Curriculum And Assessment Policy Statement Research Articles

Child labour is a matter of national concern: What is the curriculum doing about it?

Child labour has been of national and international concern since as early as the 1860s. In 2019 the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution that 2021 would be the year by which child labour would be eliminated. However, much must still be done to effect this. By studying legislation and literature, I identified different forms of child labour that I go on to discuss in this article. When I explored the notion of child labour from three perspectives on childhood, namely the romanticised view of childhood, the view that children must participate in child labour, and the belief that children need to be protected from the abuse and exploitation seen to be inherent in their working, I came to understand the tensions in conceptualising this concept. I further problematise child labour as an educational issue. One of the purposes of the South African compulsory school curriculum as articulated in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) is to facilitate the transition of learners from education institutions to their future workplaces. I argue that CAPS should provide in-depth knowledge on the meaning of child labour in its different forms. For the purposes of this research, I analysed all the compulsory school curricula documents for Grades 1 to 9 by means of document analysis. My main finding is that CAPS does address some forms of child labour, but it does not address those forms (child work and illegal labour) with which most children would likely be confronted. Also, it does not address hazardous forms of child labour nor trafficking in child labour. More research is needed to determine if there are correlations between the results of this explorative document analysis and the received curriculum so that a curriculum response to address child labour can be articulated.

The challenges of implementing the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement in accounting

South African schools have experienced several curriculum changes over the past few years. In this article we report on the findings regarding the challenges experienced by heads of department (HODs) with the implementation of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in accounting. A qualitative approach, modelled on the interpretative perspective, was used to explore these challenges, namely: medium of instruction; time allocated to complete the syllabus; poor subject content foundation; progression of learners; and the integration of economic and management sciences (EMS). Open-ended individual interviews with 12 HODs were used as a data-collection technique. The findings indicate that the time allocated in the annual teaching plan (ATP) for accounting may have a negative impact on effective teaching and learning and learner performance. It has also been noted that EMS teachers are not sufficiently competent to teach financial literacy, which may affect learners’ subject choices prior to Grade 10. Grade 8 and 9 learners lack exposure to accounting due to subject integration and learner progression. Furthermore, accounting textbooks do not prepare learners for school-based assessments (SBAs) or examinations. Recommendations include that subject choice should occur in Grade 8, rather than Grade 10, and that a secondary school improvement programme (SSIP) should start from Grade 10, and not Grade 12.

Exploring e-tutors teaching of the design process as content knowledge in an Open and Distance e-Learning environment

Purpose: It is argued that Open and Distance eLearning (ODeL) institutions are expected to provide student support by focusing on critical aspects of content knowledge. Technology is a critical factor in student support through e-tutoring. The main question is ‘How are the varied procedural steps of the design process taught in the targeted ODeL institution”? It is assumed that ODeL institutions have competent e-tutors when supporting students through the teaching of content knowledge of the design process. Sample: The focus was on the postgraduate students who registered for two modules for a programme (n=250) in 2020. Method: The South African Ministry of Education for Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) was used to investigate, design, make, evaluate, and communicate. A quantitative approach with an online survey was used in exploring the perceptions of students about e-tutors’ content knowledge. Data analysis: It was done numerically and thematically. Results: The procedural steps vary depending on the different ministries of education worldwide. E-tutors seem to lack content knowledge to teach at a distance learning mode. The teaching of the design process to student teachers requires insights into the procedural steps of the design process curriculum. Suggestions: E-tutors should be provided with training in the design steps.

Applicability of two standard setting methods for enhancing the reporting of assessment results within the South African education context

The study reported on here contributes to the growing body of knowledge on the use of standard setting methods for improving the reporting and utility value of assessment results in South Africa as well as for addressing the conceptual shortcomings of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) reporting framework. Using data from the “verification” version of the Annual National Assessments (ANAs), we explored relevant technical and conceptual factors to consider for the application of standard setting methods. Two sets of panellists were trained to generate cut scores for Grade 6 mathematics and English First Additional Language (FAL), one using the Angoff method and the other the Objective Standard Setting (OSS) method. The findings indicate that the 2 methods generated different sets of cut scores across the performance levels for both subjects. While these cut scores had significant implications for the percentage of learners classified at each performance level, they were consistent with findings from other studies. We also identified 4 key factors to address when undertaking standard setting exercises: engagement with test content, resource requirements, requisite expertise and software, and collective accountability. We conclude that standard setting approaches should be the preferred option to the CAPS reporting framework when reporting assessment results in South Africa. More importantly, the decision on the most appropriate method for the South African context depends largely on the extent to which the 4 key factors identified can be addressed.

Opportunity to Learn Euclidean Geometry in Two Mathematics Textbooks of Tenth Grade in South Africa

Textbooks play a central role in the teaching and learning of mathematics. In some schools, textbooks serve as the only resource material available to teachers and students. Yet, little is known about the learning opportunities in mathematics textbooks in most countries. This study investigated the opportunities to learn Euclidean Geometry in two textbooks of tenth-grade mathematics in South Africa. It examined the content coverage, content organization, and the type of tasks used in teaching the topic in the textbooks. This study followed a case study research design and a qualitative approach. The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement's (CAPS) grade 10 Euclidean geometry curriculum and Gracin's mathematical activity types served as frameworks for the analyses. The data were analyzed following the deductive content analysis approach. The result shows that the contents of Euclidean geometry were well covered in both textbooks following the curriculum and the contents were presented in logical and sequential order to enhance learning. In addition, it was found that the tasks in the textbooks were predominantly of argumentation and reasoning type. It was concluded that the textbooks offer sufficient opportunities for learning Euclidean geometry as specified in the curriculum for the grade level. However, the inclusion of a wider range of tasks in the future editions of the textbooks was recommended.

A conceptual framework of the relationship between musicking and Personal and Social Well-being for intermediate phase learners in the South African context

This article proposes a conceptual framework to understand the relationship between musicking and Personal and Social Well-being for intermediate phase learners. We analysed the intermediate phase life skills Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document to create a priori codes. We employed these codes to analyse literature on musicking and well-being. Through this analysis, it became clear that it is possible to apply musicking as a means to teach Personal and Social Well-being outcomes in the intermediate phase life skills CAPS provided teachers view musicking as cultural and moral education. This article presents a conceptual framework resting on nine propositions that need to be addressed if teachers wish to teach personal and social well-being through musicking.

Teachers' Experiences in the Implementation of the Life Skills CAPS for Learners With Severe Intellectual Disability

This article focuses on a participatory process where the experiences of teachers regarding the implementation of the life skills curriculum and assessment policy statement (CAPS) for learners with severe intellectual disabilities (SID) in schools for learners with special educational needs were investigated. This curriculum for learners with SID has been developed to be more effective in meeting the needs of these learners. The curriculum ensures that learners can meet the requirements of the national CAPS used in ordinary public schools at a reduced depth and width, or at a more functional level, in accordance with their cognitive abilities. Although a descriptive mixed research method was applied in the study, this article reports on the qualitative part of the research. In the qualitative phase, collages and arts-based discussions with core project groups were used to generate data. Four schools, 13 core project groups, and 51 participants (teachers) were involved in the research. The transcribed data from the core project group discussions were analysed using thematic analysis, and the themes that emerged were discussed by the participants. Based on the results of these qualitative arts-based discussions, the findings were used to create opportunities for the teachers to talk and work together to jointly develop a training manual for beginner teachers and to form a learning environment that would permit rich inquiry-based dialogue among the teachers.

Die waarde van persoonlike vertelling in Afrikaans Huistaal in die Nasionale Kurrikulum en Assesseringsbeleidsverklaring

Storievertelling word wêreldwyd aangewend om individue op 'n informele wyse te onderrig. Persoonlike vertellings of lewensverhale is 'n onderafdeling van storievertelling as groter fenomeen en hierdie persoonlike lewensverhale kan suksesvol as onderrigstrategie ingespan word. In hierdie verband het McAdams (2001:101) bevind dat lewensverhale veral belangrik is as uitdrukking van die individu se identiteit en hom of haar sodoende help om sin te maak van persoonlike ervarings. Storievertelling is dus 'n uitdrukking van identiteit, want om die storie van 'n mens se lewe te vertel, help jou om sin te maak van jou ervarings en kweek 'n gevoel van self, oftewel "wie ek is". Dit is gevolglik baie belangrik dat leerders van 'n vroeë ouderdom af blootgestel word aan en opleiding ontvang in lewensverhaalvertellings. Hierdie blootstelling lei daartoe dat leerders geleidelik daaraan gewoond gemaak word om as 't ware die storie van hul lewe aan ander te vertel. Op hierdie manier verseker blootstelling aan die deel van persoonllike lewensverhale dat individuele leerlinge nie geïntimideer sal voel deur dergelike aktiwiteite wanneer hulle die ouderdom bereik waar die stories van hul persoonlike belewenisse met vertroue vertel kan word nie. Daar is daarom veral gekyk na die Kurrikulum en Assesseringsbeleidsverklaring (KABV) om vas te stel of daar in die KABV voldoende ruimte geskep is om leerders vanaf 'n vroeë ouderdom bloot te stel aan lewensverhale. Daar is ook ondersoek ingestel of hierdie blootstelling en opleiding in die vertel van lewensverhale toeneem totdat leerders in vroeë adolessensie spontaan en met selfvertroue hulle persoonlike stories aan ander kan vertel.

An Investigation into the Effectiveness of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in South African Schools

The paper presents the findings from current research on the impact that the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) curriculum subjects have on two South African Schools in Gauteng province in South Africa. The aim is to present the impact of the CAPs subjects in the school. The study did a critical evaluation of each subject to elaborate on the importance and challenges in implementing the subjects and using a qualitative research method to collect data on a group of teachers and students on their opinion on the impact of CAPs subjects. The findings suggest that even though the curriculum is effective, it needs to be improved to close the gap between public and private schools. Private schools are currently benefiting the most from the subjects and how the curriculum is structured.

Eastern Cape teachers’ perceptions of their pedagogical content knowledge in Physical Education

In South Africa, the Physical Education (PE) curriculum has been reimplemented after an absence of more than a decade. The new South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) stipulates that thirty minutes to two hours’ teaching time per week be allocated to PE. The reintegration poses challenges, as teachers are under- and unqualified, with low self-efficacy and actual ability in PE-based pedagogical content knowledge. The lack of qualified specialist PE teachers is a current national dilemma. The purpose of this study was to determine the status of Eastern Cape teachers’ Physical Education qualifications and self-efficacy in pedagogical content knowledge. Forty-two teachers from eight primary and secondary schools, both low- and highresourced and from both urban and rural areas, were purposively sampled. The Sport in Development Impact Assessment Tool, a structured questionnaire, was used to gather quantitative data. Descriptive statistics indicated that most teachers had no formal Physical Education qualifications (76.2%) or had not participated in Physical Education informal training (69.0%) or non-formal training (76.2%). There were variations in the teachers’ confidence levels regarding Physical Education-based pedagogical content knowledge. Only 31.8% were very confident. Most teachers (80.0%) believed that teacher training was a problem. It is imperative to improve teachers’ PE-based self-efficacy and professional competence through continuing professional teacher development.

How should a national curriculum for History be quality assured? The case of the South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS)

ABSTRACT The South African Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training, known as Umalusi, embarked on a project to quality assure the South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) curriculum for schools (2011) in 2012. This article analysis the process in terms of the history curriculum and provides a commentary on universal principles for the quality assurance of national curricula in general. Six quality assurance measures are identified and discussed: comparison between the outgoing and the incoming curricula; entry- and exit-level requirements; internal comparison between Phases [Key Stages] of the curriculum; comparison of the history curriculum statement with statements for other curriculum subjects; current trends in history education; and comparison with history curricula in other countries. Conclusions are drawn for Umalusi and its practice, the CAPS curriculum itself, and the history curriculum. Keywords: Curriculum; Quality assurance; Accreditation; Umalusi; CAPS; NCS; Intermediate phase; Senior phase; FET; historical knowledge; historical skills.

Strengthening comprehensive sexuality education in the curriculum for the early grades

Background: The continuing high rate of child abuse and sexual violence has highlighted the need for a focused intervention in the form of educating young learners on sexual risks and protection against harmful behaviours and making them aware of their right to be protected. Aim: The aim of this article is to strengthen the comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) curriculum for the early grades and to gain an understanding of teachers’ knowledge of CSE and how it is linked to the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS): Life Skills. Setting: This study was conducted at two schools in different districts in the Gauteng Province, in environments where rich data could be solicited from the participants regarding their knowledge of how to strengthen CSE in the curriculum. Methods: A qualitative case study was conducted that included eight Foundation Phase teachers and two subject advisors. One focus group interview was held with teachers and subject advisors. The analysis of documents containing teachers’ and subject advisors’ notes was examined through the lens of the Behaviour-Determinant-Intervention (BDI) Logic Model. Results: The data gathered showed the following significant gaps in CAPS: Life Skills CAPS need to be addressed and aligned to the International Technical Guidelines on Sexuality Education (ITGSE), and teachers need to be adequately trained in the content and teaching methodologies of CSE in the early grades. Conclusion: The CAPS curriculum must be aligned to the ITGSE. Teachers need to be trained; detailed scripted lesson plans should be made available to all early-grade teachers and appropriate resources should be provided to support teaching and learning to strengthen the CSE implementation.

Conceptual and representational confusion: An analysis of three foundation phase teachers’ descriptions of how they teach division

Background: In the foundation phase, division is split along the lines of grouping (quotition) and sharing (partition). Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) recommends that representations such as drawings, concrete apparatus, and symbols are used to teach all math concepts, including division. Aim: In this article, the author investigates how three foundation phase teachers describe teaching division and the representations they would use to do this. Setting: Grade 1 and Grade 2 teachers in one previously disadvantaged urban school were selected for this study. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were used to gather information about how the teachers say they teach division. They were invited to use or talk about any representations such as actions, apparatus, drawings or writings that they would use during their teaching. Results: Using a grounded theory approach, analysis of the data showed that all three teachers talked about how they would transform the mathematics in a division word problem into actions, drawings and symbols. However, none of them was able to use their representations to find the answer to the problem or to provide a division number sentence. The representations they used were relegated to end results and served no purpose in solving the mathematical problems. Conclusion: The results show areas in which teachers need support: Their own mathematical knowledge – specifically division in the case of this study How to teach division in the foundation phase. They lack both content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge.

Reconceptualising the Physical Sciences Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement in a South African Context

Post-apartheid South African curriculum reforms, from outcomes-based education (OBE) to the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), resulted in different challenges. Teachers, in particular those teaching Physical Sciences in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase from Grades 10-12, were expected to cope with changes and master Physical Sciences curriculum for the attainment of good results, but were unable to do so because they were missing an understanding of curriculum concepts. The success of any curriculum depends on ten fundamental and broad curriculum concepts: rationale, goals, activities, assessment, accessibility, resources, content, roles, environment, and time. However, empirical findings show that Grade 12 Physical Science teachers in South African schools still struggle to understand and contextualise curriculum concepts in order to redefine specific CAPS Physical Science concepts. Consequently, this conceptual study uses Van den Akker (2004) curriculum spider web concept framework in reconceptualising Grade 12 CAPS Physical Science concepts. This study argues that teaching without knowing specific subject curriculum concepts can lead to poor teacher performance and poor subject results, this study concludes by proposing a formal, non-formal and informal framework for CAPS Physical Science to resolve this.

Exploring the role of a Google Group in enabling lesson resource sharing in a South African geography teachers’ professional learning community

This article presents the findings of the initial phase of an ongoing exploratory study that responds to a national imperative, to create teacher-initiated professional learning communities (PLCs), to improve the professionalism and capabilities of South African teachers. The overarching goal of the study is to understand how an emergent PLC in the form of an online Google Group for South African geography educators may enhance geography education and teacher professional development. The contributions made to the Southern African Geography Teachers Network Google Group over a six-month period were analysed and categorized according to themes and topics in the Grade 10, 11 and 12 Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) curriculum. The findings, in shedding as they do, light on the curriculum sections receiving the most and least contributions, raise more questions than they provide answers. Areas requiring further research are identified. Our main contention is that the emergent PLC enabled through the Google Group offers exciting possibilities for teacher professional learning. As a bottom-up, online, easily accessible initiative, unrestricted by time or place constraints and with a growing membership, it may play an important role in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in South African school geography.

Inner-self in the teaching of physical sciences according to the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in South African schools

ABSTRACT Teachers of Physical Sciences (PS) according to the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) are blamed for the high failure rate of learners resulting from inadequate subject content and pedagogy. However, little research has been done to look at the inner-self (self-identity) of those who teach. A qualitative interpretive case study was carried out on eight teachers of PS in rural schools in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, to explore teachers’ experiences and bring awareness of role of the inner-self in the teaching of CAPS PS. Reflective activities, document analysis and one-on-one semi-structured interviews were used to generate data, which were thematically analysed and framed by deep curriculum. Teachers focus a great deal on the outer-self (content and pedagogy), while lacking insight into the inner-self, and this leads them to lose self-direction/confidence in the teaching process. Failure to teach from within results in poor performance in a subject. This study recommends the inner-outer-self framework as a useful tool that can assist and bring awareness to PS teachers, to encourage them to teach from the inner-self within to the outer-self, in order to improve their performance, particularly among those teaching PS in rural schools.

Education and Care: How Teachers Promote the Inclusion of Children and Youth at Risk in South Africa

Children and youth at risk, particularly those placed in child and youth care centres (CYCC) in South Africa, have suffered from school disengagement due to multiple barriers to learning such as the exposure to crime and violence at a young age. As children and youth at risk at these centres find it difficult to engage in learning, new approaches need to be found to re-engage their interest to learn. This article discusses how the ‘Curriculum of Care’, an adaptation of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), responds to the educational needs of children and youth at risk at a CYCC in the Western Cape. It draws primarily from interviews and a focus group discussion with the centre manager and teachers at the institution. The findings reveal that positive learning outcomes, and the effective integration of children and youth at risk, are shaped by positive teacher–learner relationships; however, the findings raise questions about the extent to which such a curriculum prepares children and youth at risk for life after they leave the institution. The article suggests that the institutions providing education and care for children and youth at risk need to provide a curriculum balancing academic rigour with care to promote a holistic, inclusive education programme that enables youth and children at risk to effectively navigate their entry into society.

Technology Teachers’ Understanding of and Attempt to Integrate Indigenous Technology in Their Lessons

The South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) technology Grades R–9 includes indigenous technology under its third aim, to appreciate the interaction between people's values, technology, society, and the environment, and the sub-aim emphasises that students learn how indigenous cultures use specific materials and processes to satisfy needs and become aware of indigenous intellectual property rights. This implies the need to integrate indigenous technology into the teaching of technology, which technology teachers are not doing in their lessons. Hence, this qualitative interpretive study explored technology teachers’ understanding of and attempt to integrate indigenous technology into their lessons. The integration of indigenous technology into technology lessons could make the teaching of technology more relevant in the South African school context. Twelve Grade 7 technology teachers from Mpumalanga were conveniently selected to participate in the study. The findings reveal that technology teachers understand indigenous technology but struggle to integrate it into their lessons.

Why the English Home Language Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement will not improve learners’ reading comprehension

Background: The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), and similar international assessments, have consistently shown South African intermediate phase learners’ performance to be among the lowest worldwide. Of particular concern is the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Home Language in the Intermediate Phase and, specifically, the document’s treatment of the assessment of reading comprehension.Objectives: In this study, the CAPS requirements for assessing reading comprehension were examined, with the aim of laying the groundwork for an improved policy framework.Method: The research design of the study involved evaluating the assessment of reading comprehension in the CAPS document, using a social realist approach to uncover its underlying structures and mechanisms.Results: The study found that a principled approach to the assessment of reading comprehension was lacking, which had a cumulative effect across the CAPS document, resulting in random, yet highly prescriptive, requirements.Conclusion: The study concluded that CAPS does not provide adequate guidance for improving reading comprehension and, moreover, that the prescribed programme of assessment is not supported by the research literature on reading comprehension. The study recommends that better, more evidence-informed and consultative policies and guidelines be introduced to support teachers in the assessment – and, ultimately, the improvement – of intermediate phase learners’ reading comprehension.

Student Teachers’ Knowledge in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Student teachers’ knowledge during teaching practice becomes the contested phenomenon in the era of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). Inadequate knowledge negatively impacts the existing South African curriculum and assessment policy statement (CAPS) subjects, despite the attempt at introducing the new 4IR curriculum into schools. Consequently, this qualitative interpretive case study explored student teachers’ knowledge in the teaching of CAPS subjects. The study purposively selected thirty-one student teachers from a South African university who were conducting teaching practice; they were also conveniently co-opted because they were fourth years, conducting teaching practice in three different schools. A technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) framework was used to frame the study. File observation, reflective activity, and a one-on-one semi-structured method were utilised to generate data, which was analysed using both deductive and inductive process. Credibility and dependability were used to ensure trustworthiness, while the anonymity and confidentiality of this study were maintained to ensure ethics. This paper revealed that student teachers are good at standard content, pedagogical, and technological knowledge, while having no notion of advanced knowledge that caters for 4IR. Hence, inadequate training received from the university contributes to their failings. Thus, Advanced Signal (AS)-TPACK emerged from the findings as the most useful framework for knowledge growth in education to prepare student teachers in the 4IR era.