Curriculum: Understanding Curriculum from a Sociological Perspective

What is worth teaching in school? Some believe that a reservoir of essential knowledge across disciplines should be taught to students. Some argue that teaching students how to learn should be integral to student learning, given the ever-increasing body of information and content in modern societies. Others stress the importance of competences or 21st skills (e.g., critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, etc.) as something that ought to be prioritized in school. The question leads us to a contested area, given that people have different values and opinions about the purpose of education. Nonetheless, a curriculum gives us hints to what skills and knowledge is seen as most important. A curriculum is a pedagogical infrastructure that guides what ought to be taught for student learning in school. We view a curriculum as a pedagogical infrastructure because it is constituted with pedagogical content and material that help to facilitate student learning. As a pedagogical infrastructure, a curriculum takes different forms and meanings across different levels. At a teacher level, a curriculum is often equated with a syllabus, a timetable, and a list of subjects. At a school level, a curriculum refers to a blueprint for a body of knowledge and skills across disciplines that should be taught and assessed in accordance with the education policy of local and central education authorities. At a government level, a curriculum typically takes the form of an official document with legality (e.g., national curriculum).