The Curriculum and Meaningful Objectives

Abstract

Introduction:  Curriculum theorists are, among other things, engaged in attempts at producing models of curriculum design and/or curriculum development.  Such attempts, according to Robin Barrow, aim at establishing "a set of ideal steps that will both lead to coherent proposals for curriculum change and, when incorporated in the curriculum proposal, enable it to be successfully adopted."  Establishing such "a set of ideal steps" involves a consideration of needs, practical constraints, curriculum content and curriculum planning.  Such projects also include a formulation of curriculum objectives, ways of implementing objectives and methods of evaluating the success or failure of achieving these objectives.  In this paper I propose to reflect on the nature of objectives by focusing on the following questions: 1. Are objectives part of the curriculum? 2. What constitutes a meaningful objective?