Topics include Learning Science, Design, and the field of Education in general, with technology and AI in mind. The series started as a study notes exercise for my doctoral program that I shared with my peers, but it has expanded so that the general public can use it, too. Episodes can be live, recorded, or generated with AI tools as well.
Coursera’s recent strategic shift away from relying heavily on university content and partnerships. It details how the company is increasing its investment in proprietary content and starting to view degree programs as merely another consumer business. The central focus is the unilateral implementation of a new 15% ”Platform Fee” set to begin in January 2026, which the author argues is a means for Coursera to capture 100% of that revenue by deducting it from university partners' top-line revenue before disbursement. The analysis suggests that Coursera is acting as an aggregator that controls the market and dictates terms to its university suppliers, many of whom were reportedly upset by the sudden, non-consultative nature of the change. Furthermore, the exclusion of the more legally robust OPM/Degrees business from the fee suggests that Coursera's ability to impose changes is limited only by existing contractual strength.
I. Core Concepts and Overview
• Curriculum is a crucial field, even though it can seem elusive and complex. It impacts educators, students, and society, whether viewed as specific subjects or broad life experiences.
• The book provides a balanced and comprehensive view of curriculum, avoiding particular philosophical, educational, political, or social stances, to help readers form their own interpretations.
• This edition includes features like Learning Outcomes, Discussion Questions, reference videos, and Curriculum Tips to guide your learning.
II. Curriculum Approaches (Metaorientation) A curriculum approach reflects a holistic position that encompasses its foundations, domains, and theory/practice. It influences how curriculum is developed, designed, and the roles of key players.
1. Behavioral Approach:
◦ Focuses on efficiency and specific, observable objectives and activities.
◦ Aims to prepare students for adult life by developing specific abilities.
◦ Influenced by figures like Franklin Bobbitt and Ralph Tyler, who sought to apply scientific methods to curriculum.
2. Managerial Approach:
◦ Emphasizes the organization and administration of curriculum activities.
◦ Curriculum supervisors or specialists play roles in developing goals, planning, coordinating, and evaluating programs.
◦ Concepts like Total Quality Management (TQM) involve systematic thinking, theory of variation, theory of knowledge, and knowledge of psychology to optimize participation and learning.
3. Systems Approach:
◦ Views education as a system with five equally important components: administration, counseling, curriculum, instruction, and evaluation.
◦ Suggests that all these components draw ideas from external fields like psychology, sociology, history, and philosophy.
4. Academic Approach:
◦ Focuses on subject matter and the structure of disciplines.
◦ Aims to present an overview of curriculum through various foundational topics (historical, philosophical, social, political).
◦ Current focus includes understanding how knowledge is constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed.
5. Humanistic Approach:
◦ Emphasizes the whole child and individual self-actualization, prioritizing experiences that foster independence, self-direction, and psychological health.
◦ Advocates for varied, student-centered learning activities.
6. Postmodern Approach:
◦ Questions traditional certainties and fixed ideas about curriculum.
◦ Suggests that curriculum should be viewed as diverse discourse, incorporating fields often outside traditional education like religion, psychotherapy, and literary criticism.
III. Defining Curriculum & Fundamental Questions
• Defining curriculum is a complex challenge due to evolving educational, political, and social dynamics.
• Key questions address:
◦ The function of subject matter.
◦ How subjects should be organized (e.g., around behavioral objectives, student activities, or social values).
◦ The roles of participants (students, teachers, parents, administrators, specialists, researchers) in curriculum planning.
• These “fundamental questions” help establish curriculum’s “rationale” or “purpose”.
IV. Foundations of Curriculum
• These are the external boundaries of curriculum knowledge, defining valid sources for theories and ideas.
• Commonly Accepted Foundations:
◦ Philosophical: Influences goals, content, organization, and methods.
◦ Historical: Provides context and lessons from past educational developments.
◦ Psychological: Explains how people learn, influencing teaching and learning processes.
◦ Social: Reflects societal values, needs, and dynamics impacting schools and curriculum.
• 21st Century Additions: Globalization and technology.
V. Curriculum Domains These are broad areas of curriculum knowledge identified from influential texts. The nine domains are:
1. Curriculum Philosophy
2. Curriculum Theory
3. Curriculum Research
4. Curriculum History
5. Curriculum Development
6. Curriculum Design
7. Curriculum Evaluation
8. Curriculum Policy
9. Curriculum as a Field of Study
VI. Key Curriculum Concepts
• Curriculum Development: Models that outline a systematic plan from objectives to evaluation.
• Curriculum Design: A framework for how the curriculum will look, influenced by whether academic knowledge or student growth is prioritized.
• Planned Curriculum (Explicit): The agreed-upon content and perspectives that are deliberately emphasized.
• Unplanned/Hidden Curriculum: The implicit norms, rules, and messages students learn, often promoting conformity and passive behavior (e.g., sitting still, raising hands). This can make the transition to factory or office work easier by developing “good work habits”.
• Null Curriculum: Content, values, or experiences that are systematically omitted (ignored).
VII. Theory and Practice
• Theory: The most advanced views in a field, providing a framework for analysis and suggesting new ideas.
• Practice: The applied procedures, methods, and skills.
• Relationship: Good theory guides practice, and good practice is based on theory.
• Challenges: Often, theoretical discussions are divorced from practical application in classrooms, and vice-versa.
• Key Guidelines: Align theory with classroom context, test it, interpret and modify it for practical use, and avoid fads.
VIII. Roles in Curriculum Shaping
• Students:
◦ Limited role as “experts”.
◦ Taba advocated starting with diagnosing student needs.
◦ Provide important clues about actions to be taken.
◦ Often socialized to be passive and compliant.
• Teachers:
◦ Should be involved in every phase of curriculum making and implementation.
◦ Taba popularized the “grassroots” or “bottom-up” view where teachers play a major role.
◦ Successful practitioners can develop, implement, and evaluate curriculum.
• Principals:
◦ Have a major role as instructional leaders and in curriculum matters.
◦ Crucial for adopting and communicating new programs.
◦ Need to understand assessment methods in an era of high-stakes testing.
Source:
Ornstein, A. C., & Hunkins, F. P. (2018). Curriculum: Foundations, Principles, and Issues (7th ed., Global ed.). Pearson Education Limited.
Resources
- LTX-Talk LaTeX Class: https://github.com/josephwright/ltx-talk
- PDF/UA Standard: https://www.pdfa.org/resource/pdfua/
- Beamer Documentation: https://ctan.org/pkg/beamer
- PAC Accessibility Checker: https://www.access-for-all.ch/en/pdf-lab/pdf-accessibility-checker-pac.html