Reflection 1

Mark Smith’s point of view of the curriculum theory and practice is broken down into four ways to approach curriculum: syllabus to be transmitted, product, process and praxis. The main difference between syllabus and curriculum is that a syllabus is an outline that is guided mostly by textbooks, while curriculum is the content to be taught. Lots of people think that a syllabus is similar to curriculum but this theory places a limit on teachers planning and the materials that they want to cover. Viewing curriculum as a product is when education is centered on knowledge and activities to help student prepare for their lives. This kind of theory is where special programs are designed to teach specific jobs or task by following a systematic approach. Curriculum as a product has some major issues because this approach leads to very limited result and in a way the teacher is view more as a technician. The main focus is to teach all the materials and to get a specific result without even seen if the students are learning or just memorizing information.
Curriculum as a process is when the curriculum is more focused on the interactions of teachers and students. It also focuses on the preparation of the teacher before, during and after each class. In this theory there are few issues such as that the main focus is not the content but rather the interactions and also that a teacher is a major component of this theory. If the teacher does not know how to plan effective or deliver material effective than the students will not be learning in other word the quality of the teacher is an important part. Curriculum as a praxis is when curriculum is developed through not only the plans but also the acting and evaluation that are involved in the process.
The definition of curriculum has been changing based on society, theorist and other components. Some of the components that have cause for curriculum to change have been the progressive and behaviorist movements that began in the late nineteenth century. Other groups that have changed curriculum have been humanist, developmentist, social efficiency educators and social metiorist.