ABSTRACT

The term curriculum means many things to many people. Any attempt to define the concept within the context of this chapter is not aimed at seeking consensus of interpretation but rather an understanding of the meaning attached to the concept in the context of this book. Curriculum here refers to planned learning experiences that the educational institution intends to provide for its learners. This definition does not deny the existence of hidden and null curricula (that which the educational institution chooses to exclude from its curriculum (Eisner, 1994), in educational institutions, but is seen as an appropriate point of departure for a book on curriculum development, since what is not planned or cannot be planned would be difficult to articulate in such a book.