Curriculum and Teacher Development

The word ‘curriculum’ is a contested term. It is less a word that refers to a single thing, and more a textual Rorschach test upon which teachers, policymakers and scholars project their own values and ideologies. ‘Curriculum’ is most commonly used as a noun signifying a course of study prescribed through policy-making processes. Once begin looking beyond the mandated curriculum – beyond textbooks and national, state, and provincial standards – for things that children are taught in schools, a myriad of educational effects come into view. Ideas about curriculum considered in this broader sense are as numerous and varied as ideas about the nature of human minds, society and knowledge. Practitioners and scholars readily acknowledge that there is much more going on in classrooms than is specified in mandated curricula; however, common sense ideas about curriculum as a package that can be delivered by teachers to their students like a bulk postal mailing remain difficult to dispel.