What is meant by curriculum?

When I was reading the article, the first thing that made me stop was when Eisner talked about how schools analyze the implicit curriculum and use it to teach students. We often hear how people mention schools prepare students for their future careers, but outside of knowledge and skills, what else do they offer? The article mentioned examples including how most jobs depend on routine that students learn while they're in school by following their class schedules, as well as how most people depend on extrinsic motivation, such as money, to sustain enough interest to work while they receive rewards and good grades for performing well. While I was aware of how school functions, the unwritten part of how it prepares students for their future through these small details was something that has never crossed my mind before.


The other thing that stopped me was when the author talked about null curriculum and how it is as important as what schools teach. Eisner mentioned how there are subjects and areas that schools emphasize such as Math, English and Science, but others such as Economics and Law are neglected. This connected me because when I was growing up, I was taught the way that Eisner mentioned. Now looking back after growing up and entering the workforce, other subjects that were neglected by schools such as economics are as important because they teach us how our social systems work. This made me believe that recognizing null curriculum is important when deciding what should be included in our school system.


After reading the article, I now believe that 'curriculum' shouldn't just be a set of expectations, learning outcomes and knowledge of subjects that we give to students. Other things, such as the importance of life skills and social norms of society that students learn from curriculum, are equally as important. The BC Provincial Curriculum emphasizes the "understand", "know" and "do" part which aligns with Eisner's ideas when he talked about meeting the learning standards. However, the author also encouraged us to look beyond the explicit curriculum offered to students. I believe that considering Eisner's idea of implicit curriculum and null curriculum within the BC Provincial Curriculum would be a step forward for the education system. While we focus on how to prepare students for the future, we also have to think about the importance of renewing curriculum when necessary.