CHAPTER 1:
CURRICULUM AND
INSTRUCTION DEFINED

Developing the Curriculum

Eighth Edition

Peter F. Oliva

William R. Gordon II

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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AFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO:

• Identify alternative definitions of curriculum.
• Distinguish between curriculum and instruction.
• Explain in what ways curriculum can be considered a discipline.
• Create or select a model of the relationship between curriculum and instruction and describe your creation or selection.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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CONCEPTIONS OF CURRICULUM

• The track—the curriculum—has become one of the key concerns of today’s schools.
• The quest for a definition of curriculum has taxed many an educator.
• In many schools a written plan may be called a curriculum, but a curriculum encompasses many more entities than a written plan.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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CONCEPTIONS OF CURRICULUM

• The term curriculum 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 the school).
• Curriculum—is built, planned, designed, and constructed. It is improved, revised, and evaluated.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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CONCEPTIONS OF CURRICULUM

• With considerable ingenuity the specialist can mold, shape, and tailor the curriculum to the needs of children the school serves.
• Some curriculum theorists combine elements of both curriculum and instruction in defining the term curriculum.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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CONCEPTIONS OF CURRICULUM

Others find a definition of curriculum in:

• purposes or goals of the curriculum
• contexts within which the curriculum is found
• strategies used throughout the curriculum

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

1-*

CONCEPTIONS OF CURRICULUM

• The purpose of the curriculum:
• what curriculum does or should do
• what the curriculum is meant to achieve
• The contexts of the curriculum are the settings within which it takes shape-three types:
• essentialist curriculum-designed to transmit the cultural heritage
• a child-centered curriculum-designed to focus on the learner
• reconstructionist curriculum-aims to educate youth in such a way that they will be capable of solving some of society’s pressing problems

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

1-*

CONCEPTIONS OF CURRICULUM

• Text definition – curriculum is perceived as a plan or program for all the experiences that the learner encounters under the direction of the school. In practice, the curriculum consists of a number of plans, in written form and of varying scope, that delineate the desired learning experiences. The curriculum, therefore, may be a unit, a course, a sequence of courses, the school’s entire program of studies—and may be encountered inside or outside of class or school when directed by the personnel of the school.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

1-*

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

• A simplistic view of curriculum is – that which is taught and instruction as the means used to teach that which is taught.
• Even more simply, curriculum can be conceived as the “what” or ends and instruction as the “how” or means.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

1-*

• Both curriculum and instruction are subsystems of a larger system called schooling or education.
• Decisions about the curriculum relate to plans or programs and thus are programmatic.
• Decisions about instruction (and thereby implementation) are methodological.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

1-*

Four Models:

Dualistic

Interlocking

Concentric

Cyclical

Models of the Curriculum–
Instruction Relationship

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

1-*

Models of the Curriculum–
Instruction Relationship

Dualistic Model:

• Curriculum sits on one side and instruction on the other – no intersection.
• Discussions of curriculum are divorced from their practical application to the classroom.
• Under this model the curriculum and the instructional process may change without significantly affecting one another.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

1-*

Models of the Curriculum–
Instruction Relationship

Interlocking Model:

• Curriculum and instruction are shown as systems entwined.
• The separation of one from the other would do serious harm to both.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

1-*

Concentric Models:

• Mutual dependence is the key feature of concentric models.
• Two conceptions of the curriculum–instruction relationship that show one as the subsystem of the other.

Models of the Curriculum–
Instruction Relationship

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

1-*

Models of the Curriculum–
Instruction Relationship

Cyclical Model:

• Curriculum and instruction are separate entities with a continuing circular relationship.
• Curriculum makes a continuous impact on instruction and, vice versa, instruction has impact on curriculum.
• The essential element of feedback is stressed.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

1-*

Models of the Curriculum–
Instruction Relationship

Most theoreticians today appear to agree with the following comments:

• Curriculum and instruction are related but different.
• Curriculum and instruction are interlocking and interdependent.
• Curriculum and instruction may be studied and analyzed as separate entities but cannot function in mutual isolation.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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CURRICULUM AS A DISCIPLINE

What are the characteristics of a discipline?

• Principles – An organized set of theoretical constructs or principles that governs it.
• Knowledge and Skills – It encompasses a body of knowledge and skills pertinent to that discipline as well as the use of an amalgamation of knowledge and skills from many disciplines.
• Theoreticians and Practitioners – It has theoreticians and practitioners.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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CURRICULUM SPECIALISTS

Curriculum specialists make contributions by:

• Creatively transforming theory and knowledge into practice.
• Examining and reexamining theory and knowledge from their field and related fields.
• Stimulating research on curricular problems.
• Providing leadership to the teachers.

Oliva/Gordon Developing the Curriculum, 8e. © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

1-*

A FINAL THOUGHT:

• Teachers, curriculum specialists, and instructional supervisors share leadership responsibilities in efforts to develop the curriculum.