Religious and Moral Education Textbooks in Upper Primary Schools in Botswana – A Question of Relevance

Concerns have been raised about the quality of religious and moral education textbooks used in upper primary school classes in Botswana. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to assess the appropriateness of these textbooks. The study adopted a qualitative methodology approach, using interviews and also reviewing some documents. Data collected from the study suggest that the content of the prescribed religious and moral education textbooks in the upper primary school curriculum does not address the prescribed syllabus objectives, hence affects the teachers’ classroom practices and consequently students’ learning and performance. Based on these findings, the study, therefore, recommends the involvement of teachers in the selection of the prescribed textbooks for religious and moral education in upper primary schools classes.

Fostering Critical Thinking across the Primary School’s Curriculum in the European Schools System

To develop citizens’ critical thinking (CT) abilities, schools must better integrate CT into the curricula. Although educators, psychologists, and philosophers agree on the importance of critical thinking, there is no agreement on a common theoretical definition. The goal of this study is to define the framework for the promotion of critical thinking in the context of curriculum development. Specifically, to explore how the primary school curriculum addresses the concept of CT, and to identify characteristics, core skills, and approaches to CT in the syllabi. We conducted a document analysis of curriculum and syllabi in the European Schools system. The results show that although the primary school curriculum does not define the concept of CT, it does consider it a key skill to develop and foster among pupils across the school syllabi. Concerning the CT teaching approaches, our study detected a holistic approach in which the European Schools system supports CT as an explicit and implicit goal within a standard subject-matter content instruction. This study can be used in future educational research with different stakeholders (teachers, school principals, policymakers, researchers) involved in curriculum development.

Teachers as Instructional Designers: Unearthing the Essence of the Primary School Curriculum for Delivery within the Remote Learning Classroom

Moving our elementary curriculum to emergency remote instruction presented numerous challenges to our elementary school, as teachers recognized that elementary-age children could not be expected to spend the amount of time on computer screens that they had spent in face-to-face classrooms. Working with our colleagues, we adopted a “less is more” approach, using inquiry processes to make systematic and informed choices as to which state standards would be covered. We acted as instructional designers to develop coherent learning units for remote instruction, using inquiry processes to study the effectiveness of our lessons and adjust instruction accordingly. This work could only transpire because we viewed ourselves (and were viewed by our administration) as professionals, rather than technicians. At, P. K. Yonge, we were empowered to critically examine our curriculum, to modify and adjust our lessons in response to the crisis, and to design innovative ways to deliver our curriculum. Conceptualizing teachers’ work as professional was foundational to our ability to be effective during the pandemic.

Enhancing knowledge-building through communicative language teaching

Zimbabwe's new primary school curriculum aims at enhancing knowledge-building through the use of communicative language teaching (CLT) to assist both the teachers and the learners to solve problems. In this qualitative case study, we investigated the extent of teachers' inclination to use the CLT approach. To do so, the study was guided by Socio-cultural Theory (SCT) and the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT). Five purposively selected participants in the Warren Park/Mabelreign District in Zimbabwe responded to semi-structured interviews and were observed while they were teaching. The analysis revealed that although teachers understood that knowledge-building can be enhanced by CLT they are ill prepared to implement it because they lack the skills and the knowledge, and they have to cope with inadequate resources. Consequently, teachers still follow traditional pedagogic practices that do not lead to knowledge-building in learners. We recommend that a number of workshops be offered to in-service teachers and stakeholders on how to employ CLT activities that enhance knowledge-building.

Deconstructing dominant English language discourses in the Ghanaian curriculum : reimagining a curriculum centered on Ghanaian languages and literacies

Decades of research in language-in-education policies in Ghana can be summed up in the statement: "Ghanaian languages matter but they matter only as tools for learning English." Although researchers continue to call to include more content delivery in Ghanaian languages in schools, educational policies and practices in Ghana continue to prioritize English education inherited from Ghana's colonial past while devaluing and deprivileging Ghanaian languages and cultures (Dei and Asgharzadeh, 2001). Scholars continue to call for stakeholders to decolonize the curriculum by centering Ghanaian languages, culture, and knowledge in schools (Dei, 2005). This study heeds that call. Grounded in studies and theories of English linguistic imperialism and critical literacy, I first examine the discourse of the newly implemented 2019 K-6 primary school curriculum and public discourses of educational leaders to learn how curricular policies, content, assessment, and teaching and learning activities continue to center English-centric language practices and policies. Second, I reimagine how to center Ghanaian languages in education. I found that the curriculum does not resist English language dominance or question it but treats it as normal and aspirational for Ghanaian students. The topic of Ghanaian languages is absent in the public discourse of educational leaders including when they are addressing how to make education more equitable for students. This study is significant because it shows how formerly colonized spaces like Ghana through their own educational curriculum might be silencing and devaluing their own indigenous languages (and cultures) and it also demonstrates the role of educational leaders in shaping public discourse.