On Math Educators, you wrote:
Definition of "curriculum"
In standard usage does the word "curriculum" mean
- That which ought to be taught and learned, as prescribed by authorities (i.e. teachers and textbook authors and the like); or
- That which actually is taught and learned in conventional practice, regardless of whether it is consistent with what authorities say ought to be taught and learned; or
- Something else?
On Academia, you wrote:
What is a curriculum?
The concept of "curriculum" seems to include prescriptive as opposed to descriptive lists of topics, i.e. things that ought to be taught and learned over the course of a term or of sequence of terms.
Does it also included descriptive lists of topics that actually are taught and learned in widespread and enduring practice?
Would that also be called a curriculum?
and later, after the question was closed, you added
Primarily this question is about how this terminology is conventionally understood.
Often, the phrasing of a question plays a large role in its comprehensibility. While these two may seem equivalent to you, as the person who wrote the question, you have a head start in understanding what you mean.
I don't think it's unreasonable to conclude that significant differences in the way a question is phrased can have a significant effect on how clear it is to readers.
