But unions say training given to teachers on the new curriculum has been pathetic
David Macfarlane
The massive and controver-sial process of designing an entire new curriculum for
South Africa’s state schools is set to take a major step forward as the streamlining of Curriculum 2005 nears completion.
But those upon whom the success of the venture ultimately rests the country’s
teachers continue to express widespread confusion about the process.
The streamlining began in January, and followed from Minister of Education Kader
Asmal’s appointment last year of a committee to review Curriculum 2005, which
his predecessor, Sibusiso Bengu, introduced in the mid-1990s.
The political fallout around the review was immediate, with some construing Asmal’s move as an attempt to subvert the new curriculum, which had heavy African National Congress backing.
Others welcomed the review, pointing out that Curriculum 2005’s bewildering thickets of jargon left teachers floundering. The curriculum’s underpinning philosophy, outcomes-based education (OBE), was not up for review; its articulation as Curriculum 2005 was.
“OBE emphasises higher expectations of what learners can achieve,” says Professor Linda Chisholm, who led last year’s review committee and now chairs
the ministerial project for streamlining Curriculum 2005. “It involves a learner- and activity-centred education process. It starts with the end result
[the outcome], which should determine the learning process.”
Chisholm says the streamlining process will produce a national curriculum statement (NCS), which will become available for public comment at the end of
July. Edcent Williams, chief director (curriculum and assessment development and
learner achievement) in the Department of Education, says: “The drafting of the
NCS … cannot and should not in any way be construed as a rejection of Curriculum 2005.”
After last year’s controversies around the review, teacher unions are watching
the process like hawks. “The NCS must not distort the essence of Curriculum 2005,” says Glenn Abrahams, vice-president of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), “and Sadtu will be very firm on this.
“The essence is an education system appropriate for a country in transformation.
This isn’t a mere change in syllabus. Education isn’t a neutral thing: it can
favour some and disadvantage others. The NCS must put all children on a par, so
that all can become useful citizens.”
Chisholm acknowledges that, “by its nature, the NCS will be contested”. After
July it will be considered by unions, the Ministry and Department of Education,
and others, so that its final form will be a product of wide consultation, she
says. Only then will it become official government policy, which will be announced in December.
Chisholm says the NCS will present “a simplified curriculum design, still based
on OBE principles. It leaves room for innovation and creativity on the part of
teachers.”
With a finalised government education policy for schools at last in sight, the
spotlight will increasingly fall on implementation. There are three fundamentals, says curriculum specialist Emilia Potenza: policy, teacher development and learner support materials (especially textbooks). These three
need to be aligned, she says, “otherwise the chances of meaningful transformation are minimal”.
Unions point also to the need for better communication between education departments and schools. “There is extreme confusion on the ground among teachers,” says Sue Muller, director of curriculum matters for the National Professional Teachers’ Association of South Africa (Naptosa).
This is partly because Curriculum 2005 in its original form was “incredibly confusing”, but also because “the training given to teachers on the new curriculum has been pathetic just short of a national disaster”.
Abrahams fears that the NCS will bring “more confusion” to classrooms. “The Department of Education must give clear guidelines on how teachers should approach the new NCS.”
Chisholm says each of the eight “learning areas” will have a statement in the
form of a booklet. Each will identify required outcomes and assessment standards
for each grade of study a new development and will also provide a guide to
the principles of the new curriculum. Both assessment and the kind of teaching
appropriate to OBE have been major sources of bewilderment among teachers.
Describing the Department of Education’s plans for training teachers, Williams
says: “The orientation and preparation of teachers will receive focused, structured and systematic attention,” as will suitable learning support materials.
Yet Naptosa and Sadtu both express scepticism about the education department’s
capacity to implement the curriculum effectively. “The scale of transformation
is huge,” says Muller, “and it can’t be done with hundreds of adviser government
posts vacant and not being advertised. In the Northern Province, two-thirds of adviser posts are vacant and the picture’s the same in KwaZulu-Natal.”
Sadtu believes the problem is, more accurately, one of expertise. The national
and provincial education departments are “over-staffed with bureaucrats”, says
Abrahams, “and it’s the necessary expertise that’s lacking. The provincial bureaucrats should, for example, be going out and meeting with parents, but they’re not.”
Abrahams says Sadtu has people trained and spread throughout the country to assist in teacher training and has done this successfully in the Northern Cape.
“We extended an invitation to provincial MECs to use our people in the training
process,” Abrahams says, “and we’re not asking for money for this but there’s
been a lack of response. What’s the point of using bureaucrats because they’re
called chief directors when they don’t have the expertise? The government then
spends humongous amounts of money on useless exercises in outsourcing.”
Williams points out that “the implementation of the NCS is geared for 2004. This
means adequate preparation and planning will underpin its implementation.”
He says: “The process will ensure that all relevant persons have sufficient information timeously, that adequate training and resources are marshalled and
that the base for implementation is sound … A comprehensive implementation
strategy and framework that incorporates teacher development/orientation/preparation will accompany the NCS.”