Curriculum and Subject Matter

Abstract

Introduction:  The English word 'curriculum' is derived from the Latin word curriculum meaning 'a course', 'a race' or 'a running'.  This suggests a process, the idea of going through something which has a beginning, a development and an end.  The secondary meaning of curriculum was 'career'.  Both the primary and the secondary meanings of curriculum referred to temporal space and to non-temporal endeavours or intellectual pursuits.  The expression 'curriculum vitae', then referred to both intellectual and non-intellectual pursuits.  Today curriculum in the educational context refers primarily, if not solely, to intellectual pursuits.  Actually curriculum is related to learning in a broad sense, incorporating more than the "cognitive" aspect (what one learns, how this is brought about, with what objectives, how it is planned, evaluated, etc.).  This suggests that the concept curriculum is a complex notion.  Various meanings have been attached to it.  A careful analysis of curriculum shows that the notions of "plan", "content or subject matter", "objectives" and "method" are intimately connected to curriculum which should not be completely identified with any one of these concepts.  In this short paper I propose to discuss the following question: Is the notion of subject matter inherent in that of curriculum, or, does the notion curriculum make sense without that of subject matter?  Answers to this question are meant to help clarify the relationship between the curriculum and subject matter.