RECONCEPTUALISING DOMINANT APPROACHES TO THE OFFICIAL CURRICULUM

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RECONCEPTUALISING DOMINANT APPROACHES TO THE
OFFICIAL CURRICULUM
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THE OFFICIAL CURRICULUM

• The official curriculum is a statement of
  curriculum intention that is developed and
  mandated by an educational jurisdiction. In
  Australia, the official curriculum is what the
  States set as the curriculum in Frameworks and
  courses of study.

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• What have been and are the dominant approaches to
  the official curriculum in Australia?
• Are these approaches suitable for meeting the
  purposes of education in these new times?
• What alternative approaches are available?

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RESEARCH PURPOSES

• Policy and Practice
• To provide DEST with a framework for analysing
  proposals for curriculum change
• To contribute to the development of curriculum
  policy at a national level
• To contribute to curriculum discussion and debate
  in a range of educational locations.
• Curriculum Scholarship
• To contribute to current curriculum literature
  and in particular to attempt to bridge the
  theory/practice divide that characterises that
  literature.

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WHAT IS CURRICULUM?

• Some considerations
• The total curriculum v syllabus content
• the hidden curriculum
• The planned curriculum and the received
  curriculum
• The formal and the informal curriculum
• Working definition
• The curriculum is the totality of experiences the
  pupil has as a result of the provision made
  (Kelly, 1999, p. 7).

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CURRICULUM
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VIEWS OF CURRICULUM

• The dominant view (dv) Curriculum as content or
  syllabus or product
• An alternative view (av) Curriculum as process
  and development

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• View of purposes of education
• Dv acquisition of knowledge
• Av human development in and for a democratic
  society

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• View of knowledge
• Dv Knowledge exists independently of the knower.
  Elevates the universal above the particular.
• Av Knowledge is acquired through the senses and
  through experiences. Knowledge is tentative,
  provisional and interest laden.

10

• View of learning
• Dv meaning is accessed, linear, aggregated,
  focuses on the rational
• Av meaning is constructed, holistic,
  experiential, spans a range of dimensions of
  human functioning

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• View of curriculum organisation
• Dv starts with a focus on knowledge. Organises
  around subjects with aims and objectives.
  Learning OF subjects.
• Av starts with a focus on human capabilities to
  be developed. Organises around principles of
  procedure. Learning THROUGH subjects.

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• View of pedagogy
• Dv transmission
• Av constructivist

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• View of teacher
• Dv implementer of a syllabus, teacher as
  technician
• Av constructor of curriculum, teacher as
  intellectual
• View of student
• Dv passive, consumer of knowledge
• Av active, constructor of meaning

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• View of curriculum change
• Dv valued knowledge identified by experts,
  developed and implemented.
• Av curriculum evolves through democratic
  discussion and the outcomes of educational
  research and practice.