Curriculum

A curriculum (plural: curricula) is a program of study. It is used to plan teaching or training. It spells out the details so others can know what is going to happen:
Today it usually means the courses, their content, and the coursework offered at a school or university. Often, curricula are backed by some kind of theory, or by intending to change what was done before. Curricula may be backed by textbooks and by courses to train teachers. The study of curricula is part of most qualifications for teachers.
A similar word is syllabus, which means a summary of topics which will be covered during an academic course, or book or lecture. Another term is discipline, which in this sense means an academic subject-matter.
Historical development.
Historically, curricula have done more than act as a background for syllabi and examinations. They have discussed the basis of teaching by taking account of:
The four questions asked by Tylor in his introductory text are generally regarded as fundamental:
There are no hard-and-fast rules for answering those questions. There have always been different theories of education which are based on different attitudes to education and to life itself. Roughly speaking, these theories have two opposite ends. At one end is child-centered education. This is concerned to adapt the teaching to the needs and development of individual children, and is most used in kindergarten and primary education. The other end is society-oriented. It aims to make sure society gets a steady supply of young adults able to fill the jobs and roles which society needs to be filled. In some countries the approach would be more religion-oriented. This would aim to produce young adults whose main aim is to live according to the precepts (beliefs, practices) of a particular religion.
Hidden curriculum.
A term sometimes used to describe what a critic thinks is really going on in an educational system. It means the unspoken beliefs and values of an institution, the implicit demands of behavour and respect. In a school subject-matter is taught, but much else is going on.