Difference Between Curriculum and Instruction

          Difference Between Curriculum and Instruction
 

Curriculum vs Instruction:

 Curriculum is a concept that has gained a lot of importance these days. It happens to be the ‘what’ of education as the entire edifice of the educations system is based upon the curriculum or what is going to be taught to students in schools and colleges in particular fields of study at different levels. There is another word called instruction that seems to be very simple as it refers to teaching methods and styles. Instruction is the how of the system of education, as a curriculum, howsoever good it may be, is ultimately dependent upon how it is delivered to the students. There are obvious differences between curriculum and instruction that will be highlighted in this article.

 

 What is a Curriculum?

 Curriculum is a very broad based concept that different educators and teachers choose to define differently. There is a consensus, however, that it is the content of the course that has to be taught by the teachers in a particular manner that forms the curriculum in a course of study. The content of a course is decided by the authorities who are ultimately bound by the policies of the government and the legislation passed by the government in this regard. Teacher is the medium through which a curriculum gets delivered in the manner in which it is intended.

 

Curriculum is provided to teachers in the form of text. It is a roadmap, a guide as to what to deliver to the students and in what manner. The speed at which a teacher has to go to let the students absorb the content of the course in an optimum manner is also provided along with the curriculum. All the subjects that comprise a course according to a grade in a school are collectively referred to as curriculum. It is like the skeleton or the framework of a structure that defines what is to be taught to the students.

What is Instruction?

Instruction is the method or way of teaching to students. This is one part of education that is in control of the teachers or the instructors. Teachers decide the how part of education as they are responsible for imparting all the knowledge that has been decided based upon the curriculum. Instruction is always dependent upon the teaching skills and the professional attitude of the teachers. A teacher has to make the best use of his instructional abilities to take the curriculum to the students. He is the best judge as to how to deliver instructions in the best possible manner keeping in mind the abilities of different students of his class.

 

While it is true that even the best of curriculum is nothing if the teacher is not able to give clear cut instructions, it has been seen that educators often design curriculum without consulting teachers or without taking into account their instructional abilities. Often teachers blame the curriculum while there are also instances where educators blame teachers for not providing instructions in the desired manner.

What is the difference between Curriculum and Instruction?

• Curriculum is the design, the framework of education and refers to all the subjects that make up for a course of study according to a grade in school or college

 

• Instruction is how teachers deliver the curriculum to the students

 

• Designing curriculum in isolation without taking into account instruction part of education can lead to disastrous results

Curriculum and instruction;

In formal education, a curriculum is the planned interaction of pupils with instructional content, materials, resources, and processes for evaluating the attainment of educational objectives.

Other definitions combine various elements to describe curriculum as follows:

All the learning which is planned and guided by the school, whether it is carried on in groups or individually, inside or outside the school. (John Kerr) 

 

Outlines the skills, performances, attitudes, and values pupils are expected to learn from schooling. It includes statements of desired pupil outcomes, descriptions of materials, and the planned sequence that will be used to help pupils attain the outcomes. 

 

The total learning experience provided by a school. It includes the content of courses (the syllabus), the methods employed (strategies), and other aspects, like norms and values, which relate to the way the school is organized. 

 

The aggregate of courses of study given in a learning environment. The courses are arranged in a sequence to make learning a subject easier. In schools, a curriculum spans several grades. 

 

Curriculum can refer to the entire program provided by a classroom, school, district, state, or country. A classroom is assigned sections of the curriculum as defined by the school. For example, a fourth grade class teaches the part of the school curriculum that has been designed as developmentally appropriate for students who are approximately nine years of age.

Instruction is vital for education, as it is the transfer of learning from one person to another. Any time you are given directions or told how to do something you are receiving instruction. 

 

The noun instruction is related to the word structure; both share the Latin root structus, "built." The use of the word as we know it today appeared in the early 15th century from the Old French.

 

 Today it refers to the action of teaching and the job of a teacher. It can also be used to denote the directions themselves.