‘ There’s a series of pitcures here on three different families-ah- three different kids from the different

backgrounds and there’s about twelve photos- with no captions - and we are just goin to look at them-the
families at the age the kids in the class are they should be able to relate to the families although I might to
ask some questions for them to see the big ideas like education or lifestyle they will pick out the details
like in the houses the television, and electric stove and refrigerator and the cloths, or in the village houses
the sleeping mats and pottery bowls but they might not see these as lifestyle. I will devide them into small
groups that will give them more opportunity to talk about the ideas and each group will come up with a
caption for each photo and then as a whole class we will compare whar they have written with the
captions that are suggested in the kit-there’s not really any right or wrong answers...’

The above is a small quote from a teacher talking about her plans for activities for a year 5/6 class in
social studies. The teacher however, could be a teacher in an early childhood setting, a secondary school,
a senior college, a technical college, a university or any other place where teaching and learning occurs.
The teacher could be undertaking his/her own planning, be part of team in a school, college or university,
be a member of curriculum planning group preparing a kit of resources and materials for commercial
publication. The learnes could be of pre school age, children, adolecents or adults. The teacher could be a
parent, or a student, or a community person, engaged in curriculum work.

The quotes describes, as we will see later, part of the planner’s mental curricukum planning process: that
is, it represents whar teachers and others are thinking about when they are planning and implementing
learning experiences for students, It is this curriculum process that is the focus of this book.

The curriculum process is holistic and includes the phases of planning, development, implementation and
evaluation , which some other writers have viewed as being separate. Such a separation is problematic, as
we shall see in chapter 2.

our view of the curriculum process is that it is a series of decision and judgments. These decisions and
judgements. These decisions are based upon the planners beliefs, assumptions, perceptions and biases and
upon the ways in which teachers, and others make meaning of teaching reality in which they are located.
The curriculum process then is seen as a problem-solving process in which the teacher processes a
complex variety of stimuli and information and uses this to make decisions and solve problems: the
teachers key roles in this are those of information processor, manager, decision maker and problem
solver.

if we look more closely at the quote above we can gain some idea of the most important perceptions,
assumptions and beliefs that inform the teachers curriculum process. In addition, we can also identify
some of the most important objects or concepts that are the focus of these beliefs, assumptions and
perceptions.(Calderhead, 1996)

for example, look at the phrase :

“... they should be able to relate to the families...”

Here the teacher is making statement about her perceptions and assumptions relating to what is probably
the most important focus of curriculum planning, the learnes or students. the resources, another important
component of a teachers perceptions, have been selected deliberately because the teacher believes the
learners will be able to relate to them, or because what is contained in the photos are similar to the
students own experiences.

In choosing these particular photos, though the teacher is also mindful of what we know about how
children learn at this age. Notice the phrase:

“....although Imight have to ask some questions...but they might not see it as lifestyle”

Here, the teacher is exposing part of her theory of learning. Behind her statement, are the ideas of
developmental psychology which suggest that each of us moves through certain stages of development.
Research suggest that at the age of the children in the class(about 11 or 12 years) even though students
will take notice of the details of a photo for example sand, sea and rock is unlikely that they will see
these details together as a more comprehensive concept, such as a beach.

The teacher tells us something more about her theory of learning when she says: I`ll divide them
into small groups-that will give them more opportunity to talk about the ideas...”This statement
suggests that the teacher believes that it is important for students to talk to one another if they are
going to learn effectively, It maybe reflects her beliefs in the social constructivist processes at
learning. The teacher’s words tell us something of her beliefs and ideas about her role as a
teacher. Her role is one of setting up the activities. The is a very different notion of “ teacher”
than one in which the teacher gives the students the information. Obviously, the teacher sees that
she has a great deal of freedom in her planning and teaching and is able in encourage students to
learn by themselves. This perception is reinforced by her final comment-“there’s not really any
right or wrong answers”.

The above comment reveals that the teacher does not perceive the subject she is teaching in a
narrow or restricted way. Possible student responses are just as accurate as the teacher’s. Thus,
the teacher’s perceptions of the subject or knowledge area is open rather than closed, giving her
ints of decision- making space and freedom in her teaching activities. The photos are the means
she as chosen to represent the concepts of the subject see pedagogical content knowledge-
Chapter 61.

Together, these perceptions, theories, assumptions and ideas about the ‘learner’, the ‘teacher’,
the ‘subject’, ‘knowledge’, ‘teaching’ and ‘learning’ inform and underpin any process of
curriculum planning and teaching. Sometimes , they are made explicit ,although, more often,
they remain implicit in the example above, what these beliefs, assumptions and perceptions
represent is the manner in which this teacher sees the world. We will have much more to say
about this later. Suffice it to say, at this stage, that each person, in varying degrees ,sees and
relates to the world differently. The way we sees and make sense of our world is partly
dependent upon what some writers describe as our enculturatoin and socialization.

By these terms, these writers mean that we are not hermits. Each of us is born and lives in a
culture and a society. We cannot live alone. We depend upon other people in satisfy many of our
needs and wants. We are dependent upon, and influenced by, many institutions in our society
such as:

 the family;
 a variety of social, recreational and work groups:
 financial, commercial, educational and industrial organizations;
 religious organizations; and,
 the media

By living with these institutions, experiencing their practices and being continually exposed in
their messages, we are conditioned to view the world, its variety of people and issues associated
with it in a particular way.

Within this socially-constructed reality, each of us responds in different ways. Thus we develop,
with our socially-constructed reality, our own individually-constructed reality: to some degree,
we select and perceive different stimuli and make meaning of really in different ways. In this
way, then we construct our own theories at the world and the way it work. As will see in the final
chapter, some writers assert that we actually create our own reality.

Some of the cheuries of the teacher referred to above are reflected in the qunte. Her theories
partly reflect her own individual perceptions and meanings. In addition, however these personal
theories are informed by, and interspersed with, more generally developed and accepted theories.
For example, the reference to the theories of the developmental and constructivist psychologists
probably reflects part of her teacher education.

The perceptions, assumptions, beliefs and meaning together constitute the theories of a teacher,
and inform his/her curriculum processes. These are made up of both personal theories and made
generalized theories which have been learnt through the processes of socialization and
enculturation. It appears that the most important disciplines form which the generalized theories
inform teacher’s curriculum work are drawn are:

PHILOSOPHY SOCIALOGY PSYCHOLOGY

In this book, we will explain the contribution that such disciplines and theories can make to a
teacher’s or planner’s curriculum work. We will then consider different approaches to
curriculum processes all of which are hased on theories drawn from these disciplines. We will
discuss these in a critical manner, analyzing the assumptions and beliefs on which these
approaches are based. Included to approach their own curriculum process. Before exploring these
disciplines and theories, however, we should first have a look at the nature of curriculum