There are several definitions of the term curriculum some of which are described here.
In its broadest sense, it includes the complete environment of the institution incorporating all the courses, activities, readings and associations furnished to the students in the institution.
According to Doll, the curriculum of an institution is the formal and informal content and process by which learners gain knowledge and understanding, develop skills and alter attitudes, appreciations and values under the auspices of that institution.
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In another definition, curriculum is defined as a plan for providing sets of learning opportunities to achieve broad goals and related specific objectives for an identifiable population served by a single unit or institution.
Thus, a curriculum is characterized by the following features:
(1) It is intended or anticipatory in nature.
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(2) It includes plans and sub-plans for the teaching-learning processes.
(3) It includes guided, pre-selected learning experiences to which students need to be exposed.
(4) It focuses on aims and objectives as well as the outcomes of being educated.
(5) It incorporates a system of achieving educational production including curriculum design and planning, implementation and evaluation.
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(6) It is always meant for an identifiable population served by a single institution.
Every educational institution has a planned, formal, acknowledged curriculum as well as a wide variety of informal, unplanned or covert factors known as hidden curriculum. The planned curriculum encompasses content usually characterized by knowledge within subjects and subject fields.
On the other hand, the unplanned curriculum includes such varied experiences such as learning to like mathematics, resisting pressure to smoke or take ‘gutka’, developing a prejudice against a particular community or teasing classmates, learning to copy/cheat in examination etc.
In this chapter the term ‘curriculum’ refers to all planned activity involving students and teachers, teaching approaches and methods.