CURRICULUM
The term curriculum refers to the lessons and academic
content taught in a school or in a specific course or program. In
dictionaries, curriculum is often defined as
the courses offered by a school, but it is rarely used in such a general sense
in schools. Depending on how broadly educators define or employ the
term, curriculum typically refers to the knowledge and skills
students are expected to learn, which includes the learning standards or learning objectives they are expected to meet;
the units and lessons that teachers teach; the assignments and projects given
to students; the books, materials, videos, presentations, and readings used in
a course; and the tests, assessments, and other methods used to evaluate student
learning. An individual teacher’s curriculum, for example, would be the
specific learning standards, lessons, assignments, and materials used to
organize and teach a particular course.
When the terms curriculum or curricula are used in educational contexts without
qualification, specific examples, or additional explanation, it may be
difficult to determine precisely what the terms are referring to—mainly because
they could be applied to either all or only some of the component parts of a
school’s academic program or courses.
In many cases, teachers develop
their own curricula, often refining and improving them over years, although it
is also common for teachers to adapt lessons and syllabi created by other
teachers, use curriculum templates and guides to structure their lessons and
courses, or purchase prepackaged curricula from individuals and companies. In
some cases, schools purchase comprehensive, multigrade curriculum
packages—often in a particular subject area, such as mathematics—that teachers
are required to use or follow. Curriculum may also encompass a school’s
academic requirements for graduation, such as the courses students have to take
and pass, the number of credits students must complete, and other requirements,
such as completing a capstone project or a certain number of
community-service hours. Generally speaking, curriculum takes many different
forms in schools—too many to comprehensively catalog here.
It is important to note that
while curriculum encompasses a wide variety of potential educational and
instructional practices, educators often have a very precise, technical meaning
in mind when they use the term. Most teachers spend a lot of time thinking
about, studying, discussing, and analyzing curriculum, and many educators have
acquired a specialist’s expertise in curriculum development—i.e., they know how
to structure, organize, and deliver lessons in ways that facilitate or
accelerate