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What is curriculum?

As with most things in education, there is no agreed definition of curriculum , although it is generally agreed that  curriculum  is not the same as  syllabus .

A syllabus is a statement of topics to be studied in the course. A  curriculum  equally is not just a statement of intended outcomes, products, or competencies. A competent doctor, however, is one who recognises and works within the limits of their professional competence[i].

Curriculum is much more than either of these. Theorists concern themselves with different types of curriculum[ii]:

The curriculum on paper

i.e. the statement of purpose, aims, content, experiences, materials etc

The curriculum in action

i.e. the way in which the curriculum in paper is put into practice

The curriculum learners experience

i.e. what learners do, how they study, what they believe they should be doing etc

The hidden curriculum[iii]

i.e. the behaviours, knowledge and performances that the learner infers to be important.

 Others[iv] think of the  planned curriculum  and the  received curriculum , the  formal curriculum  and the  informal curriculum.

Although all these types will never wholly align, curriculum developers try to write their curricula so that the curriculum on paper, the planned curriculum, is the dominant and determining force, while recognising that, especially at postgraduate level in a profession where learning is based in professional practice, individual trainees will also construct their own version of the curriculum based on their individual needs and opportunities. It is wholly appropriate that they should do so.

Amid this plethora of views, every piece of work in this field must begin with its own stated definition. So for the PMETB, the curriculum is:

A statement of the intended aims and objectives, content, experiences, outcomes and processes of an educational programme including:

·        a description of the training structure
[entry requirements, length and organisation of the programme including its flexibilities, and assessment system],

·        a description of expected methods of learning, teaching, feedback and supervision

The curriculum should cover both generic professional[v] and specialty specific areas.

The syllabic content of the curriculum should be stated in terms of what knowledge, skills and expertise the learner will achieve.

[i] GMC Good Medical Practice

[ii] Coles,C.R. and Gale Grant, Janet [1985] Curriculum evaluation in medical and health-care education. Medical Education, 19,5,405-422.

[iii] Snyder,B.R. [1971] The Hidden Curriculum. Knopf, New York.

[iv] Kelly,A.V. [1999] The Curriculum. Theory and Practice. Sage, London.

[v] As currently set out in Good Medical Practice.

 

 Source: Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board Curriculum sub-committee

 

 

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