massachusetts passed the first compulsory school attendance laws in 1852, followed 
by New York in 1853. 
6 
 By 1918 all states had passed laws requiring children to attend at least elementary 
school. 
6 
 In the South public schools were much slower to emerge.  
With agriculture as the mainstay of the Southern colonists and with the large 
plantations in great measure self-sustaining communities, the planters soon became 
economically independent. The reciprocity of needs and services, so essential to the 
development of community enterprises, was not widely known. With the industrial 
system of the South resting on the institution of slavery, political power was for the 
most part in the hands of the planters, sharp social distinctions were inevitable, and 
the South naturally became aristocratic. This condition tended to retard the growth of 
a strong middle class, with which free public-school systems always originate.  
delayed also the [belief that] education as [is] a vital community interest. 
7
  
 While the concept of public education gained momentum and popularity, what was 
to be taught in schools and who would attend them was heavily debated starting in 
the 1820s. The question was: Would there be a common (public) school system 
with a common curriculum for rich or poor alike or a special system for poor 
children? 
8
 
 The concern was that the free schools might degenerate into, as Carter put it, 
mechanized seminaries, such as those seen in Europe, for educating the poor, while 
private institutions would provide an improved curriculum for the well-to-do 
(1824b, p. 20) 
8 
 Arguing against such divisions were Ward (1883, Dynamic Sociology), Parker 
(1894, Talks on Pedagogics), and Dewey (1910, Democracy and Education). 
According to Ward, unless the curriculum fostered the development of intelligence, 
education could not be a means of social reform
 9
 
 Parker built on this thought writing that more important even than the formalized 
curriculum was the social power of the school to break down the clannishness and 
prejudices of people from all parts of the world who were learning together in 
school
 10
 
 Dewey echoes these ideas saying educational opportunity is shared knowledge and 
concerns, and progress is achieved through breaking the class barriers to sharing. 
Thus, the problem was one of learning together as well as what is to be learned 
11
 
 
Have these debates been solved today? 
John Franklin Bobbitt 
 1918 (wrote first textbook on curriculum) 
 Belief: Curriculum is an arena for social engineering.  
 Assumption:  Scientific experts are qualified and justified in designing 
curricula based on expert knowledge of what qualities are desirable in 
adult members of society and it can be know what experiences would 
produce those qualities. Thus, curriculum is defined as the experiences 
that someone ought to have in order to become the kind of adult they 
ought to become. Curriculum is an ideal rather than reality of what will 
actually happen.  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curriculum 
Do you agree with Bobbitt? 
How do his writings influence curriculum today? 
Secondary Schools 
 1635 -- Boston Latin School, the first publicly  
supported secondary school in the US.
 12
 
 1751 -- Benjamin Franklins American Academy,  
Philadelphia, a new kind of secondary school to  
serve the demand for skilled workers. 
12 
 1892  NEA Committee of 10  
Purpose of American high schools debated  
College preparatory OR a peoples school offering a range of practical courses?
 13
  
 Establishment of a standard curriculum and liberalizing the high school by offering 
alternatives to the Latin and Greek classic curricula. 
13
 
 Goal of high school was to prepare all students to do well in life, contributing to their 
own well-being and societys good, and to prepare some students for college. 
13
  
 From 1900 to 1996 the percentage of teenagers who graduated from high school 
increased from about 6 percent to about 85 percent.
 14 
 In the 1920s and 30s, progressive education was the word of the day; the focus then 
shifted to intellectual discipline and curriculum development projects in the later 
decades. 
14
 
 
 
http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/06mar/images/wein2.jpg 
Have these debates been solved today? 
Post Secondary Schools  
 1636  Harvard University established 
15
 
 20th century participation in higher or postsecondary education in the United States 
increased tremendously. At the beginning of the century about 2 percent of 
Americans from the ages of 18 to 24 were enrolled in a college. Near the end of the 
century more than 60 percent of this age group, or over 14 million students, were 
enrolled in about 3500 four-year and two-year colleges. 
16 
 We will discuss post secondary schools more in subsequent classes
 
1. Knight, 1922, p. 21 
2. Pulliam & Van Patten, 2007, p. 81-82. 
3. Tanner and Tanner, p. 4 
4. Thattai 
5. Pulliam & Van Patten, 2007, p. 140 
6. Thattai 
7. Knight, 1922, p. 26 
8. Tanner & Tanner, 2007, p. 7 
9. Tanner & Tanner, 2007, p. 56 
10. Tanner & Tanner, 2007, p. 58  
11. Tanner & Tanner, 2007, p. 57 
12. Thattai 
13. Weidner 
14. Thattai 
15. Harvard University 
16. Thattai   
 
 Harvard University. http://www.harvard.edu/harvard-glance 
 Knight, E.W. (1922). Public education in the South. Chicago: Ginn 
and Company. 
 Pulliam, J. D. & Van Patten, J. J. (2007). History of education in 
America, 9
th
 ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. 
 Tanner, D. & Tanner, L. (2007). Curriculum development: Theory 
into practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. 
 Thattai, D. (n.d.) A history of public education in the United States. 
http://www.servintfree.net/~aidmn-ejournal/publications/2001-
11/PublicEducationInTheUnitedStates.html 
 Weidner, L. The N.E.A. Committee of Ten. 
http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/neacom10.html 
 
References  
Bonus Section --- 
Review if you wish, we will 
not be discussing this in class 
unless you ask questions. 
 
Explore the research paradigm 
you most affiliate with and 
then select a curriculum 
development model. If you 
agree with Bobbit you are 
Technical-Scientific in nature, 
if not, then naturalistic is 
probably more your style. 
 
Defining curriculum is one thing,  
Developing curriculum is another. 
Research paradigms, value systems, and 
beliefs about the world in general will 
influence the model of curriculum planning 
you advocate.   
Which camp do you most readily fall into? 
OR 
Applies scientific methods and principles to the 
task of curriculum development. 
Assumptions: 
 Reality is definable 
 The goals of education are knowable 
 A linear, objective process will yield a useful 
documents and high quality plans 
---> 
 
Deductive Process 
 Top down 
 Extensive administrator involvement 
 Starts by examining broader questions/purposes 
of education and societal needs before addressing 
the classroom level 
Key authors:  Tyler, Hass, Hunkins, WIDS 
 
---> 
Inductive Process 
 Bottom up 
 Curriculum development  
    by classroom teachers 
 Starts by developing individual units which 
will be assembled into a cohesive program 
Key author:  Taba 
Tyler Model 
(Ornstein & Hunkins, 1993,j p. 267-8; Wiles & Bondi, 1989, p. 10) 
1.  Define purpose of school 
  Identify instructional objectives 
2.  Relate educational experiences to school 
purposes 
3.  Organize educational experiences 
4.  Evaluate purposes for  
     program effectiveness. 
Hass & Parkay Model  
(Hass & Parkay, 1993, p. 294) 
1.  Identify context (gather data about intended 
learners and the human, social, and 
environmental variables within which learners 
interact) 
2.  Determine objectives 
  Set goals 
3.  Select , Prepare, & Implement ----> 
    Strategies and Alternatives 
4.  Evaluate 
Hunkins Model  
(Hass & Parkay, 1993, p. 329-32; Ornstein & Hunkins, 1993, p. 207-73) 
1.  Curr. conceptualization and legitimization 
  built on societys values, beliefs, knowledge 
bases, institutions, and artifacts 
  complete front end analysis: 
  ask philosophical questions 
  debate purpose of schooling 
  debate curriculum designs 
    develop master curriculum plan 
2.  Curriculum diagnosis 
 Identify reasons for human performance 
deficiencies 
 Translate needs into causes 
 Generate goals, objectives, expected 
learner outcomes 
3.  Content selection 
 Identify criteria for content selection       
(ie. economy, significance, validity, 
interest, learnability, feasibility) 
 Sequence content         ---> 
4.  Experiencs and material selection (by teacher) 
 Determine methods, strategies, activities, 
incentives, materials, nature of educational 
environment 
5.  Implementation 
 Pilot curriculum (assess curriculum not 
students) 
 Modify where necessary 
 Full implementation 
---> 
6.  Evaluation 
 Determine if curriculum is 
presented/taught as written and 
recommended (supervision function) 
 Furnish data so decisions can be made to 
continue, modify or discontinue program 
7.  Maintenance 
 Monitor and maintain  
  curriculum 
Taba Course Development Model 
(Oliva, 1992, p. 160-2) 
1.  Produce pilot units  (see next slide) 
2.  Test experimental units 
3.  Revise and consolidate units 
4.  Develop a framework 
5.  Install and disseminate new units 
Taba Pilot Unit Development Model 
1.  Diagnose needs - what are current gaps in 
student learning 
2.  Formulate objectives 
3.  Select content 
4.  Organize content 
5.  Select learning experiences 
6.  Organize learning activites 
7.  Determine what to evaluate and ways and 
means of evaluation 
8.  Check for balance and sequence 
9. Specify 
Assessment 
Strategies 
14. Create 
A Class 
Syllabus  
13. Layout 
Learning/ 
Lesson Plans 
12. Develop  
Instructional 
Materials  
11. Design 
Learning  
Activities 
10. Develop 
Assessment/ 
Record Plan 
7. Sequence 
Competencies 
8. Develop  
Course/goal 
Description 
6. Designate 
Core 
Abilities 
5. Develop 
Performance 
standards 
1. Perform  
needs/task  
analysis 
2.  Write 
Course 
Competencies 
3. Analyze  
Course 
Competencies 
4. Develop 
Learning 
Objectives 
Wisconsin Instructional Design System 
Nontechnical-nonrational approach 
Assumptions: 
 Curriculum evolves as learners, teachers, and knowledge interact 
 All goals of education cannot be predefined 
 Content can only be tentatively selected 
 Learning will be based on the creation of knowledge, especially 
self-knowledge 
 Curriculum development is highly political requiring 
administrators and teachers to work together 
Key author:  Glatthorn (naturalistic model) 
Glatthorn Naturalistic Model 
(Ornstein & Hunkins, 1993, p. 274; Glatthorn, 1987, p. 89+) 
1.  Assess the alternatives - evaluate current 
approaches 
2.  Stake out the territory 
  define course parameters 
  define learning audience 
  define learning activities 
3.  Develop a constituency 
---> 
4.  Build the knowledge base 
 identify content 
 gather data on faculty skill and support 
 gather data on student audience 
5.   Block the unit 
 select unit topics 
 write general objectives 
6.  Develop unit planning guide 
 
---> 
7.  Plan quality learning experiences 
 Select experiences not content to be learned 
8.  Develop course examination 
 Tell how learning will be documented (not 
test development) 
9.  Develop learning scenarios 
10. Package the product