1.2.1 CURRICULUM PRESCRIPTIVE DEFINITION

Prescriptive Definitions

The prescriptive definitions, which are arranged chronologically, are as follows:

• Curriculum is a continuous reconstruction, moving from the child's present experience out into that represented by the organized bodies of truth that we call studies... the various studies... are themselves experience, they are that of the race. (Dewey, 1902)
• Curriculum is the entire range of experiences, both "rected and undirected, concemed in unfolding the abilities of the individual; or it is the series of consciously directed trainingexperiences that the schools use for completing andperfecting the unfoldment. (Bobbitt, 1918)
• The curriculum is a succession of experiences and enterprises having a maximum life-likeness for the learner... giving the learner that development most helpful in meeting and controlling life situations. (Rugg, 1927)
• The curriculum is composed of all the experiences children have under the guidance of teachers.... Thus, curriculum considered as a field of study represents no strictly limited body of content, but rather a process or procedure. (Caswell and Campbell, 1935)
• The curriculum is all the learning experiences planned and directed by the school to attain its educational goals. (Tyler,1957)
• A curriculum usually contains a statement of aims and of specific objectives; it indicates some selection and organization of content; it either implies or manifests certain patterns of learning and teaching... Finally, it includes a program of evaluation of the outcomes. (Taba, 1962)
• Curriculum is a sequence of content units arranged in such a way that the learning of each unit may be accomplished as a single act, provided the capabilities described by specified prior units (in the sequence) have already been mastered by the learner. (Gagne, 1967)
• By "curriculum we mean the planned experiences offered to the learner under the guidance of the school. (Wheeler, 1967).
• A structured series of intended learning outcomes (Johnson, 1967)
• All the learning which is planned and guided by the school, whether it is carried on in groups or individually, inside or outside the school. (Kerr, 1968).
• Curriculum is all planned learning outcomes for which the school is responsible.... Curriculum refers to the desired consequences of instruction. (Popham and Baker, 1970)
• The word curriculum means output of the curriculum development process that is intended for use in planninginstruction. (Schiro, 1978)
• Curriculum is a plan for providing sets of learning opportunities for persons to be educated. (Saylor, Alexander, & Lewis, 1981)
• The curriculum is not a tangible product, but the actual day- to-day interactions of students, teachers, knowledge and milieu. (Combleth, 1990)
• Curriculum refers to a written plan outlining what students will be taught (a course of study). Curriculum may refer to all the courses offered at a given school, or all the courses offered at a school in a particular area of study. (McBrien and Brandt, 1997)
• Curriculum is a prescribed body of knowledge and methodsby which it might be communicated. (Block, 1998)