Characteristics of Curriculum

CHARACTERISTICS OF CURRICULUM

1. TOTALITY OF ACTIVITIES:
By curriculum it is meant all the school activities. Which are used to promote the development of the pupils. It refers to the totality of subject matter, activities and experiences, which constitute a pupil’s school life.
2. A MEANS TO AN END:
It is known that curriculum is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. It is created to achieve the aims of education. That is the reason many educationists have suggested different kinds of curriculum to achieve the aims and objectives described for education. It follows that the curriculum will change with every change in aims of education.
3. SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT:
The total environment of the school influences curriculum. It is made up of everything that surrounds the learner in all his working hours.it refers to the total educational programme of the school (school environment) including all experiences, activities and learning, in which the learner is expected to progress and attain the goals of education.
4. TOTALITY OF EXPERIENCES:
Curriculum refers to the totality of experiences that a pupil gets in the school (i.e. the class-room, library, laboratory, workshop, play-ground and in the numerous informal contacts between the teacher and the pupils) as well as outside the school. These experiences help him in the development of personality. Curriculum includes not merely syllabus and books but all those experiences and relationships Which get indulged by the student both inside and outside the school. Thus, the syllabus specified by the authority should not be taken to mean curriculum.
5. MIRROR OF CURRICULAR AND CO-CURRICULAR TRENDS:
Curriculum forms the mirror of curricular and co-curricular trends and is able to reflect the curricular and co-curricular trends in our educational institutions i.e. the courses of study, the aims and objectives of education, the methodology of teaching including teaching aids and evaluation techniques.
6. MIRROR OF EDUCATIONAL TRENDS:
Curriculum is the mirror of educational trends. It depicts the total picture about the prevailing educational system. The objectives behind the educational system highlighted through the series of experiences, which are provided by the curriculum.
7. DEVELOPMENT OF BALANCED PERSONALITY:
Curriculum is quite helpful in the development of balanced personality. The activities in curriculum concerning physical, intellectual, emotional, social, economic, aesthetic and cultural development play their role for developing the balanced personality.
8. PROCESS OF LIVING:
Curriculum is a process of living in which interaction between the individual and his environment takes place. Curriculum is concerned both with the life of the individual and his environment.
9. DYNAMIC:
A good curriculum is dynamic. The needs and interests of the pupils go on changing with the passage of time. For varying needs different types of activities are required. This tends to necessitates some