Meaning And Meaning Of Curriculum

Coming up with a clear definition of the word curriculum, as stated by (Marsh, 2009) is no easy matter. The word has a different meaning and purpose depending on the person asked. To most people and students however, it retains a somewhat common meaning referring to different courses and units. This is a definition that results from Latin origin where the term was coined from a similar name meaning ‘racecourse,’ (Marsh, 2009). Today, most commonly curriculum is used to describe the range of subjects and topics that are covered within each school year. The term simply defines what is expected of students, the range of information they are expected to learn and the limits of what they are expected to cover and be tested on at each level of their …show more content…
That is a person’s biography tends to influence their understanding of curriculum. Teachers tend to bring their own personality, background and influences when implementing and carrying out their own definition of curriculum. A curriculum is considered to have three different levels. The first is the planned curriculum which is purely theoretical. Here plans are made about how the entire thing should be structured and carried out by different teachers. The different concepts such as purpose and content are integrated here. The second stage is known as enacted curriculum where teachers make different decisions about the best way to implement the planned curriculum. These decisions are all integrated and help to fine tune the first stage of planning. Finally, the live curriculum is the third stage. This is purely practical and takes place within the classroom. It explains how teachers actually deliver the content to their students and implemented (March, …show more content…
Here, teachers often deviate from what was noted in the planned stage. People put their own spin on things and learn to deliver content in a way that best suits them. This is usually due to a person’s biography which plays a part in their understanding of things. People who are raised differently and have different backgrounds will have different attitudes, personalities and ways of looking at things. This is witnessed in the way that different teachers are usually noted to teach the same content in different manners. This therefore also affects their students. For example, students who are under a national curriculum in school are expected to get the same type of an educative experience. This is however not usually the case since each classroom tends to get a more personalized form of education based on the person assigned to their