A qualitative comparison of the intended curriculum ideologies of STEM subjects in South Africa

Abstract

AbstractThe democratically elected government of South Africa has enacted several curricular reforms which sought to promote citizenship education. By instituting citizenship education, the government intended to promote student engagement in decision-making, rebuilding, and emancipation of society. The curriculum would facilitate the training of students to become logical thinkers and informed citizens who actively participate in rectifying the injustices and inequalities of the apartheid state. However, a curriculum ideology foregrounding citizenship education has not been extensively understood, especially in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education. In the current study, we investigated the intended ideologies foregrounding the curriculum of three purposively selected subjects: Natural Sciences, Life Sciences, and Physical Sciences. While Life Sciences and Physical Sciences are taught in grades 10 to 12, Natural Sciences is compulsory and taught in grades 7 to 9. We used structured document analysis to analyze the curriculum documents qualitatively. We discovered evidence of a combination of citizenship-centered, service-centered, discipline-centered, and student-centered ideologies in the subjects to varying degrees. We found neither a single dominant ideology nor evidence of coherence and integration of these ideologies. Given the lack of a dominant curriculum ideology, we argue that teachers and other educational stakeholders may interpret and use the curriculum differently, leading to an “ideological war.” We conclude that these science subjects are unlikely to promote citizenship education as the South African government intends.