Curriculum Studies
This guide is an essential resource for academic inquiry into curriculum and pedagogy, providing curated access to key books, journals, and databases in the field.
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Overview
This guide is an essential resource for academic inquiry into curriculum and pedagogy, providing curated access to key books, journals, and databases in the field. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me using the links in the left had column.
Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies by ISBN: 9781452265766Publication Date: 2010Full definitions and background information for important concepts in curriculum studies can be found here, with "see also" references and further readings for each concept.
Key concepts and definitions:
- Curriculum Design"A curriculum is a series of activities in which students engage with subject matter. Because everything cannot be studied at once, these activities must be orchestrated in some way. This arrangement is called curriculum design. Whether the subject is geometry, visual arts, or map skills, it is arranged in ways that emphasize some aspects and implications of the subject and neglect others. In this way, curriculum design is among the most powerful tools educators can use to influence what students learn." (Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies)
- Curriculum Inquiry"Drawing from multiple disciplines in diverse fields of studies, curriculum scholars have developed a wide array of forms of inquiry. More forms of curriculum inquiry emerge as curriculum inquirers continue to challenge traditional ways of engaging in and interpreting research and perceive curriculum inquiry as a form of liberatory or radical democratic practice." (Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies)
- Competency-based Curriculum"Competency-based curriculum design is a model in which educative goals are structured to discover and support the unique abilities and learning styles of individuals, thereby facilitating the achievement of their potential." (Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies)
- Problem-based Curriculum"Problem-based curriculum is designed to experientially engage students in processes of inquiry into complex problems of significance and relevance to their lives and learning. It is intended to challenge students to pursue authentic questions, wonders, and uncertainties in a focused way, which enables them to construct, deepen, and extend their knowledge and understanding." (Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies)
- Place-based Curriculum"Place-based curriculum can be viewed as a holistic approach to education, conservation, and community development that uses the local community as an integrating context for learning. Place-based curriculum seeks to foster a partnership between schools and communities." (Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies)
- Hidden Curriculum"The term hidden curriculum has been used in two quite different ways in curriculum studies. The more common and influential usage refers to student learning that is not described by curriculum planners or teachers as an explicit aim of instruction even though it results from deliberate practices and organizational structures." (Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies)