The curriculum constitutes a major part of the educational framework. It may also defined in various contexts depending on its purpose or intended results – that is, the educational curriculum, total curriculum, ‘hidden’ curriculum, planned and received curriculum, and the formal and informal curriculum. However, despite the various designations that academic institutions may attach to the dimensions of the curriculum, its being a conjecture and a practice still remains.
The functionality of the curriculum lies not only in its practical application to various learning situations, but also in its being a theory since the speculative concepts and notions of what teaching and learning is about guides how the curriculum is put into practice within the academic institution. (Kelly, 2004) Under these pretexts, the purpose of this discussion will be on the process of dissecting the curriculum as it builds on a theoretical framework through the discussion and analysis of contributions set forth by Ornstein, Coyne, and Tanner on the matter at hand.Moreover, its practical application shall also be explore emphasizing on how it influences one’s academic and professional life. The curriculum theory was born out of various contexts or situations that were focused on the processes of learning and education. According to Ornstein and Hunkins (2009), paradigm shifts concerning the changing landscape of learning and education, such as the changing and diverse needs and concerns of the learners, the acknowledgement for the role of academic institutions and teachers in facilitating learning, the influence of systematized learning, and such.These paradigm shifts constitute the philosophical, historical, psychological, and social foundations of the curriculum.
Ornstein and Hunkins delved into these four major foundations of the curriculum defining how it materialized to become one of the most important practical instruments of facilitating learning.The philosophical foundations of the curriculum involves answering the basic rational and superlative inquiries formulating the general outline of the curriculum – it answers why is there a need to teach, who should be granted access to learning, and what learning content should be transferred to learners, how will the curriculum serve as the draft from which education is to be practically implemented, and such, while the historical foundation of the curriculum reviews how the organization of education was developed according to its established purpose and identified learning needs.Aside from philosophical perspectives, the curriculum was also founded on the relationship of education to society, such as nationalism, nation-building, resolution of societal problems, ethics and morality, and many more. In developing the curriculum theory, the process of transferring knowledge to learners with the purpose of providing efficiency and appropriateness is also considered, thus, forming the psychological bases of the curriculum. This particular aspect of the curriculum explores various theories that seek to explicate how learners learn, such as the theory of behaviorism, cognitive psychology, etc.
(Ornstein & Hunkins, 2009) Tanner and Tanner (2007) discussed these educational theories comprehensively by detailing varied takes on how educational should take place.Conflicts and differences between these theories were conferred in order to contribute to the knowledge of how the curriculum was shaped through the continuing transformation and evolution of knowledge about education. On the other hand, Coyne, Kameenui, and Carnine (2007) have discussed the role of the curriculum in addressing issues on instructional methods and techniques and providing efficient education to diverse learners.The variety of educational theories presented by Tanner and Tanner (2007), although inconsistent in nature, is highly instrumental in addressing different learning situations. The plethora of educational theories that form the foundations of education determines how the curriculum is to be designed concentrating on the characteristics or nature of the learners and the learning situation.
Based on previous discussion integrating the arguments or ideas from three references by Coyne, Kameenui, and Carnine (2007), Tanner and Tanner (2007), and Ornstein and Hunkins (2009), the curriculum theory may be represented in a paradigm as follows:Based on information and ideas obtained from reviewing the three aforementioned references, one of the primary goals and objectives in designing the curriculum is the challenging task of establishing a framework that relates its quintessential nature from its primary foundations to educational theories that should be carefully reviewed and analysis to address varied learning situations. Moreover, it should be flexible to educational innovations, as mentioned by Coyne, Kameenui, and Carnine, in order to arrive at an efficient and systematic guide as to how instruction is to take place, particularly in diverse learning situations.In this particular scenario, the curriculum should generally follow the fundamental concepts of its psychological, social, historical, and philosophical groundwork. However, it should select an educational theory that is best suited for diversity, such as cooperative learning as based on the theory of Lev Semanovich since this set-up allows helping relationships between learners with different skills, talents, and competencies. It does not mean, however, that pedagogy should only rely on one particular theory because there are various ways in which the process of learning is to be facilitated in diverse classroom settings.Overall, it is highly important that the educational institution provide a learning environment that hosts high quality of standards and guidelines, with flexible curricula and educational programs in order to address the different needs and concerns of the learners.
Diverse classroom settings should also be handled utilizing the integration of various theories and strategies and efficient and continual assessments and evaluation in order to ensure that learners are able to go with the development process intended by the curriculum.
