Stenhouse

curriculum model

Focus :
 curriculum as a process
 curriculum is not a physical thing, but rather
the interaction of teachers, students and
knowledge
 Stenhouse
curriculum model

Focus :

 In other words, curriculum is what actually

happens in the classroom and what people do
to prepare and evaluate
 It is an active process and links with the
practical form of reasoning set out by
Aristotle.
 Stenhouse
curriculum model

• Stenhouse defined curriculum as ‘ an

attempt to communicate the essential
principles and features of an
educational proposal in such a form
that it is open to critical scrutiny and
capable of effective translation into
practice’
 Stenhouse
curriculum model

• A curriculum should provide a basis for

planning a course, studying it
empirically and considering the
grounds of its justification
 Stenhouse
curriculum model

Curriculum should offer:

Planning:
- principle for the selection of content : what is
to be learned and taught

- principles for the development of a teaching

strategy : how it is to be learned and taught
 Stenhouse
curriculum model
Curriculum should offer:

Planning:

- principles for the making of decisions about

sequence

- teacher’s guidance as to the feasibility of

implementing the curriculum in varying school
contexts, pupil contexts, environments and peer-
group situations
 Stenhouse
curriculum model

Curriculum should offer:

Planning :
- information about the variability of
effects in differing contexts and
on different pupils and understanding of
the causes of the variation
 Stenhouse
curriculum model

Curriculum should offer:

Justification :
- a formulation of the intention or aim of
the curriculum which is accessible
to critical scrutiny
 Stenhouse
curriculum model
This process model looks into curriculum as a form
of specification about the practice of teaching. It is a
way of translating any educational idea into a
hypothesis testable in practice. It invites critical
testing rather than acceptance
 Stenhouse
curriculum model
Given the uniqueness of each classroom setting, it
means that any proposal, even at school level, needs
to be tested, and verified by each teacher in his/her
classroom. It is not like a curriculum package which
is designed to be delivered almost anywhere
 Stenhouse
curriculum model
• Outcomes are no longer the central and
defining feature.
• Rather than tightly specifying behavioral
objectives and methods in advance, what
happens in this model of curriculum theory
and practice is that content and means
develop as teachers and students work
together.
 Stenhouse
curriculum model
• The learners in this model are not objects to
be acted upon. They have a clear voice in the
way that the sessions evolve.
• The focus is on interactions. This can mean
that attention shifts from teaching to
learning.
• A process approach to curriculum theory and
practice tends towards making the process of
learning is the central concern of the
teacher.