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Curriculum Development

Curriculum development refers to the planning and documenting of a teaching/learning episode, whether it is a short course undertaken at one particular time or a long course of several years, such as a school curriculum. A school syllabus is an obvious example of a curriculum, but a 2-hour presentation or 1-hour dance class also involves consideration of what the learners should learn, what subject matter is suitable, and how that content should be communicated. Curriculum may also refer to all of the learning experiences planned by an institution or system, provided they are formally planned. The planning process is informed by educational psychology by the established information it provides developers about the nature of the learner, the nature of learning, and the nature of teaching. It also offers a challenge for educational psychology to extend existing frontiers in these areas.

This entry traces the technical process of curriculum development from a consideration of the contributing disciplines; the situational analysis or appraisal of the context; the development of the four substantive elements of objectives, content, methods, and evaluation; and the sequence followed among those elements in the process of development. It also considers the naturalistic process, or the complex interactions and negotiations between participants or developers as they search for consensus about a suitable teaching/learning episode.

The Meaning of Curriculum

One beguiling interpretation of the curriculum is to regard it as a personal transaction between a teacher/ trainer and learner. Although that is true in one sense, there is also a broader context in which these transactions occur, a context that is part of the economic, political, and social nature of society. So, to understand the curriculum and its development, there is a need to understand the complex nature of society. The curriculum is not separate from society, but embedded in it.

Some definitions of curriculum often implicitly acknowledge this relationship. School curriculum, for instance, is sometimes portrayed as the context in which generations seek to establish self-identity. It is also represented as a reflection of what people in a society think, feel, and do. Other definitions that focus on a system or institution, typically the school, may equate curriculum with a syllabus prescription: an organized set of formal educational experiences, often specified by outcomes to be achieved. Others adopt a broader interpretation, defining it as all of the learning experiences planned and guided by the school. The definition of curriculum adopted in this article is applicable to both the narrow and broad conceptions.

Decisions informing the process of curriculum design include the contributing disciplines of psychology, philosophy, and sociology; the external and internal factors comprising the situation or context; and the substantive subject matter of the curriculum itself.

The Contributing Disciplines

Knowledge of the contributing or foundation disciplines of psychology, philosophy, and sociology are essential for curriculum development. Of course, the effective developer also needs a strong understanding of people (how they grow, learn, and cope); and society (how learners are influenced by the various groups and cultures that comprise it).

Psychology contributes through its investigation of the thoughts and actions involved in teaching and learning. It not only provides information that assists curriculum development, but also contributes its own methods of investigation. The list of areas in which psychology informs curriculum planning is virtually limitless, and includes the

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