The Role of Curriculum and Development in Teaching and Learning: A Critical Appraisal

The need for the development of a curriculum to guide the activities of a school or any academic endeavour for efficient attainment of its goals and objectives cannot be overemphasized. Education essentially involves the teaching and learning experiences, and to ensure a fruitful and rewarding experience which implies a good education, the curriculum must be adequately formulated or structured to meet or reflect the needs of the society and of the individual learner. It is on the basis of the above observation that this paper will attempt an examination of the roles which a curriculum plays in a teaching and learning condition. That is, such questions as how does the curriculum enable the teacher to do his job with relative proficiency? What importance does the curriculum hold for the learner in his effort at acquiring knowledge and improving himself? And what does the educational system generally stand to gain with the development of a curriculum?, will form the major concern of this paper. However, to achieve the goal of this paper, an explanation of the concept of curriculum becomes of utmost necessity. Hence, the paper begins with the clarification of the concept of curriculum and proceeds to the analysis of the various roles of the concept in teaching and learning. The point will be made that, a deviation from the curriculum will be detrimental to the educational system, the learner and the teacher. And only by developing a curriculum which is positive oriented focusing on the learner’s abilities and interest, can a proper education be attained through an enhanced teaching and learning.