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Curriculum

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A curriculum represents the totality of student experiences within an educational process.

MMC MD Curriculum
MMC MD Curriculum

While many people think of a curriculum as just a list of subjects, it is much broader. It includes a planned sequence of instruction and the interaction between students and instructional content. It also involves the use of specific materials, resources, and processes for evaluating educational objectives. Essentially, a curriculum serves as a framework for how a school or educator intends to guide a learner toward specific goals.

Educators often view curriculum through several distinct lenses. The explicit curriculum consists of the formal subjects and the identified mission of the school. It covers the specific knowledge and skills that a school expects students to acquire. The implicit curriculum refers to lessons that arise from the school's culture, such as specific behaviors and attitudes. Within this, the hidden curriculum includes things students learn because of how the school is organized. These lessons are not overtly included in the planning, but they can involve the relationships formed between students and teachers.

Shimer IS 5 fall 1994 Sappho Bible
Shimer IS 5 fall 1994 Sappho Bible

Another category is the excluded or null curriculum, which includes topics or perspectives left out of the formal study. This often connects to the extracurricular curriculum. Extracurricular activities are school-sponsored programs intended to supplement academic life, such as sports, academic clubs, or the performing arts. Some activities are community-based and happen outside of school hours. For example, a student might learn about environmental conservation in a classroom. They might then join a community group like the Boy Scouts to act on that knowledge through a real project.

Creating an effective curriculum can follow a structured procedure. According to the scholar Smith, this process involves seven specific steps. First, developers must perform a diagnosis of needs. Second, they must formulate clear objectives. The third step is the selection of content, followed by the organization of that content. The fifth and sixth steps involve selecting and organizing learning experiences. Finally, developers must determine what to evaluate and choose the methods for doing so. This systematic approach ensures that the content and the experience work together to meet the goals.

Curricula can vary greatly in how they are managed. Some are tightly standardized, meaning they follow strict rules and specific topics. Others allow for a high level of autonomy for both the instructor and the learner. In many countries, there are national curricula for primary and secondary education, such as the National Curriculum in the United Kingdom. On a different scale, a high school might view its curriculum as the specific set of courses required to earn a diploma. This helps prepare students for life after they graduate.

The term "curriculum" has a long history rooted in the Latin language. It originally meant "a race" or "the course of a race," derived from the verb *currere*, which means to run.

Petrus Ramus Tabula Artium 1576
Petrus Ramus Tabula Artium 1576

The first known use of the word in an educational context was in 1576. This appeared in a work by Petrus Ramus, a professor at the University of Paris. By 1633, the University of Glasgow used the term in English. By the nineteenth century, European universities used the word to describe complete courses of study, such as those required for a degree in surgery. In 1824, it was officially defined as a fixed course of study at a college or school.

In the early 20th century, the concept of curriculum began to evolve. In 1918, John Franklin Bobbitt published the first textbook on the subject. He viewed the curriculum as a "social-engineering arena." Bobbitt believed the curriculum should be the course of experiences that helps children become successful adults. He argued that scientific experts should design these curricula to ensure students develop the qualities desirable in society. Today, the study of curricula remains vital. Organizations like UNESCO's International Bureau of Education work to study how curricula are implemented all around the world.

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File:MMC MD Curriculum.png
MMC MD Curriculum.png
File:Petrus Ramus Tabula Artium 1576.jpg
Petrus Ramus Tabula Artium 1576.jpg
File:Open Government Licence logo.svg
Open Government Licence logo.svg
File:E7331-MFTI-Glavny-Korpus-schedule.jpg
E7331-MFTI-Glavny-Korpus-schedule.jpg
File:Shimer IS 5 fall 1994 Sappho Bible.jpg
Shimer IS 5 fall 1994 Sappho Bible.jpg
File:Brown's Open Curriculum banner.jpg
Brown's Open Curriculum banner.jpg
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