National Curriculum Statement Research Articles

Curriculum design for empowered life-preparation and citizenship: A sociological analysis of the evolution of the Mathematical Literacy curricula

The subject Mathematical Literacy (ML) prioritises an interplay of mathematics and real-life contexts in pursuit of an empowerment agenda for improved life opportunities. In seeking to identify processes of inclusion-exclusion afforded by different conceptualisations of this interplay, a network of Bernstein’s theoretical constructs – classification, framing, discourses, and the pedagogic device – are used to analyse how different ML curricula conceptualise the notion of mathematical literacy and the criteria for legitimate communication, knowledge and practice in the subject. This analysis illustrates that despite differences in the formulation of the school subjects ML and Mathematics, enactments of the original ML National Curriculum Statement prioritised heavily mathematised methods in pseudo-realistic contexts. This approach thwarted the critical citizenship agenda of this curriculum and made it possible for ML to be criticised as watered-down mathematics. The analysis then reveals how the current ML Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, supported by specific curriculum features, has attempted to overcome these challenges by foregrounding a life-preparedness orientation for empowered self-management and citizenship. This involved weakening the classification of academic and everyday knowledge, strengthening the framing of curriculum specifications, and foregrounding criteria for legitimate communication, knowledge and practice around contextual problem-solving and decision-making. Challenges with this approach are considered.Contribution: The article is relevant to those involved in curriculum, task and lesson design involving an interplay of mathematics and real-life contexts. The article aims to support the current curriculum review process in South Africa by decoding and theorising curriculum features and their impact for facilitating empowered life-preparation.

Learners’ Knowledge of Environmental Education in Selected Primary Schools of the Tshwane North District, Gauteng Province

This study focused on determining the level of environmental education knowledge and skills among primary school learners in South Africa, under the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12. Environmental education is important in the promotion of sustainable environmental conservation and reducing negative effects, which are caused by adverse climatic conditions. We used a qualitative approach for data collection from eight primary schools located in the North Tshwane District of Gauteng province, through interviews and observations. The sample comprise teachers, learners, and non-teaching staff working at the schools. The findings from interviews suggest that the curriculum offers learners adequate environmental educational knowledge in the Social Science and Natural Science subjects. Similarly, the results from the observations show that, from visual sights of the surroundings of the schools, the school has gardens, tree nurseries, tree plantations, and a clean environment around the school. In conclusion, learners are provided with adequate environmental educational knowledge and they are able to contribute towards maintaining a clean environment and conservation in their communities.

Teachers' needs for instructional support at early number sense: analysis in terms of (lens) the concerned based model for teacher development

Early number sense requires teachers to have explicit knowledge and understanding to develop learners' skills and knowledge of early number sense. Early grade teachers play a critical role in ensuring learners develop appropriate number sense. The South African National Curriculum Statement allocated 65% of time towards teaching Numbers Operations and Relationship which forms the basis of number sense. Most South African teachers in the early grades are not mathematics specialists and are dependent on support from their school's head of department and the subject curriculum specialist from the district offices. This paper explored teachers experience of the support they received from their head of department in the early grades and the curriculum specialist for the Foundation Phase. This study used the qualitative approach and Fuller's Concerned Based Model for Teacher Development as a theoretical lens to investigate the phenomena. This was a single case study research conducted at one school in the Gauteng Province with three Foundation Phase teachers, one head of department and one subject advisor. Findings revealed teachers understanding and knowledge of number sense and their ambivalent views regarding the support they received. All teachers concluded that the support they received from their department head and subject advisor were partially beneficial to them. They were very concerned with level and depth of the training provided to them. They were unhappy with the once-off short training. Teachers recommended they needed more intensive training on pedagogical content knowledge and content knowledge. Professional development training should be ongoing and that the network learning communities should be established in each district.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CURRICULUM DESIGN OF THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM STATEMENT (NCS) AND THE CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT POLICY STATEMENT (CAPS), AND MATHEMATICS UNDERACHIEVEMENT IN GRADE 12: A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED SCHOOLS IN KING WILLIAMS TOWN DISTRICT, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE

Ponte Academic JournalAug 2022, Volume 78, Issue 8 A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CURRICULUM DESIGN OF THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM STATEMENT (NCS) AND THE CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT POLICY STATEMENT (CAPS), AND MATHEMATICS UNDERACHIEVEMENT IN GRADE 12: A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED SCHOOLS IN KING WILLIAMS TOWN DISTRICT, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCEAuthor(s): Bonani SibandaJ. Ponte - Aug 2022 - Volume 78 - Issue 8 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2022.8.1 Abstract:The Mathematics pass rate has been a problem in high schools in South Africa. Many factors have been found to contribute to the high failure rate in this subject. This research seeks to address the following research question: Which CAPS Mathematics curriculum design aspects have a bearing on the underachievement in Mathematics at Grade 12 level, compared to NCS, at selected secondary schools in King Williams Town District, Eastern Cape province? Data was collected from interviews carried out with Grade 12 Mathematics educators (12 educators for CAPS and six educators for NCS) from schools in the King Williams Town District. The findings showed that Mathematics curriculum design, as well as the progression or link from primary to high school for both NCS and CAPS, was easy to integrate with other learning areas, although not all the content was covered, which disadvantaged students. It was difficult to cover all the content since the scope was too wide for both NCS and CAPS. There was no problem with the sequencing of the topics for NCS while there was a problem with the sequencing of topics in CAPS. The content of NCS differed in intensity; otherwise, topics were the same from grade to grade. This was the same for CAPS. The time allocated for both NCS and CAPS was not enough and that led to difficulties in completing the Mathematics syllabus in time. The differences between curriculum design aspects of the NCS and CAPS are insignificant. As a result, it can be concluded that the curriculum design aspects for CAPS still contribute to underachievement in Mathematics at matric level. No previous studies have compared the NCS curriculum design aspects and CAPS and their effect on underachievement in Mathematics at matric. This study addresses this gap and informs the Department of Basic Education about CAPS Mathematics curriculum design aspects and the effect of these on underachievement at matric level. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

Exploring the use of writing frames to teach and assess writing in English Additional Language learning in schools

The learning of writing is complex because it requires the development of cognitive and linguistic abilities. Effective teaching and learning of writing demand guided practice. The South African National Curriculum Statement Grades R–12 includes the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for First Additional Language (FAL) teaching and learning. It introduces the use of question-prompt writing frames to learn writing in grade 4. In the second part of the grade 5 year, process writing is introduced as a writing frame that should be used when needed. From grade 7 to grade 12 process writing is implemented as part of the writing lessons. The education department adopted assessment for learning as a teaching and learning approach where feedback provides scaffolded learning. This theoretical paper argues that the writing frames used in the South African curriculum are inadequate to scaffold the learning of writing; furthermore, that the assessment of the writing skills of learners tends to focus on closed skills. The implementation of assessment for learning as an approach to teaching and learning is yet to develop fully to ensure successful scaffolded learning. Additionally, the writing frames introduced limit the teaching of a variety of writing genres and restrict the teaching of writing to western narrative and writing styles. The paper intends to demonstrate that the use of targeted frames appropriate to the writing task and outcome would improve writing learning and assessment.

Learners’ knowledge of environmental education in selected primary schools of Tshwane North District, Gauteng Province

This study focused on determining the level of environmental education knowledge and skills among primary school learners in South Africa under the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12. Environmental education is important in the promotion of sustainable environmental conservation, and reducing negative effects which are caused by adverse climatic conditions. We used qualitative approach for data collection from eight primary schools located North Tshwane District of Gauteng province through interviews and observations. The sample comprise teachers, the learners and non-teaching staffs working in the schools. The findings from interviews suggest that the curriculum offers learners adequate environmental education knowledge in the Social Science and Natural Science subjects. Similarly, results from observations show, from visual sights of the surroundings of the schools, that the school compounds have gardens, tree nurseries and tree plantations, and clean environment around the school compound. In conclusion, learners are provided with adequate environmental education knowledge and they are able to contribute towards maintaining clean environments and conservation in their communities.

Learners’ knowledge of environmental education in selected primary schools of Tshwane North District, Gauteng Province

This study focused on determining the level of environmental education knowledge and skills among primary school learners in South Africa under the National Curriculum Statement Grades R-12. Environmental education is important in the promotion of sustainable environmental conservation, and reducing negative effects which are caused by adverse climatic conditions. We used qualitative approach for data collection from eight primary schools located North Tshwane District of Gauteng province through interviews and observations. The sample comprise teachers, the learners and non-teaching staffs working in the schools. The findings from interviews suggest that the curriculum offers learners adequate environmental education knowledge in the Social Science and Natural Science subjects. Similarly, results from observations show, from visual sights of the surroundings of the schools, that the school compounds have gardens, tree nurseries and tree plantations, and clean environment around the school compound. In conclusion, learners are provided with adequate environmental education knowledge and they are able to contribute towards maintaining clean environments and conservation in their communities.

Values-based Physical Education for the intermediate schooling phase in a diverse South African context

Participation in physical activity, Physical Education (PE) and sport has been recognised as a powerful learning tool for education, providing a universal language for contributing to valuable life principles. Values-based education implies that learners are educated about the aspects determining their behaviour. Values-based PE, physical activities and sport have the potential to transcend diversity and achieve cohesion, promote tolerance and trust and affirm respect between individuals and communities. The goal of PE can be to contribute to the acceptance of the infinite qualities of South Africa’s diversity and to claim the country’s diversity as a source of strength that forms a bond of a common set of values. There has been a global change in the interaction of learners with their environment; their lives are shaped by forces that do not necessarily assist them to learn and apply values. A PE programme infused with the values of Olympism and Ubuntuism can offer an investment in individual and societal improvement as the co-evolutionary interaction of these values and how they affect each learner can add to the celebration of human diversity. The question this study set out to answer was how can PE be used as a tool to teach values. Thus, the study aimed to inform the development of a values-based PE programme for the intermediate schooling phase. This qualitative study, from a constructivist paradigm, has enhanced the understanding of individuals’ cultures, beliefs and values, human experiences and situations. Purposeful sampling, of 10 intermediate phase teachers from five different public primary schools sought information-rich cases. The theoretical perspectives of the experiential learning theory were applied to teaching PE during in-service PE teacher training workshops. The process was documented by collecting data from multiple sources. Participatory action research was used, determining how data were collected, analysed and presented on an ongoing, cyclical basis. This study developed material for the intermediate phase PE curriculum that underpins the values of Olympism and Ubuntuism as core values, which were modelled by teachers and guided their work. The PE programme included key elements of and aligned with the study aims of the subject Life Skills. The outcomes of using PE as a tool to teach values propose recommendations to the Department of Basic Education of South Africa, to improve and implement a quality PE curriculum that is applicable to practice and that will optimise the chances of meeting National Curriculum Statement standards. Further research is recommended on the rest of the intermediate phase PE curriculum over the entire year, which includes other movement phenomena infused with values.

English

Researchers have generally agreed that textbooks as a major conveyor of the curriculum play a dominant role in modern education scenes across different school subjects. The study analyzed a set of four learners’ textbooks and their corresponding teachers’ guides which are used as set books for teaching mathematics at Grade 9 level in South Africa. These textbooks were produced in response to the demands of the Grade R-9 National Curriculum Statement (NCS) policy document. A qualitative content analysis on how the recommendations in the policy document were further recontenxtualised in the pedagogic recontextualising field (PRF) by textbook authors into curriculum materials is presented. A vertical analysis approach was used, attending to the ways in which textbooks treat the idea of indigenous mathematical knowledge. Thus, it checks on the provided affordances for connecting culture and mathematics. Indications of affordances for connecting culture and mathematics are awash in the analyzed textbooks. However, authors had few examples from the learners’ indigenous cultures but rich implementation ideas using foreign cultures. There is need for further research on where and how this indigenous mathematical knowledge can be extracted so as to be part of the textbooks’ content. Key words: Indigenous knowledge, culture, affordances, school textbooks.

The need for a stronger integration of technology with school-based map work

ABSTRACTThe ultimate objective of school-based map work is for students to acquire the skills of reading and interpreting maps not only in the classroom, but to navigate life beyond school. The argument in this article originates from analyses of the National Senior Certificate Examination Reports (from 2011 to 2016) in South Africa, which indicated overall poor student performance and, specifically, concept analysis in map work. It is our contention that these tendencies could be ascribed to redundant content and lack of technological integration in the school-based geography curriculum also known as the Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS). CAPS is the most recent iteration of the National Curriculum Statement that was phased into South African schools in 2012. Although the article largely explores the currency and relevance of map work education in a South African context, the recommendations and claims provided are substantiated by literature, which is useful for the entire geography community - both locally and globally. We examine specific content in the high school geography curriculum (grades 10-121), namely: ‘geographical skills and techniques’ and argue that a stronger integration of technology could enhance map work education in developing more relevant skills needed in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We propose a Practical Assessment Task (PAT) for geography educators to consider.

Learners’ socio-cultural backgrounds and science teaching and learning: a case study of township schools in South Africa

In an effort to pursue and achieve quality and equity in science education, the South African National Curriculum Statement stipulates that learners should be accorded an opportunity to acquire and apply knowledge and skills in meaningful ways. Accordingly, the curriculum promotes knowledge in both local and global contexts. The study investigated how teachers’ knowledge of learners’ socio-cultural backgrounds is invoked in enacting various teaching and learning approaches that bring relevance of science to learners. Three science teachers from three township high schools were observed teaching while incorporating learners’ socio-cultural practices, experiences and beliefs when teaching the topics reproduction, nutrition and healthy diet. The teachers were interviewed after each lesson via a closed-ended protocol. Science local curriculum documents and lesson plans were also analysed. A total of five lesson observations and five post-lesson interviews per teacher were analysed using the constant comparative method. The findings revealed that teachers use probing and open-ended questions, argumentation in groups, authentic problem-solving activities and resources, examples, experiences and language familiar to learners. Such practices promote class and group interaction, develop critical and analytical thinking skills in learners and promote conceptual understanding. The research findings provide insights into how certain science topics can be taught in meaningful ways to socio-economically and culturally diverse learners, which can contribute to the current debate on relevant education in a country faced with huge diversity.

South African Grade 5 non-native learners learning Mandarin as a second additional language with a focus on Chinese characters

The South African Department of Basic Education (DBE) listed Mandarin as a second additional language (SAL) (Grades 4–9) in the National Curriculum Statement Grades R to 12 in 2015. We identified a gap in current research regarding the learning of Chinese characters by non-native learners of Mandarin as an SAL. The great number of characters, their complexity and the absence of grapheme–phoneme correspondences put a huge strain on learners’ memory. Rote learning and repetitive exercises lead to boredom and lack of motivation to learn Mandarin. A qualitative research design (case study) was employed in this study. Individual and focus group interviews, questionnaires, classroom observation and a Chinese characters exercise for researchers were used as data collection tools. The data were analysed manually using an inductive process and organised according to categories, themes and conclusions. The study highlights how South African Grade 5 learners learning Mandarin as a SAL learn the Chinese characters and the challenges they encounter. We consider the educational implications for learning Chinese characters and offer recommendations.

The Cascade Model of Mathematics Teachers’ Professional Development in South Africa: How Well did it Suit Them?

This paper discusses the extent to which the professional development (cascade model) met its goal of improving mathematics teaching and learning during the implementation of National Curriculum Statement in South Africa. Fifty mathematics teachers from ten public secondary schools in Vhembe District in Limpopo Province of South Africa were chosen purposively. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through a focus group discussion with five mathematics teachers at each of the ten schools. Teachers disapproved the manner in which the workshops were conducted claiming that they were disconnected from classroom practices. The conclusion was that: (a) the success of in-service programs should be determined by the way that the ideas, knowledge and skills learnt are implemented in a classroom setting; (b) for any in-service program that introduces teachers to a different instructional approach from the traditional one, it has to impact on teachers’ concerns (be they self-oriented, task-oriented or impact-oriented).

Beads and beadwork as cultural artifacts used in mediating learners’ agentic constructs in science classrooms: a case for place-based learning

This paper explores the ways learners respond to and express themselves while interacting with cultural artifacts or cultural realia, beads and beadwork, used to mediate the teaching and learning of life science concepts in a science classroom. South African policies, enacted in the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) and the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), mandate that a culturally responsive pedagogy be used to teach indigenous learners in order to assist them in learning science concepts. Hence, the choice of beads and beadwork, which are cultural artifacts found in learners lived world as realia, creating an enabling context accessible to teachers and learners. This study was conducted in periurban Black township schools near a metropolitan city in South Africa. In order to achieve a thick description (Geertz in The interpretation of cultures, Basic Books Publishers, New York, 1973) of class interactions between the teacher and her learners in using cultural artifacts, beads and beadwork, as instructional models to mediate the teaching and learning of abstract structures of organic compounds, such as glucose, fructose, lipids and proteins, were enacted and video-recorded. Video analysis of class interactions and teachers’ professional development was employed. We also engaged open-ended questionnaires to extract learners’ basic views of the use of beads and beadwork as instructional models. Findings indicated that the use of beads and beadwork as instructional models afforded learners a context that enabled them to express and expand their cognitive constructs of what learning science from cultural perspectives looks and feels like. It also showed that learners’ capitals, namely cultural, social and symbolic capitals, enhance the development of cognitive capital leading to the emergence of more knowledgeable other(s) within indigenous science classrooms. Findings also showed that cultural artifacts enabled the restructuring of the teachers’ pedagogical practices toward enhancing learner’s know-how of science concepts in the classroom. Recommendations necessitate the use of cultural artifacts or cultural realia as culturally related instructional models—CRIMs—to teach and learn abstract science concepts. This approach tends to bring science closer to the indigenous learners’ consciousness, thereby enabling more familiarity with concrete or abstract science concepts. Eventually, the goal of helping learners to learn science concepts effectively stems from the standpoint of learners being active rather than being passive participants in the teaching and learning process.

Comparing mathematics knowledge of first-year students from three different school curricula

Mathematics forms an integral part in the training of scientists and engineers. In recent history the South African school system has experienced several changes in school curricula. In 1994 the traditional knowledge based curricula were replaced by an outcomes-based curriculum. Owing to implementation problems which resulted in resistance from teachers and the general public, revisions followed of which the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) and Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements had the most direct effect in terms of preparation for tertiary mathematics. We report here on an investigation of the basic mathematical knowledge of three student cohorts representing three curricula, namely the last cohort that received the traditional knowledge-based curriculum, and the first cohorts that received the two outcomes-based curricula. The results indicate that changes in the mathematical content of the curricula did not impact negatively on the basic mathematical knowledge of students enrolled for tertiary mainstream mathematics. The only exception is Euclidean geometry, for which certain topics were transferred to an optional paper in the NCS curriculum.
 Significance:
 
 The introduction of outcomes-based curricula in South Africa initiated a discourse on the preparedness of first-year students for programmes with mainstream mathematics.
 The availability of a homogeneous set of samples and a uniform test provided a unique opportunity to compare the basic mathematical knowledge of first-year natural science and engineering students entering university from three different exit-level school curricula.

The politics of history textbooks in South African classroom in the era of Curriculum 2005

South Africa has recently celebrated twenty years of political transition from apartheid government to a democratic nation. One of the important changes in this transition was the reform of classroom curriculum, including the nature of textbook content taught in post-apartheid South African schools. This article discusses the textbook content in the era of Curriculum 2005, a national curriculum statement introduced in 1997 and subsequently revised in 2002. First, I discuss the socio-political history of education in South Africa, including the transition from apartheid to post-apartheid as a context to this analysis. Second, I describe the limitations of history textbooks content taught in post-apartheid classrooms. Using critical theory, I argue that the content of newly adopted history textbooks did not radically interrupt the long-standing misrepresentation and underrepresentation of the political histories of marginalized groups in South Africa, although some textbooks have made progress than others. Keywords: History Textbooks. South Africa. Post-Apartheid. Curriculum 2005. Critical Theory.

Politicising curriculum implementation: The case of primary schools

Since 2012, the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) comprise the new National Curriculum Statement currently implemented in South African schools. CAPS encapsulates a series of radical curriculum changes since the dawn of a new democratic dispensation in 1994. This study aims to understand how Grade Three educators in Limpopo, South Africa, approach the implementation of the most recent CAPS. The analysis of data revealed inconsistencies between the ‘optimistic’ view of the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to improve curriculum implementation despite continuously changing the curriculum, and the ‘pessimistic’ scenario where educators consistently refer to obstacles to curriculum implementation. Respondents suggested that CAPS implementation is hampered by inadequate training of educators, a lack of resources, and too much paperwork. The study points to the politicisation of implementation signalled through educators’ dissatisfaction with the DBE and their positive view of trade unions. This article argues that in the highly politicised education context of South Africa, curriculum implementation takes a back seat to institutional and individual political machinations. Keywords: Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS); curriculum change; curriculum implementation; politics; primary school educators; South Africa; teacher unions

Exploring Teachers’ Descriptions of ‘Ways of Working with the Curriculum’ in Teaching Mathematics and Statistics

What teachers teach, how they teach it and when they teach it should be guided by the curriculum. This paper focuses on teachers’ reports about how they integrate the curriculum documentation in teaching mathematics and statistics concepts. Questionnaires containing both Likert scale and closed and open-ended questions were administered to 75 mathematics teachers who were teaching from Grade 4 to Grade 12 in schools in KwaZulu–Natal province in South Africa. Teachers were requested to indicate their level of the use of national curriculum statement. The findings revealed that they had little idea about how they could integrate the curriculum documentation in mathematics teaching and learning. It is encouraging that some teachers perceived links within the vertical as well as across the horizontal curriculum, both important drivers of quality education. However, it is a concern that most teachers were unable to perceive ways of working within and across the curriculum, suggesting that professional development interventions need to consider ways in which this can be addressed. A further concern is that only 60% of teachers indicated that they used the National Curriculum Statements Grades R–12. Teachers’ propensity to use the curriculum was moderated by the factors of age and participation in professional development activities.

Opportunities for Teaching Sustainable Development through the Chemistry Component of CAPS Physical Sciences

The realisation that education may, in part, have contributed to non-sustainable environmental practices warrants rethinking about what learners experience at school. One approach could involve the promotion of education for sustainable development (ESD). This study analysed the opportunities to integrate ESD presented by the chemistry component of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for physical sciences in South Africa. Environmental issues were used as an entry point for the analysis. The ESD conceptual framework for the study includes five pillars, i.e. social, economic, environmental, citizen skills and pedagogies pillars. An interpretive document analysis approach, using content analysis methods, constituted the study design. The document analysis revealed that the transformative nature of the general aims of the South African National Curriculum Statement is sympathetic to the inclusion of ESD. The contemporary environmental issues contained in the chemistry component of the syllabus present opportunities for integrating the social, citizen skills, pedagogical and, to a lesser extent, economic pillars of sustainable development into teaching and learning. One salient opportunity to promote ESD integrates the environmental and pedagogical pillars of sustainable development education through the application of green chemistry principles in practical work. It could not be established how instilling values and behaviours for sustainable development to achieve citizen skills could be incorporated into assessment practices. The study makes some recommendations and raises implications for further research.

(Re)connect social and environmental responsibility to learners’ living environments: Curriculum challenges and possible solutions for teaching-learning in Life Orientation

An analysis of the National Curriculum Statement indicates a strong focus on the promotion of knowledge in local context, whilst being sensitive to global imperatives. This implies that learning experiences must reflect local realities first; a call which compels teachers to adapt their teaching with the purpose to make learning relevant and meaningful for the learner. It is therefore an appropriate time to ask the key question: Do Life Orientation teachers (re)connect their teaching-learning on social and environmental responsibility with learners’ living environments to adhere to curriculum requirements of relevance and meaningfulness? The qualitative data obtained from 13 structured classroom observations, with specific reference to the topic social and environmental responsibility, revealed that Life Orientation teachers experienced challenges. Based on these qualitative findings the researchers propose place-based education as an appropriate teaching-learning strategy to (re)connect social and environmental responsibility with the learner’s living environment.