ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a practical approach to planning a course of study for individuals or groups of learners. Some authors use the term curriculum design to refer to official processes, and the term curriculum development to describe what teachers do. A curriculum that puts the emphasis on the teaching and assessment of factual knowledge can have an adverse effect on the learning of less tangible professional qualities, such as creativity, imagination, enquiry, values and attitudes. Teachers can decide between two basic positions. One position cedes all authority to the national document for content, planning and assessment, and the curriculum is used as a blueprint. In the other, the national curriculum is used as an authoritative resource, but teachers maintain their own judgement about suitable content and methods. Healthcare workers often overvalue factual knowledge, and this can have a distorting effect on curriculum planning. Curriculum mapping can clarify thinking in planning and in explaining a curriculum to learners and faculty.
