Curricula in International Perspective

The word curriculum typically calls to mind a set of lessons in a course or a set of courses in a program, but this definition is limited. Although a curriculum is typically composed of pre-determined instructional activities intended to deliver particular content (for example, knowledge, skills, or dispositions), curricula are more fruitfully conceptualized as sites of interaction among instructors, learners, and the content to be learned. It is this interaction of individuals and curricula that results in learning. Without interactions among content, learners, and instructors, a curriculum approximates a learning experience, but is not commensurate with it because a variety of contextual factors influence the outcome of any educational experience.