Curriculum Development

Chapter 9 Reflection

In the textbook, chapter 9 is dedicated to curriculum, what it is, how to develop it, and the importance of it. The authors start out by defining what curriculum actually is by stating “…it is the process of researching, writing, organizing, and teaching what you hope students will learn” (Freedman & Boughton, 2023, Ch. 9 p. 1). They then go on to discuss four different types of curriculum. This chapter focuses more on the planned curriculum while enacted curriculum is discussed in other chapters. One of the other ones mentioned is the null curriculum which is a name for how “students learn from what is not taught” (Freedman & Boughton, 2023, Ch. 9 p. 3). Also mentioned is the hidden curriculum which is somewhat similar to the null curriculum in that it is not done on purpose but this one refers specifically to the things students learn that are not intentionally taught. This type of curriculum can lead to both positive or negative learning. After this, the text dives into discussing how to design a planned curriculum. It starts by listing out the three levels at which curriculum is conceptualized starting with the aims. These are “the societal reasons for including certain content in school” (Freedman & Boughton, 2023, Ch. 9 p. 4). After that comes the goals and the objectives which get written at more specific levels from district or state level for goals and individual classrooms for the objectives. The next part goes through the different structures of curriculum including spiral, interactive, interdisciplinary, and event experiences. A spiral curriculum is sequential and builds upon itself as it progresses. An interactive one involves an outside of school component by taking issues or ideas brought up by students and responding to them in real time. Event experiences connects real life events like field trips to the curriculum. Regarding the interdisciplinary curriculum, which is combining other school subjects with art, the text states “Art is inherently interdisciplinary” (Freedman & Boughton, 2023, Ch. 9 p. 10). They also list some of the concerns that have risen with this type of curriculum, but the authors also mention the importance of collaboration between teachers to begin this type of integration. The next part discusses some of the different concepts that could be used to help teach students about visual culture. It also has a section talking about how the style in which the curriculum is taught is just as important as the concepts being discussed. The chapter ends on designing lesson plans and goes through the different types of objectives as well as going through a daily plan all the way from the introductory days to the wrap-up.

I found this chapter to be very helpful and informative in explaining what curriculum is and the different types of it. For myself personally, I’ve always questioned how teachers decide on what to teach to their students and this chapter has helped answer that as well as a few other questions about this topic. I like how the authors took the time to explain the different types of curriculum and how they connect to teaching visual culture. I also thought it was very helpful that they included a list of the key concepts relating to visual culture with an example of an elementary level statement that connects with each concept.

After learning more about what curriculum is and how to design a lesson idea, this knowledge will be very helpful for the future when I am teaching my own classes. I can use the different types of curriculum styles to help build up a lesson plan now that I know what they are and how to relate them to visual culture. That list of the concepts with example statements will also be helpful because having the sample statements helped me understand better how each concept can connect to visual culture. It helps me personally to have these examples because I can follow them at the beginning just to get started before eventually doing things in my own way.

Save Our Planet by Namfon

References:

Freedman, K. & Boughton, D. (2023). Elementary Art Education: A Practical Approach to Teaching Visual Culture [Unpublished manuscript]. Art and Design Education, Northern Illinois University.

Namfon. (2021, February 10). Paint for the Planet . Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/nature/article/paint-for-the-planet