Planning and managing curriculum implementation in rural schools: an investigation
- Authors: Labane, Nokubonga
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Curriculum planning -- South Africa , Teacher participation in curriculum planning , Education -- South Africa -- Curricula
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9522 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/998 , Curriculum planning -- South Africa , Teacher participation in curriculum planning , Education -- South Africa -- Curricula
- Description: Fleisch (2002) and Jansen and Christie (1999) hold that implementation of the national school curriculum in post-apartheid South Africa was riddled with uncertainties, ineffective classroom management and a general lack of academic performance by learners, mainly as a result of inadequate training and support (SMTs) to support the implementation process through proper planning and subsequent management of the implementation (Rogan and Grayson, 2003:1172-1195). Middlewood (2003a: 66- 68) thus assigns the primary responsibility of planning, managing and overseeing the curriculum implementation process to the SMT. Research problem and question 1 In the context of this study, the School Management Team (SMT) includes the school principal, the deputy-principal and the head(s) of department(s) or senior teachers. 4 for teachers in the classroom. Having considered the above essential aspects related to curriculum implementation, there is thus reason to be concerned about the effectiveness of curriculum implementation in South African schools, specifically in rural schools. Due to their remoteness, limited resources, and fluctuating quality of teacher expertise, these schools are often more challenged in terms of curriculum implementation (Delport and Mangwaya, 2008:224). Although there are many factors affecting the (in)effectiveness of implementation, this study regards a school’s curriculum implementation plans and the subsequent management of these implementation plans as crucial to ensuring successful implementation of a new curriculum. The central research problem that guided this study thus relates to the planning and subsequent management of curriculum implementation at school level. The above problem has culminated in the formulation of the following research question: How do selected rural schools plan and manage curriculum implementation?.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Principals' interpretation of their role in implementing the national curriculum statement : a study of three KZN Vryheid principals
- Authors: Msane, Sikhumbuzo Goodenough
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Curriculum planning -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Teacher participation in curriculum planning , Educational change -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Education -- South Africa -- Curricula
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9511 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1133 , Curriculum planning -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Teacher participation in curriculum planning , Educational change -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , Education -- South Africa -- Curricula
- Description: Principals were struggling with the interpretation of their roles in the implementation of the NCS in South African schools, parlty due to the huge change and complexity of the NCS. It was found that principals did not understand their roles in the implementation of the NCS, and as a result did not develop staff, were not familiar with the roles of educators as specified by policy and shifted the burden of developing educators to the Department of Education. A qualitative research approach was employed. A reputational case sampling was conducted on three secondary school principals in the KZN Vryheid District. A semi structured interview and a semi-structured questionaire were employed on these three principals to gather data. Theme analysis was used to determine how principals interpreted their roles in the implementation of the NCS. I found that principals did not have enough understanding of their roles in the implementation of the NCS. However, principals complained that the Department of Education was more concerned about expanding access to education than quality of education. They also lamented that teachers had a low self- esteem with the profession. I found that principals required detailed workshops on their roles in the implementation of the NCS, ongoing curriculum leadership training, and required LTSM resources and equipped laboratories.
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- Date Issued: 2009