What Does Curriculum Include?
In practice, curriculum is much more than a structured framework (National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC], 2003). Especially in early childhood education, curriculum is understood to include (Figure 1.1):
- The physical classroom space, or environment
- All the materials the teachers use to instruct students
- All the materials that children use
- The methods and strategies teachers use to implement and assess the effectiveness of activities and lessons
- Everything the children learn, intended or not (see Feature Box 1.1 on Hidden Curriculum)
Figure 1.1: Components of Curriculum
The concept of curriculum includes much more than just the materials used in the classroom. This Venn diagram illustrates the interrelated nature of curriculum elements.
Early childhood curriculum can be as open ended as a set of general guidelines, in which case the teacher will make many of the decisions about what and how to teach. Conversely, the curriculum can be structured to the point that its “what, when, and how” elements are carefully spelled out for the teacher (Frede & Ackerman, 2007). In any event, the curriculum is important because it governs much of what the teacher does in the classroom to help students learn what they are supposed to learn.