課程概念剖析

任何學術研究領域均常常遭遇到定義上的困難，課程領域的研究自不例外，而課程領域上最大的概念混淆卻來自於「課程」一詞的定義。課程到底是什麼呢？這是課程成為專門研究領域以來，學者不斷詢問的問題，然而不同的學者卻陸續提供不同的答案。奧利佛〈Oliver， 1965， P.3〉在其所著「課程改革」一書中，列舉當時常見的課程定義，以顯示課程一詞的不同用法。

The term “curriculum” like most words in our language， is being used in a variety of ways. Even among professional educators， it is used so differently that communication often is hampered. Although curriculum specialist have tried to clarify the meaning of curriculum， disagreement still exists in terms of what constitutes legitimate definitions of the word.Curriculum has been a consideration of writers on education for centuries. However， the systematic study of curriculum and curricular problems， and the identification of certain individuals as curriculum specialists， according to H.W. Kliebard， did not occur until the twentieth century.The authors of the many books and other publications on curriculum that have appeared since the first in 1918， Bobbitt’s The Curriculum， have usually presented a particular conception of the curriculum. More often than not， these authors held their particular definitions of the curriculum without recognizing the limitations of their viewpoints and without knowing many more contributions of the other definitions.By analyzing past and present concepts of the curriculum， this author have found definitions of curriculum in the following categories: subjects and subject matter， learning experiences， intended learning outcomes， and planned opportunities for learning. It is the purpose of this article to compare these four categories of curriculum definitions by pointing out examples， characteristics and limitations of the definitions in each category. By so doing， this author hope that the complexity of the term ”curriculum” will be recognized， and the communication among educators will be much more easier.