FOUNDATIONS AND

DOMAINS OF CURRICULUM
& PEDAGOGY

CHAPTER 1
1
ESEB3063 CURRICULUM AND PEDAGOGY

Prepared by: Khursiah Abd Aziz

LEARNING OUTCOMES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1.

Identify the concept of curriculum

2.

Identify the concept of pedagogy

CONTENT
CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM:
What is Curriculum
Definition of Curriculum
Interpretations of Curriculum
Curriculum Plans
Malaysian Philosophy of Curriculum
Educational Philosophy
Historical Foundation of Curriculum
Key Features of New Curriculum

CONCEPT OF PEDAGOGY:

CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM

WHAT IS CURRICULUM?
Curriculum has to do with the answers to such
commonplace questions as;
what can and should be taught to whom, when, and how?"
(Eisner & Vallance, 1974).
curriculum is "all planning for the classroom" (Begg, 2005)

DEFINITION OF CURRICULUM
Curriculum is the content or subject matter of

instruction. The content includes the whole range of

matters in which the student is expected to gain some
knowledge and competence (Philip Phenix, 1962).

As content, as learning experiences, as behavioral

objectives, as a plan for instruction, and as a nontechnical

approach (Fred C. Lunenburg, International Journal Of
Scholarly Academic Intellectual Diversity , 2011).

The curriculum is all the experiences that individual

learners have in a program of education whose purpose is

to achieve broad goals and related specific objectives,
which is planned in terms of a framework of theory and
research, or past and present professional practice. Parkay
and Hass (2000).
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INTERPRETATIONS OF CURRICULUM
That which is taught in schools.
A set of subjects.
Content.
A program of studies.
A set of materials
A sequence of courses.
A course of study
A set of performance objectives
Everything that goes on within the school,
including extra-class activities, guidance, and interpersonal

relationships.
Everything that is planned by school personnel.
A series of experiences undergone by learners in a school.
That which an individual learner experiences as a result of

schooling.

CURRICULUM PLAN
What should be in curriculum plans for the classroom?
(1) Who should determine what is taught?; and
(2) What material should be taught?

()Who determines the curriculum can only be one or more

of the following:
(a) students' needs or wants;
(b) teachers' knowledge and expertise; or
(c) government's policies in response to society's problems

or issues.
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MALAYSIA PHILOSOPHY OF
EDUCATION
Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards
developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and
integrated manner, so as to produce individuals who are
intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically
balanced and harmonious based on a firm belief in and
devotion to God.

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

1. What is knowledge and

understanding?
2. What is worth knowing?
3. What does it mean to learn?
4. How do you know that learning has

taken place?
5. What should be the role of a

teacher?
6. What should be the role of the

student?
7. What is the ultimate purpose of

education?
8. What are your core educational

values?
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HISTORICAL FOUNDATION
OF CURRICULUM
Franklin Bobbit (1876-1956) Bobbit presented

curriculum as a science that emphasizes on

students need. Curriculum prepares students for
adult life.
Werret Charters (1875-1952) - emphasis on
students needs by listing of objectives and
matching these with corresponding activities
ensures that the content or subject matter is
related to objectives. The subject matter and the
activities are planned by the teacher.
William Kilpatrick (1871- 1965) child- centered:
child development and growth. The curriculum
develops social relationships and small group
instruction.

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HISTORICAL FOUNDATION OF
CURRICULUM-CONT.

Harold Rugg (1886-1960) child-centered; the

statement of objectives and related learning
activities and produce outcomes. Harold Rugg
emphasized social studies and the teacher plans
curriculum in advance.

Hollis Caswell (1901-1989) Sees curriculum as

organized around social functions of themes,
organized knowledge and learners interest.

Ralph Tyler (1902-1994) focus on students

needs and interest. Curriculum is related to
instruction. Subject matter is organized in terms
of knowledge, skills and values. The process
emphasizes problem solving. The curriculum
aims to educate generalists and not specialists.
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RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATION

Countries: United States, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom,

and Singapore, more emphasis on the teaching of core skills and

competencies to better prepare students for the workplace and to
enhance global competitiveness.

United States - workplace know-how (3) foundation skills

categorized as literacy skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities (SCANS

report 1991).

Australia - emphasis on a need for competencies required by workers.

New Zealand - emphasis on development of essential skills to achieve

a better placing in the international economic arena and to ensure all its
young people gain the knowledge, skills, understanding, and attitudes.

United Kingdom emphasis in a changing workplace all workers will

need broad-based qualifications.

Singapore-develop in our young the core skills and competencies, as well

as mindsets, that will enable them to learn continuously throughout

their lives.

Tien Hua, 2004, Education at Work, The NCIIA 8th Annual Meeting, March 18-20
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KEY FEATURES OF NEW

CURRICULUM
1. Emphasis on employability training
2. Explicit teaching
3. Implicit training
4. Introduction of more common core technical

modules and electives

5. Introduction of project module
6. Testing underlying concepts and employability skills
7. Competence-based assessment
8. Pedagogic-models
Tien Hua, 2004, Education at Work, The NCIIA 8th Annual Meeting, March 18-20

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CONCEPT OF PEDAGOGY

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THE GROWING FOCUS ON

TEACHING
In Europe concern with the process and content of
teaching and instruction developed significantly in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was, however, part
of a movement that dated from 300-400 years earlier. In
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries we see, for
example:
A growing literature about instruction and method aimed at

schoolteachers.
The grouping together of different areas of knowledge in
syllabi which set out what was to be instructed.
A focus on the organization and development of schools
(Hamilton 1999: 138).

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WHAT IS PEDAGOGY?
The art, science or profession of teaching
Word origin: Greek word paidagogos paid=child, agogos=
leader (slave who took child to school)
Defined as the exploration of effective teaching and
learning strategies.
Also defined as the art and science of teaching
children. In the pedagogical model, the teacher has
full responsibility for making decisions about what
will be learned, how it will be learned, when it will
be learned, and if the material has been learned.
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WHAT IS PEDAGOGY?
Pedagogy, or teacher-directed instruction as it is

commonly known, places the student in a submissive role

requiring obedience to the teacher's instructions.

It is based on the assumption that learners need to know

only what the teacher teaches them.

The result is a teaching and learning situation that

actively promotes dependency on the instructor.

(Knowles, 1984)

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Effective teachers have a rich understanding of the

subjects they teach and appreciate how knowledge in their
subject is created, organised, linked to other disciplines and
applied to real-world settings. While faithfully representing
the collective wisdom of our culture and upholding the value
of disciplinary knowledge, they also develop the critical and
analytical capacities of their students
(NBPTS 1999, 3-4 in Lovat, ACDE p12)
Two myths about teaching: (Shulman in Lovat, p12)
1.

Good teaching follows naturally from subject mastery

2.

A good teacher can teach anything at all.

Good pedagogy requires a broad repertoire of strategies and

sustained attention to what produces student learning in a
specific content domain, with a given group of students and a
particular teacher.
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Three ways of thinking about

Teaching
Teaching
Skills

Teaching
Models

Reflection

Teaching
Relationships
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Teaching Models
classrooms students learn models for:

Extracting information and ideas from lectures and presentations

Memorising information

Building hypotheses and theories

Attaining concepts and how to invent them

Using metaphors to think creatively

Working effectively with other to initiate and carry out co-operative

tasks

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General Teaching Knowledge

Generalised
pedagogical
knowledge

Effective
Effective
subject
subject
teaching
teaching

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Disconnected Knowledge

Knowledge of
the discipline

Generalised
pedagogical
knowledge

Effective
Effective
subject
subject
teaching
teaching

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Pedagogical Content
Knowledge
Knowledge of
the discipline
Pedagogical
content
knowledge

Effective
Effective
subject
subject
teaching
teaching

Generalised
pedagogical
knowledge

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END OF CHAPTER 1

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1.

Define curriculum.

2.

List down EIGHT (8) interpretations of curriculum.

3.

Discuss EIGHT (8) key features of new curriculum.

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