ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the third domain of teaching: curriculum and instruction. Curriculum is defined as what is taught and instruction as how it is taught. Although curriculum and instruction are connected in the classroom, in this chapter they are addressed separately to highlight key aspects of each. Explicit and hidden curricula are defined and described, and the roles of traditionalist and progressive curricular theories in supporting different types of curriculum and instruction are explored with regard to how these different aspects of curriculum might cause teaching dilemmas. Suggestions for making the curriculum more relatable to students are provided, including incorporating students’ frames of reference, funds of knowledge, and funds of identity, which might help solve the teacher’s classroom dilemma. Instruction is then discussed, with distinctions made between instructional design, instructional sequencing, instructional formats, and activity components since each of these layers of instructional planning could be implicated in teaching dilemmas and their solutions. Shulman’s Model of Pedagogical Reasoning and Action and backwards design are detailed as approaches to instructional design. Additional details are provided about how teachers might observe, and also avoid, dilemmas related to the following common instructional formats: direct instruction, whole-class discussion, group work, centers, and independent work.
