Curriculum in the Classroom

Essay # 63505

Education > Curriculum

A look at the definition of curriculum and the role the teacher plays in curriculum decision making.

1,631 words () | 20 sources | MLA | 2005 Australia

Paper Summary:

This paper provides an exploration of curriculum in the classroom. It discusses how school-based curriculum development is one of the many tasks that school staff are now responsible for as a result of school- based management and how teachers' responsibility for curriculum decision-making is now extended beyond their own classrooms to whole school initiatives.

Outline
Defining Curriculum
The Teacher's Role in Curriculum Decision-Making
Factors Shaping Teachers' Curriculum Decision-Making Space
Impact of Recent National Trends on Curriculum Decision-Making
Proposed Interview Questions

From the Paper:

"Outcomes-Based Education is a curriculum approach that inverts traditional planning, focussing on the outcomes stakeholders wish students to demonstrate as a result of their education (Brady, 1996). Once these desired outcomes have been identified, the challenge presented to schools, teachers, parents and students is to determine how they will ensure that these outcomes are achieved and demonstrated by all students. Lorenzen (1998, p.1) clarifies this process saying, "All curriculum and teaching decisions are made based on how best to facilitate the desired outcome." In this educational approach, the focus is no longer on what has been taught, but rather, what the students are able to demonstrate they have learnt."