Curriculum and Instructional Studies

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Browsing Curriculum and Instructional Studies by Author "Gawe, N."

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    A Critical analysis of the secondary school economic science curruculum
    (University of Zululand, 2002) Zungu, Zacheus Ngcebo Dumisani; Gawe, N.
    The economic sciences curriculum is supposed to equip learners with skills that would be readily recognised and acceptable to the corporate world. Yet it became obvious from the high unemployment rate of leamers with economic science background that the expected skills were less developed than expected. School leavers need to be retrained for them to be able to carry out elementary tasks like bookkeeping. It is the inadequacy of the present secondary school curriculum to produce employable school leavers that prompted this inquiry. The main objective of this study was to investigate the relevance of the economic science curriculum to the needs of the corporate world. The study revealed that lack of participation by all relevant stakeholders in the development of a curriculum creates the gaps between the schooling system and the corporate world. The lack of resources and poor communication between business and education also contributed to the unemployability of school graduates. There is, therefore, very little congruence between what is taught and the world of work. Several recommendations to address the problem were put forward. The most important of these recommendations is .the establishment of partnerships between education and vocational skills may be fused. Economic science education needs to be given prominence in all schools including those in rural environments where given subject advisors seldom visit
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    The implementation of fieldwork in geography teaching in Secondary school
    (2000) Ngcamu, Richard Nkosingiphile; Gawe, N.
    Fieldwork is regarded as an educational activity that takes place outside the classroom. It is a learning experience of outdoors which gives reality to the subject and saves it from being arid and theoretical. As such, fieldwork is regarded by most Geographers as being central to their teaching, research and as intrinsic to the very nature of being a Geographer. Through fieldwork Geography learners can become more participative, purposeful, enthusiastic and more positive in their learning. This study investigates the implementation of fieldwork in Geography teaching in Secondary schools. A broad overview of the literature on fieldwork in general and fieldwork in Geography education in particular, was analysed. Grade 8, 9 and 10 Geography syllabus was analysed to establish the extent to which the syllabus, as a guideline for teachers, promotes fieldwork in the teaching of Geography. Further more 50 questionnaires were distributed to 50 Geography teachers to find the extent to which they understood fieldwork and to establish whether it was implemented in schools or not. The principal findings of the study were: 1. Qualification did not mean competence - All the respondents were well qualified and they claimed to be knowledgeable about fieldwork and yet their excuses and explanation of their modus operandi clearly showed that few if any of these teachers undertook fieldwork. Amongst other excuses teachers complained about lack of time, ignorance of syllabus and lack of finances to support field excursions. 2. Poor communication between the school and the parents- The research revealed that there was poor support from parents on the activities pertaining to fieldwork. This was as a result of poor communication between the school and the parents. Parents were not part of the planning of the annual school activities and they were only told when money was needed to undertake field-trips. Hence, there was poor support from their side. From the findings of this research, it is evident that fieldwork in Geography teaching has an important place in the South African curriculum.