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Online Refresher Course on Curriculum, Pedagogy and Evaluation for Higher Education
1 | Important Curriculum Theories Related to Higher Education
ANNUAL REFRESHER PROGRAMME IN TEACHING (ARPIT)
Online Refresher Programme On
CURRICULUM, PEDAGOGY AND EVALUATION FOR
HIGHER EDUCATION
MODULE NO. 4
IMPORTANT CURRICULUM THEORIES RELATED TO
HIGHER EDUCATION
National Resource Centre
Central University of Kerala
School of Education
CREDITS
Course Coordinator Module Contributor
Prof. (Dr.) Mohamedunni Alias Musthafa
Coordinator, NRC
Professor and Dean
School of Education,
Central University of Kerala
Dr. Hameed Ayyat
Assistant Professor
Department of Education
University of Calicut
Kerala

IMPORTANT CURRICULUM THEORIES RELATED TO
HIGHER EDUCATION
OBJECTIVES
1. To get an overview of different curriculum theories
2. To analyze different curriculum theories
3. To understand the objectives of curriculum theories
4. To learn different functions of curriculum theories
5. To study the nature of different curriculum theories in higher education
INTRODUCTION
A curriculum is a plan, or a sort of blueprint for systematically implementing
educational activities and programmes in a specific setting. It is an important element
of education that defines its aims, specifies its processes and reflects its outcomes. An
effective curriculum provides teachers, students, administrators, and community
stakeholders a measurable plan and structure for providing a quality education. The
curriculum identifies the learning outcomes, standards and core competencies
that students must acquire before advancing to the next level. Teachers play a
key role in developing, implementing, assessing and modifying the
curriculum. Curriculum consists of continuous chain of activities needed to translate
educational goals into concrete activities, materials and observable change in
behavior.
Curriculum, as we comprehend it today, has developed through the years, from
systematically planned and unplanned relevant learning experiences that occur in the
educational process. The term curriculum has been derived from a Latin word
“currere” which means race course or a runway on which one runs to reach a goal. In
education, curriculum is the “study track”, along which students travel during a course
of study. Curriculum is a blue print, which is systematically planned and it brings
about changes in learners in four domains: cognitive (ie. knowledge and intellectual
skills), affective (ie. feelings and attitudes), interpersonal (including behavior and
relationships with others), and psycho-motor (ie physical skills). Curriculum is

defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The
term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the
student's experiences in terms of the educator's or school's instructional goals.
Curriculum is critical in providing high quality educational programs and
services according to the level of students. There are gaps between how curriculum is
developed and how curriculum is supposed to be developed in theory. This dilemma is
further complicated by the fact that there are huge differences between the curriculum
published by the educational institutions and the curriculum actually taught by the
teachers in their classrooms. Curriculum is considered as a foundation stone for well-
planned higher education. According to the principles of adult learning, learners build
up their new learning on prior knowledge. They are self-motivated and self-directed
learners and they prefer collective learning. They need respect and acknowledgement
for their learning and their learning process is needed to be practical oriented.
Developing an effective curriculum for higher education with flexibility in terms of
goals, objectives, and feasible strategies within a common educational framework is a
challenging task. To an extent curriculum theories and approaches help to tackle this
by suggesting processes and programs, strategies and learning activities applicable in
different levels of learning.
This module is to examine and understand the role and the meaning of
curriculum theories, specifically in the Higher Education context.
Foundations of Curriculum
Every curriculum has a purpose and if it is constructed to serve that purpose, it
must be based on strong foundations. Any system of education should be based on
philosophical, sociological and psychological foundations. The curriculum should also
be constructed based on these foundations. There are three foundations on the basis of
which curriculum are constructed. They are Philosophical Foundations, Sociological
Foundations and Psychological Foundations.
1. Philosophical Foundations

It is philosophy that determines the ultimate aims of education. The social structure
and its economic organizations are also based on philosophical foundations.
Philosophy takes into account fundamental issues like man's place in the universe, the
aims of nature, the aims of society, the relationship between man and society etc.
There are various philosophies like idealism, naturalism, pragmatism, realism etc.
These have different views on the fundamental issues stated above and hence have
different answers. This difference is sure to be reflected in the respective educational
systems and their curricula also.
2. Sociological Foundations
The sociological foundations of education demands that we should bear in minds the
needs, requirements and aspirations of the community for which an educational
system is designed. Sociological approach considers not only the needs of the society,
but also recognizes the needs of the learners. It takes into consideration the present as
well as the future needs of citizens and adult members of the society. Since,
curriculum suggests the plan of action; for any educational system, these
psychological considerations will be reflected in it.
3. Psychological Foundations
Psychological considerations are the most important basis of curriculum formation.
Many researches have been conducted in the modern times in the sphere of
educational psychology that it has become an independent branch of study. The results
of these research studies have had great impact on the shaping of curricula. This is
because curricula are the means to the educand's development and hence it should be
shaped in tune with the psychology of the learner.
CURRICULUM THEORIES
According to Abraham Kaplan, “A theory is a way of making sense of a
disturbing situation so as to allow us most effectively to bring to bear our repertoire of
habits, and even more important, to modify habits or discard them altogether,
replacing new ones as the situation demands…”. A curriculum theory is a set of

related educational concepts that affords a systematic and illuminating perspective of
curricular phenomena. The key factors behind the curriculum are the learner, the
teacher or facilitator, the subject matter, the strategy and the society. The ancient
Greek philosopher, Plato viewed that education and curriculum are necessary for the
promotion of the concepts of health, citizenship, vocational and critical values.
Clarity, correctness and logical sequence are the important characteristics of a good
curriculum theory. Scientific curriculum follows the characteristics as meaningful,
logical, consistency and factual correctness.
The major agencies and persons for the curriculum formation are learners,
teachers, administrators and policy makers. The main stages of curriculum formation
are informal discussions and actions of individuals, primary groups and occupational
groups. Public or formal discussions and implementation are other stages of
curriculum formation. The role of professional organizations and interest groups are
also important in this aspect. The involvement of quasi-official agencies and funding
agencies are also significant in curriculum formation.
Objectives of a Curriculum Theory
Major objectives of a curriculum theory are
 Fixing aims and objectives
 Specifying the level of learning content
 Suggesting learning environment
 Structuring the learning process
 Specifying different learning experiences to be provided
 Mentioning evaluation techniques and criteria
Functions of Curriculum Theory
Many writers have ascribed four functions to curriculum theory:
1. Description

Description provides a narrative classification of knowledge in a particular
theoretical field. It furnishes a structure through which individuals’ interpretations of
complex activities can be verified. It organizes and summarizes knowledge.
2. Prediction
A theory can predict the occurrence of as yet unobserved events on the basis
of explanatory principles embedded in it. Perhaps this is the ultimate function of
theory.
3. Explanation
Explanation addresses “why.” It not only points out the relationships between
phenomena, but suggests either explicitly or implicitly the reasons for the
relationships.
4. Guidance
Theory also acts as a guide. It helps researchers choose data for analysis and
make economical summaries of the data. The theory generated promotes further
investigation.
Two categories of Curriculum Theories
1. Design theories
Design theories address the basic organization of the curriculum plan. For this,
as discussed earlier, curriculum experts draw on philosophy as well as on social and
psychology theory. Their main function is to guide decisions about:
 What should be included in the curriculum? and
 What to do or not to do in creating the curriculum, addressing
coherence and methodology of acquiring the knowledge, integration of the
emotional and physical with the intellectual?.
2. Engineering theories.
Engineering theories explain, describe, predict, or even guide curriculum-
development activities. They involve specific plans, principles, and methods or

procedures. These theories of curriculum are also practical based on principles of
measurement and statistics.
IMPORTANT CURRICULUM THEORIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION
The nature of curriculum varies corresponding to the nature of various
educational systems and level of learning. As per the new educational perspectives in
higher education ample curriculum development and effective implementation is
highly important. For developing effective curriculum and learning process in higher
education different theories and a mix of different theories and approaches are useful.
1. Value-oriented theories
Value-oriented theories are concerned primarily with analyzing the values and
assumptions of curriculum makers and their products. Value-oriented theories tend to
be critical in nature.
2. Process-oriented theories
Process-oriented theories are concerned primarily with describing how curricula
are developed or recommending how they should be developed. Some process-
oriented theories are descriptive in nature; others are more prescriptive.
3. Structure-Oriented Theories
Structure-oriented theories examine questions such as the following.
a. What are the essential concepts of the curriculum field and how may they
most usefully be defined? For example, what does the term curriculum
mean?
b. What are the levels of curriculum decision making and what forces seem
to operate at each of those levels? For example, how do classroom
teachers make decisions about the curriculum?
c. How the curriculum field be most validly analyzed into its component
parts? For example, how does a program of study differ from a field of
study?
d. What principles seem to govern issues of content selection, organization,
and sequencing? For example, how can curricular elements be articulated?

4. Content-Oriented Theories
Content-oriented theorists are concerned primarily with specifying the major
sources that should influence the selection and organization of the curriculum
content. For the most part, these theories can be classified in terms of their views as
to which source should predominate: ie.
• child-centered theories
• knowledge-centered theories, or
•society-centered theories.
5. Process-Oriented Theories
Over the past two decades, when curriculum theory seems to have reached its
maturity as a systematic field of inquiry, several attempts have been made to develop
conceptual systems for classifying curricular processes and products.
Ross (2000) has referred to content-driven, objective- driven and process-driven
curricula. Thus, the close analyses of curriculum theories reflect the three major
categories.
1. Perspective theory: Creating the best curricula
This theory creates models or frameworks for curriculum development that
improve school practices. Tyler and Taba are the main exponents of these groups. The
main thoughts and themes under these are Social Needs - Learner Centredness, Social
Efficiency, Rationalism, Reconstruction and Academic Rationalism.
Theory of Learner - Centeredness
The learner - centered approach and the theory of Teaming by doing'
popularized by John Dewey (1859 -1952). His numerous works including 'The School
and Society' (1899) and 'The Child and the Curriculum' (1902), describe that the
curriculum of the individual child is related to the role of the school within society.
According to Dewey, the social experiences of the learner are the starting point for
developing a curriculum and are at least as important as organised disciplines of
knowledge.

Theory of Social efficiency
The Social Efficiency theory of Bobbit (1918) is an anti- thesis of the Dewey's
approach. According to him, education is primarily for adult life, not for life as a
child, and it is necessary to analyse the activities of adults to provide the long lists of
objectives that seen as determining the curriculum.
Theory of Rationalism
Ralph Tyler emphasizes social needs as a starting point for curriculum, but he
remained us that opening to a variety of rational and technical ways of determining
necessitates social needs and balancing them against other kinds of needs. In 'Basic
Principles of Curriculum and Instruction', Tyler considers four requisites for
developing a curriculum identified as, purposes, organizing, learning experiences and
evaluation. He emphasizes the point that these four elements are the basic framework
for any overall theory and guide for all curriculum work.
Theory of Academic Rationalism
It is an attempt to answer the four basic curriculum questions. They are: what
goals should the school attain? (ie. Objectives). How can experiences selected be
useful to these objectives? (ie. Selection of learning experience). How can experiences
be organized as effective instruction? (ie. Organisation of learning experience). How
can effectiveness of learning experience be evaluated? (Evaluation).
Theory of Reconstruction
The primary role of the school is to reconstruct the society. The curriculum can
be developed as a means to correct what is wrong with the society. This view
advocates what knowledge is and what should be taught in schools.
'Hilda Taba's Approach'
Hilda Taba's approach is both descriptive and prescriptive. It emphasises
learners' inductive thinking. It is based on solid disciplinary emphasis. In Taba's
approach the teacher's role is to provide a supportive environment and to initiate this
kind of thinking by asking questions. To Taba, thinking is an active transaction
between the individual and the data.
2. Critical exploratory Theories

Theories in this category are particularly diverse. There are just two general
approaches to how they treat problems of schooling and curriculum and the
connections between schooling and the existing social order. It is a field of inquiry
that touches on ethical choice and epistemology. It is also concerned with educational
phenomena. It links thought and practice.
Value Oriented Theories
Value-oriented theorists seem to be primarily engaged in what might be termed
“educational consciousness-raising,” attempting to sensitize educators to the values
issues that lie at the hearts of both the hidden and the stated curricula. Their intent is
primarily a critical one; thus they sometimes have been identified as “critical
theorists.” Since many have argued the need for conceptualizing the field of
curriculum, they often are labeled as conceptualists. In their inquiries, value-oriented
theorists tend to examine issues such as the following:
 In what ways do the schools replicate the power differentials in the larger
society?
 What is the nature of a truly liberated individual, and how does schooling
inhibit such liberation?
 How do schools consciously or unwittingly mold children and youth to fit into
societal roles predetermined by race and class?
 As curriculum leaders determine what constitutes legitimate knowledge, how
do such decisions reflect their class biases and serve to inhibit the full
development of children and youth?
 In what ways does the schools’ treatment of controversial issues tend to
minimize and conceal the conflicts endemic to the society?
The Major Value-Oriented theories are as follows:
Macdonald’s Theory
 Macdonald defines curriculum as the social system that actually produces
a plan for instruction, which he in turn defines as another social system
within which formal teaching and learning take place.

 Teaching is different from instruction and is defined as a personality
system–the teacher–acting in a particular manner to facilitate learning.
 Learning is defined as a personality system too; the student becomes
involved in specialized task-related behaviors.
Michael Apple’s Theory
 Michael Apple is a critical theorist who seems to be concerned primarily
with the relationship between the society and the school. Central to
Apple’s critique of the society and its schools is his use of the concept of
hegemony.
3. Critical realist perspective on curriculum theories
Critical realism has become increasingly popular in recent curriculum-related
studies (e.g., Priestley, 2011). Common to these approaches is the assumption that
critical realism, along with empiricism or pragmatism, is a meta-theory that affects
how the curriculum is understood as a phenomenon. In contrast to other meta-theories,
critical realism has a few important distinctions that make it a particularly useful
starting point in examining theoretical approaches in curriculum studies (Scott, 2005).
Though critical realists usually agree that an entity can exist independently of human
knowledge, they perceive that there is no unmediated access to the world.
4. Normative Perspective on curriculum theories
Despite the strong critical tradition described in the preceding section,
curriculum theories play a normative role, too. These are expected to provide
guidelines for curriculum design and practice, with certain norms to justify curriculum
decisions. It entails providing the frameworks and the guidelines for understanding the
connection between theory and practice, along with the mechanisms and the powers
behind curriculum decisions.
The roles of higher education in sustainable socio-cultural development
increases year by year. Higher education can be seen as a focal point of knowledge

and its effective application contributes to the socio-economic growth and
development through fostering innovation and increasing higher skills. Student
development and fruit fullness of an educational process is co-related to the practicing
curriculum and its effective implementation. So Curriculum is often one of the main
concerns in the higher educational field. Curriculum seems to be considered greatly as
what teachers are going to teach and, in other words, what learners are going to learn.
Curriculum theories are lightening the way to structure the content, to plan the
experiences, to fix the goal, to determine the learning environment and to include
effective practices in learning.
CONCLUSION
An effective curriculum provides teachers, students, administrators and
community stakeholders a measurable plan and structure for providing a
quality education. Curriculum is critical in providing high quality educational
programs and services according to the level of students. Curriculum is considered as
a foundation stone for well-planned higher education. A curriculum theory is a set of
related educational concepts that affords a systematic and illuminating perspective of
curricular phenomena. Curriculum theories are considered ways to plan and develop
curriculum for a specific level of learning. This module, which focuses on important
curriculum theories in higher education, includes explanation of curriculum theories
and its objectives, classification of curriculum and different curriculum theories
relevant to higher education.
REFERENCES
Njogu, K. (2012). Conceptualizing the curriculum: Towards a renaissance for theory.
American International Journal of Contemporary Research,
Young, M. (2013). Overcoming the crisis in curriculum theory: A knowledge-based
approach. Journal of Curriculum Studies,
Lindén, J., Annala, J. & Coate, K. (2017) The Role of Curriculum Theory in
Contemporary Higher Education Research and Practice, in J. Huisman & M. Tight
(eds.) Theory and Method in Higher Education Research. Volume 3.

Talla, M. (2012). Curriculum Development- Perspectives, Principles and Issues.
Dorling Kindersley Pvt. Ltd. Delhi.
Srivastava, D.S & Kumari, S. (2005). Curriculum and instruction. New Delhi: Isha
Books.
FAQ
1. What is curriculum theory?
A curriculum theory is a set of related educational concepts that affords a
systematic and illuminating perspective of curricular phenomena.
2. Which are the two types of curriculum theories?
 Design theories
 Engineering theories
3. What are the Major objectives of curriculum theories?
 Fixing aims and objectives
 Specifying the level of learning content
 Suggesting learning environment
 Structuring the learning process
 Specifying different learning experiences to be provided
 Mentioning evaluation technics and criteria
4. What is value oriented curriculum theories?
Value-oriented theories are concerned primarily with analyzing the values and
assumptions of curriculum makers and their products. Value-oriented theories tend to
be critical in nature.
QUIZ
1. Who among the following is a critical theorist who seems to be concerned
primarily with the relationship between the society and the school?
a. Michael Apple
b. John Dewey
c. Hilda Taba

d. Francis Taylor
2. Who authored the book titled 'The School and Society' (1899)
a. John Dewey
b. Charles Pearce
c. W.H. Kilpatric
d. Macdoland
3 The Social Efficiency theory of …………. (1918) is an anti- thesis of the Dewey's
approach.
a. Bobbit
b. Tyler
c. Taba
d. Ross

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