Curriculum in Real Life
A Grade 4 teacher plans her science unit by aligning each lesson with specific learning outcomes from the provincial curriculum guide. Every lesson builds toward the end-of-unit test.
Formal Curriculum or Social Efficiency Ideology
The organized content and outcomes documented in plans, guides, and syllabi.
Planned Curriculum
This ideology focuses on teaching content knowledge and academic disciplines.
Scholar Academic
This theorist believed learning happens through experience and inquiry.
John Dewey
This Indigenous scholar is known for her advocacy of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and for promoting decolonizing education.
Verna Kirkness
A high school student notices that their opinions are often dismissed in class, and that lessons never mention Indigenous histories.
Null Curriculum
The formally sanctioned content mandated by institutions or governments.
Official Curriculum
This ideology prepares students for adult roles through clear outcomes and skills.
Social Efficiency
Known for the "Tyler Rationale", this theorist emphasized setting clear objectives.
Ralph Tyler
This theorist developed Imaginative Education and emphasized using cognitive tools to make learning more engaging and meaningful.
Kieran Egan
A middle school teacher designs flexible math activities based on student interests, allows for self-paced learning, and encourages peer collaboration.
Learner-Centered Ideology
What is deliberately excluded from formal instruction.
Null Curriculum
This ideology is rooted in social justice and changing the world through education.
Social Reconstruction
This theorist focused on how social interaction helps learning, especially through scaffolding.
Lev Vygotsky
Known for her work in Drama and Arts Education, this scholar explores how creative expression can transform teaching and learning.
Kathleen Gallagher
A student says their favorite part of school is how much they’ve learned about working with others, being on time, and how to follow routines, even though these aren't written in any official plan.
Hidden Curriculum
Learning from extracurricular activities like clubs, sports, and arts.
Extra Curriculum
This ideology puts the learner at the center and tailors curriculum to their interests and needs.
Learner-Centered
This theorist introduced the idea of multiple intelligences.
Howard Gardner
This pair of researchers co-developed Knowledge Building Theory, which emphasizes collaborative inquiry and constructing knowledge together.
Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter
A Grade 7 English teacher has students create digital stories based on real-life social issues in their communities. The goal is to develop empathy, critical thinking, and action.
Social Reconstruction Ideology
Tailored instruction based on learner needs, interests, and abilities.
Individualized Curriculum
This ideology asks, "What kind of world do we want to create?" and sees education as a way to address injustice and promote equity.
Social Reconstruction
This curriculum theorist developed a grassroots, teacher-led model of curriculum development and believed that students should build knowledge through inductive thinking.
Hilda Taba
This team developed the concept of Two-Eyed Seeing [Etuaptmumk], encouraging the integration of Indigenous and Western worldviews in education.
Albert Marshall, Murdena Marshall, and Cheryl Bartlett