Curriculum and Instructional Studies

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Browsing Curriculum and Instructional Studies by Subject "classroom practices"

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    Evaluating and enriching curriculum delivery in selected King Cetshwayo district high schools
    (University of Zululand, 2020) Ngema, Thandiwe Nonkululeko
    Curriculum delivery is a critical part of education system, it is the process of determining learning outcomes and the learning contents of what learners have been exposed to. This qualitative study evaluated the process of curriculum delivery in King Cetshwayo district high schools of Kwa-ZuluNatal province, South Africa. The aims of the study were to investigate the nature of curriculum delivery and monitoring; determining the factors which enable or constrain successful curriculum delivery for the achievement of learning outcomes; to ascertain the measures put in place by the Department of Basic Education to support schools in order to enhance the achievement of learning outcomes; establishing if the objectives of curriculum delivery are clear to all educators as curriculum implementers and to propose strategies that can be employed to enhance curriculum delivery in schools. Gross, Giacquinta and Bernstein’s (1971) Curriculum Implementation Theory was used to underpin this study. The theory describes the process of curriculum implementation based on five critical conditions for effective curriculum delivery in schools. Existing related literature on curriculum delivery across the globe, Africa and South Africa were extensively reviewed. Data for this study were built and collected through semi-structured interviews. Participants for this study were from twelve high schools. School Management Team members from six high schools were organised into two focus groups. There were three high school principals, two from urban high schools and one from a rural high school. There were five teachers, three from two rural highs schools and two from urban high schools. There were six high schools that were involved in focus groups interviews and six high schools that were involved in semi–structured in-depth interviews. There were three district officials that were sampledofwhichtwo were from the district office and one was from the circuit office. Findings revealed that curriculum delivery in these schools faced numerous challenges. The educators have negative perceptions about curriculum delivery and these perceptions affect curriculum delivery in schools. The study indicated that monitoring and evaluation needed to be improved upon, with effective monitoring tools. Findings also showed that several factors such as infrastructural facilities, parental involvement, teachers’ and learners’ absenteeism, overcrowded classroom, vi inadequate Learner Teacher Support Materials and other factors constrain curriculum delivery. The study established some measures that can be put in place by the Department of Basic Education to support schools, these include frequent school visit andprovision of necessary support materials to teachers. The study furthersuggested that teachers should be involved in curriculum planning to improve teachers’ clarity of objectives and ownership of curriculum. Additionally, it is suggested that teachers attend regular and adequate training for their professional development to improve curriculum delivery. The study therefore recommends that subject advisors and School Management Team members should concentrate more on strengthening the foundation ratherthan concentrating more on a roof of a fallen house. Furthermore, the district officials should be exposed to training courses on monitoring and evaluation, so that curriculum planners may be supported with valuable feedback for future planning. The study also recommendsthat teachers should be supported regularly with necessary professional development activities as this may ensure clarity of the objectives of the curriculum delivery and how to effectively deliver their lessons in the classrooms. The use of adequate and regular monitoring tools for feedbacks on curriculum delivery may also assist in future planning for the curriculum to achieve learning outcomes. The Department of Basic Education should work collaboratively with community leaders to mobilise whoever can be involved in the enhancement of curriculum delivery in the education sector. There is a further need for the department to allocate funds to schools equitably, the resources should be distributed equally to both urban and rural schools and different kinds of learners should be considered. Conclusively, for effective curriculum delivery in schools, the study proposed a model for curriculum delivery in schools, this model follows a systematic approach for curriculum delivery in real classroom practices.