Curriculum

What is Curriculum?

Curriculum is the comprehensive collection of content in any given class. It includes the class materials, the skills and knowledge taught, the learning goals, and the activities/tasks that address these goals. In an English class, for instance, the curriculum would consist of the books being read, the rhetorical skills being taught and used in reading and writing, and the assignments asking students to utilize these skills. I look at curriculum as the backbone of a class; it is the foundation needed to organize and facilitate learning and teaching.

This section of my portfolio highlights the elements of curriculum and curriculum planning that I find to be the most useful and conducive to effective learning. In my discussion of curriculum, I emphasize that there is no one way to design a class and that curriculum should never be static. Educators should constantly adjust and adapt their curricula to their students. The most effective pedagogy and learning stems from a dynamic and personalized curriculum. For these reasons, I cannot choose just one curricular model to follow or definitively plan any curriculum before knowing the class to which it will be taught. I hope that readers come away from this section with an understanding that curriculum is not one size fits all. As a future educator, I am devoted to gradually building my curriculum planning skills through practice. My hope is that this section reveals my understanding of curriculum is evolving as I go from student, to student teacher, and finally to official educator.