‘Not waiting for the initiative to arrive’: Teachers promoting and sustaining reading

The phases of post-apartheid curriculum reform starting with Curriculum 2005, to the revisions ushered in by the National Curriculum Statements and the recent Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements display a trend toward increasing prescription in terms of content to be taught and allocation of curriculum time per subject, both of which are useful. In order to prepare school teachers for these ongoing curriculum reforms and an increased assessment burden, the national and provincial Education Departments have held regular workshops and provided bursaries for teachers to embark on academic studies in their teaching field. In addition, estimates are that non-governmental sources have spent R1 billion annually since 1994 on school improvement and teacher development programmes.

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Nationally Prescribed Curricula and Early Childhood Education: The English Experience and Australian Comparisons—Identifying the Rhetoric and the Reality!

Australasian Journal of Early Childhood ◽

10.1177/183693919602100107 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 27-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Janet Moyles

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Curriculum Reform ◽

National Curriculum ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Speaking Out ◽

Short Period ◽

The Uk ◽

The Impact ◽

Curriculum Reforms

Working in Australia for a short period enabled the writer to make a number of comparisons between the National Curriculum established in England since 1989 and the statements contained within the National Agenda for Curriculum Reform in Australia. The impact of such curriculum reform upon well respected early childhood practices has caused much concern in the UK with many experienced people speaking out strongly against the perceived downward pressures upon under five's practitioners. Areas of particular concern have been those associated with a heavily subject-dominated curriculum and highly formalised assessment arrangements beginning with seven-year-olds. This paper considers some of the rhetoric and reality which underpins both country's curriculum reforms and offers suggestions to Australian early childhood educators as to the issues which are likely to require from them, over the next few months and years, a clear and sound articulation of quality early childhood practice.

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Alignment between South African mathematics assessment standards and the TIMSS assessment frameworks

Pythagoras ◽

10.4102/pythagoras.v33i3.182 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Mdutshekelwa Ndlovu ◽

Andile Mji

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Curriculum Reform ◽

Mathematics Curriculum ◽

National Curriculum ◽

Mathematics Assessment ◽

Benchmark Tests ◽

Timss 2003 ◽

Policy Statements ◽

Assessment Standards ◽

Grade 8

South Africa’s performance in international benchmark tests is a major cause for concern amongst educators and policymakers, raising questions about the effectiveness of the curriculum reform efforts of the democratic era. The purpose of the study reported in this article was to investigate the degree of alignment between the TIMSS 2003 Grade 8 Mathematics assessment frameworks and the Revised National Curriculum Statements (RNCS) assessment standards for Grade 8 Mathematics, later revised to become the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS). Such an investigation could help to partly shed light on why South African learners do not perform well and point out discrepancies that need to be attended to. The methodology of document analysis was adopted for the study, with the RNCS and the TIMSS 2003 Grade 8 Mathematics frameworks forming the principal documents. Porter’s moderately complex index of alignment was adopted for its simplicity. The computed index of 0.751 for the alignment between the RNCS assessment standards and the TIMSS assessment objectives was found to be significantly statistically low, at the alpha level of 0.05, according to Fulmer’s critical values for 20 cells and 90 or 120 standard points. The study suggests that inadequate attention has been paid to the alignment of the South African mathematics curriculum to the successive TIMSS assessment frameworks in terms of the cognitive level descriptions. The study recommends that participation in TIMSS should rigorously and critically inform ongoing curriculum reform efforts.

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The Description for The Usage of the National Curriculum by Elementary School Teachers

The Journal of Elementary Education ◽

10.29096/jee.32.2.04 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 32 (2) ◽

pp. 75-99

Author(s):

Sung Yeol You

Keyword(s):

Elementary School ◽

Elementary School Teachers ◽

National Curriculum ◽

School Teachers

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Curriculum development at the African Regional Wildlife Colleges, with special reference to the Ecole de Faune, Cameroon

Environmental Conservation ◽

10.1017/s0376892903000249 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 249-258 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Paul Scholte

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Curriculum Reform ◽

Wildlife Management ◽

Feedback System ◽

New Developments ◽

Conservation Practice ◽

Curriculum Review ◽

Regional Colleges ◽

Training Need ◽

Curriculum Reforms

Regional colleges in Tanzania, Cameroon and, recently, South Africa have trained some 4000 wildlife managers. Training need assessments called for major curriculum reforms, which were developed and implemented in the late 1990s. This is an analysis of the factors that influenced this curriculum reform in the colleges' endeavour to respond to new developments in African wildlife management. Since 1979, the curriculum of Garoua Wildlife College, Cameroon, has changed only gradually, whereas work placement subjects, selected by students and their employers, have quickly responded to developments in wildlife management, with an increase in the number of people-oriented subjects amongst other things. In the new curriculum, Garoua's mid-career students appreciated biology and inventory disciplines for their relevance, as well as courses in other disciplines tailored to conservation practice. The curriculum reforms implemented at Garoua depended on the presence of interested lecturers with an appropriate background, often obtained by additional training. The curricula of the regional wildlife colleges at Garoua (Cameroon) Mweka (Tanzania) and SAWC (South Africa) showed important differences, as a result of regional differences and differing visions of the wildlife management profession. All three colleges have struggled to establish a feedback system for continuous curriculum review. Increasing the exchanges between the colleges could further develop the curricula. While pursuing necessary changes in curriculum and institutions, care should be taken to avoid reducing the colleges' sustainability.

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Perceptions of Hong Kong secondary school teachers on effective pedagogical practices for curriculum reform: a multi-group analysis

Asia Pacific Journal of Education ◽

10.1080/02188791.2021.1988901 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Chrysa P. C. Keung ◽

Alan C. K. Cheung ◽

Barley S. Y. Mak ◽

Winnie W. Y. Tam

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Secondary School ◽

Curriculum Reform ◽

Secondary School Teachers ◽

Group Analysis ◽

Pedagogical Practices ◽

School Teachers

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The botanical content in the South African curriculum: A barren desert or a thriving forest?

South African Journal of Science ◽

10.17159/sajs.2016/20150127 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol Volume 112 (Number 1/2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Amelia L. Abrie ◽

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Grade Level ◽

Biology Education ◽

Plant Biology ◽

The South ◽

Knowledge And Skills ◽

Assessment Policy ◽

Policy Statements ◽

Plant Sciences ◽

American Society

Abstract Botanists who are interested in education have often expressed their dismay at how plant sciences are neglected in Biology curricula, despite the important roles that plants play. While botanists in several overseas countries have studied the ways in which plant sciences are represented in curricula, no research has been done on how botany is neglected in the South African curriculum. Currently, the South African curriculum is known as the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) for Grades R–12. In this study, a comparison was made among the content that is generally taught in introductory plant sciences courses, the American Society of Plant Biologists’ principles for plant biology education and the relevant CAPS documents. The time spent on plant, animal or human-focused content was established and compared at both phase and grade level. It was found that while the curriculum addresses all the major concepts in the plant sciences, very little time was being allocated to exclusively plant-focused content as compared to animal and human-focused content. This neglect was particularly prevalent in the Foundation Phase. The way in which the content is structured and presented in the curriculum may in all likelihood not be sufficient to provide a strong knowledge and skills foundation in the plant sciences, nor will it encourage the development of positive values towards plants. While consensus regarding the content of a curriculum will be difficult to achieve, awareness of potential gaps in the curriculum should be brought to the attention of the botanical and educational communities.

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