Curriculum

A curriculum is the total experience of a student in a learning process.

It is much more than just a list of books or subjects. A curriculum includes a planned sequence of instruction. It also includes how students use materials and resources. Educators use it to reach specific goals. It can even include ways to check if students have learned. Some people see it as a way to prepare students for life.

There are many different ways to look at a curriculum. The explicit curriculum includes the subjects that are planned for teaching. This covers the skills and knowledge a school wants students to gain. The implicit curriculum comes from the culture of the school. It includes the behaviors and attitudes found in that culture. There is also a hidden curriculum. These are lessons learned from how a school is organized. These lessons are not part of the official plan. They can include the relationships between students and teachers.

Students also participate in the excluded or extracurricular curriculum. These are activities that supplement academic learning. Examples include sports, academic clubs, or the performing arts. Some activities happen in the community instead of the classroom. For instance, a student might study nature in class. Later, they might join a group like the Boy Scouts to learn more. These community programs help expand on what was taught in school. They allow students to act on their new knowledge.

The word curriculum has a very old history. It began as a Latin word meaning "a race." It comes from the verb "currere," which means to run.

The first known use in education was in 1576. This was in a work by Petrus Ramus at the University of Paris. In 1582, the term appeared in records from the University of Leiden. By 1633, the University of Glasgow used the term in English. In 1824, it was defined as a fixed course of study. This helped describe the path students take through a college or school.

Making a curriculum often follows a specific set of steps. One way to do this involves seven stages. First, experts must diagnose what the students need. Next, they must create clear objectives. Then, they select the content to be taught. After that, they organize that content into a logical order. They also choose specific learning experiences for the students. Finally, they decide how to evaluate if the learning worked. This careful planning helps schools reach their big goals.