Curriculum transformation presents major challenges ahead, writes MICHAEL KAHN
OUTCOMES-based education (OBE) is the most far-ranging change to education that this country has ever seen. We are not the first nation to change its education system, but our change is more complex than usual. In education, new departments were formed, new examinations set, colleges rationalised and so on. These form an overdue programme of modernisation intended to take us into the emerging “knowledge economy”. The context of this modernisation includes an education payroll that absorbs more than 90% of education funding. There is little to spare for development. We also know that student success is strongly determined by wealth, geography and demography. And while many teachers support the basic intentions that underlie Curriculum 2005, a vocal minority does not.
OBE has provided an opportunity for the entire education community to grow together. Virtually no one in South Africa can claim to be an expert in OBE. It is new for us all, and we are therefore all learners.
Introducing major change in large corporations is never easy. One approach is that of the “big bang”. An example would be the introduction of e-mail. A directive goes out stating that as of a certain Monday only e-mail requests will be dealt with. The equipment is delivered. Training is provided. Then — switch over! Staff have a reason to learn the technology, to get on board. Those who do not will find they are left behind. It is a radical approach and may be painful. This type of change may work because it has a built-in penalty for those who don’t adapt.
An alternative is to move more slowly. The equipment is delivered, training offered, and staff are allowed to grow into the new environment. All very comfortable, but patchy. Some do, some don’t.
In both cases the best advice is: manage the change. We may learn something from such experiences. It is individual teachers who deliver the curriculum as best they can. Each works in their unique school and community. Headquarters is far away.
Curriculum 2005 (original or revised) is a major change management project. It must be managed as such. The question is — are government department structures geared to the management of change? Not really. The state administration is oriented to monitoring compliance, to look after the public purse for now and forever more. Projects, on the other hand, have a finite life-time. They require specific management.
Looking at it another way, many government departments exist to do planning, develop policy, hand out funds, settle disputes and report to Parliament. They do not actually implement change. They are not staffed to do that.
If a project comes along one has to lift officials out of their line posts and assign them to the project. What then happens to their regular work? Who do they report to? The project manager or their line manager?
It is the task of the project manager to ensure that the project remains on track, that corrective action is taken on the way, and that excellent communication is maintained within the team and with all stakeholders. The factors that impact on the success of the project must be laid out, understood, and managed. One struggles to do this alongside routine work, signing leave forms, dealing with queries and attending board meetings.
Seen in this way, one might be tempted to say that thus far the implementation of Curriculum 2005 has been something of a miracle, not a failure. It has taken place at a time of intense contestation and resource constraints, and has not had the luxury of being managed as a project. It has, in a sense, been an “add-on” task.
Those who cry that the bureaucracy is too large and that jobs must be cut need to realise this is a blunt instrument. The introduction of OBE is the largest possible project — a giant add-on.
OBE as an overall approach is here to stay. Curriculum 2005 is being reviewed.
Whatever new directions are proposed deserve the best possible chance of success. This means adequate resources for the change management process. Subjecting it to a blunt instrument is to kill it. Then again, maybe some have that intention.
Not only are we short of money, we also lack project managers. This does not mean that we adopt a “management by committee” approach. That can only work on a small scale.
Curriculum transformation is a very large project that may be managed by breaking it into a number of sub-projects. Multiple project management is not something strange. Engineers are used to it. Education managers can learn it.
OBE is an investment in all our tomorrows. It is a vehicle that should promote that “better life for all”. To enjoy that future demands management of this vast project and building the capacity to manage. It requires nothing less than a shift from public administration to public management. Now that is an outcome worth striving for.
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, May 15, 2000.
Professor Michael Kahn holds the chair in science, mathematics and technology education at UCT. He is an adviser to the Minister of Education, Kader Asmal