Defining Curriculum &
Education verses Educated Person at a glance
Kieran
Egan (2003) in his writing, “What Is Curriculum” articulates confusions when
defining curriculum? He builds his premises retro respecting on the history of
the word “curriculum”, and changes there have been in its meanings across
centuries. The focus on the question “Curriculum is not only what should be taught, but how it could be taught (what methods and
procedures were best for educating) that came up during the 18th
century and progressively followed through the nineteenth and early twentieth
century is central to defining and developing a curriculum. The emphasis on the
how, puts learners interest at the
center before specifying what the
curriculum should contain. The how
takes into account individuality of students learning style and interest. To
know what the curriculum should
contain requires one to understand whom the curriculum is for and is purpose.
Without having a clear sense of the purpose of education, one cannot specify
what the curriculum should contain (Egan, 2003). The how, and what, question
both needs to be thoroughly measured. Focusing on only one is insufficient to
answer, “what is curriculum”?
Schools do not only facilitate academic
development in students, but also prepares them for career and successful
participation in a global society. Therefore, it is important that curriculum
planning be comprehensive, systematic, and authentic to the needs of students
and the world they live in. For education to be meaningful as well as one that
fulfills students’ needs, it’s essential that teachers have a clear
understanding of their students learning styles, why they are learning and what
they are learning. A curriculum that is based on only teacher’s belief would
not result in deeper learning because deeper learning
occurs when students find their own answers by working through the pathway of
knowledge and not through indoctrination by experts. Connecting learning
outcomes to students needs enables teachers to focus on the needs, abilities,
interest and learning styles of individual students as well as justify a
curriculum based on the schools goal. According to
Barrow (1999) to differentiate between what is relevant and what is not
relevant in a school curriculum, teachers need to ask the question of, relevant
to whom, to what and in what way.
Education Verses Educated
Person at glance
There are countless image and concepts
of an educated person. The current view of an educated person has its values
attached to knowledge gained through education in a formal setting, the school.
It is customary to believe that schools seek to cultivate educated person,
therefore the common criteria for differentiating between an educated and
non-educated person is the level of schooling one has received. In this sense,
an uneducated person is one who has had little or no formal study, although the
person may be intelligent and make sound judgment. On the other hand, an educated
person is one who has attained high levels of academic study. Although academic
education may be a condition for defining a person educated, but it is not
sufficient. An educated person is one who is constantly able to use, apply and
develop new knowledge from both the academic content as well as the cultural
content, well in one’s life. An educated person is one who has reached the
stage of intellectual autonomy and can depend on this resource to lead a
satisfying life consistent with his or her criteria of growth, both at personal
and social level. In addition he is able to use acquired knowledge as raw data
to formulate new questions, which in turn enables him to enter new frontiers of
knowledge (Mehmohammadi, 2004).
Classroom activities may be thought of as
experiences that allow students to practice being educated people, however, an educated person should not be thought of merely in terms of this only. The
notion that higher academic education proceeds to an educated person may not
always hold true because education and educated person are two different
concepts. Although schools educate students, but this does not necessary mean
it will produce educated person. Most present day school system seeks to
increase the intellectual capacity of their students through indoctrination and
students accept contents without critical examination and understanding. Such
learning cannot produce educated person. An educate person is one who accepts
and beliefs what is being taught only
when he is convinced of its merit. In addition, an educated person is one that
posses both cultural and expert knowledge and is able to use this knowledge in
one’s life. I believe education is an art; an art of utilization of knowledge,
and any information learnt is only useful if it is appropriately put to use. If
schools seek to develop educated person it is necessary that they attempt to
produce students who are aware of, understand and recall what they have learnt,
and are able to use it authentically in various context.
Reference
Barrow,
R. (1984). Curriculum content. In Giving
teaching back to teachers: A
critical introduction to
curriculum theory
London, ON: The
Althouse Press
Egan,
K. (2003). What Is Curriculum? Journal of
the Canadian association for
Curriculum Studies, 1(1), 9-16
Mehmohammadi,
M. (2004). Towards a new concept of an educated person,
Research and reflection: A Journal of Educational Praxis.
