Curriculum theory and practice: A comparative literature review

Abstract

Curriculum has emerged over the past century from a simple
 list of subject-specific outcomes to an intricate and holistic set of
 experiences for students to grapple with. This comparative literature
 review discusses the research related to curriculum theory and
 practice. It draws upon a range of sources, from Mark K Smith’s
 article on Curriculum Theory and Practice, theoretical discussions of
 curriculum planning and evaluation, to empirical studies of
 educational planning in varied contexts. The purpose of this research
 is to evaluate the Theory of Smith as compared to other related
 literatures on the curriculum theory and planning. This review
 discussed curriculum being transmission of knowledge, as product,
 as process, and as praxis. The findings found that all approaches to
 curriculum development as a product of momentary articulations, as
 well as a dynamic process of collective becoming and reflective
 action. This paper found out that most literatures agree with the
 theory of Smith. Therefore, this paper concluded that any type of
 school curriculum should be viewed as a combination of a product,
 process, and praxis.