National School Curriculum Research Articles

Challenges to implementing the food-based dietary guidelines in the South African primary school curriculum: a qualitative study exploring the perceptions of principals and curriculum advisors

Objectives: The South African food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) were developed and implemented to promote healthy lifestyles in the population along with preventing non-communicable diseases and other forms of diet-related illness. The FBDG were recommended for implementation within the national school curriculum. The objective of this study was to explore perceived challenges to successful implementation of these guidelines in the primary school curriculum.Design: This qualitative study gathered data via semi-structured individual interviews. Data were transcribed and analysed with ATLAS.ti software, using a thematic approach.Setting: Public primary schools located in three education districts in the Western Cape, South Africa.Subjects: Principals at twelve schools from communities with different socioeconomic statuses, and five curriculum advisors of relevant subjects from provincial and district levels.Outcomes measures: Perceived barriers to implementing FBDG in the primary school curriculum.Results: A lack of knowledge and/or expertise related to the FBDG by educators, time constraints within the teaching programme and lifestyle related factors of educators, parents and learners emerged as the three main challenge themes from the interviews. A lack of resources was identified as an additional theme.Conclusions: The principals and curriculum advisors anticipated many barriers to the success of implementing nutrition education using the FBDG in the primary school curriculum. Adequately addressing such barriers through improved awareness and knowledge of the FBDG by school staff could improve the potential of using the FBDG as a nutrition education tool in primary schools in South Africa.

Short-term initiatives for enhancing cyber-safety within South African schools

The rate of technological development across the globe is dramatic. The decreasing cost and increasing availability of ICT devices means that its users are no longer exclusively industry or government employees – they are now also home users. Home users integrate ICT in their daily lives for education, socialising and information gathering. However, using ICT is associated with risks and threats, such as identity theft and phishing scams. Most home users of ICT do not have the necessary information technology and Internet skills to protect themselves and their information. School learners, in particular, are not sufficiently educated on how to use technological devices safely, especially in developing countries such as South Africa. The national school curriculum in South Africa currently does not make provision for cyber-safety education, and the availability of supporting material and training for ICT teachers in South Africa is limited, resulting in a lack of knowledge and skills regarding cyber-safety. The research in hand focuses on the situation concerning cyber-safety awareness in schools and has adopted a short-term approach towards cyber-safety among teachers and school learners in South Africa until a formal long-term national approach has been implemented. This study takes a quantitative approach to investigating the current options of teachers to enhance cyber-safety among learners in their schools. The research proposes that short-term initiatives (i.e. posters) can increase learners’ awareness of cyber-safety until formal cyber-safety awareness methods have been introduced.

New legislation in Brazilian music education: Studying the law and its implementation

In 2008, Brazilian legislators approved a law that added music on a mandatory basis to the basic national school curriculum. Despite the possibilities afforded by this legislation, music educators affirm that many questions remain due to its ambiguity. Given the 2012 deadline for the implementation of this law, there is a need to understand how it was enacted across diverse settings. This study considers the implementation from the perspective of music teachers. Thus, in this interview study, we seek to understand the status of music education throughout the country according to the perspectives of music educators from private and public schools. Such perspectives are situated within reviews of educational history, legislation, policy, and research. Findings point toward the need to (a) address a shortage of music teachers; (b) better define the preparation of professional music educators; and (c) identify pedagogies which are likely to have the greatest impact in implementing this new law.

Bridging the Academia/Industry Chasm: Proposed Solutions.

Bridging the Academia/Industry Chasm: Proposed Solutions.

The junior high school integrated science: the actual teaching process in the perspective of an ethnographer

Science education at the Basic School (Primary and Junior High School) serves as the foundation upon which higher levels of science education are pivoted. This ethnographic study sought to investigate the teaching of Integrated Science at the Junior High School (JHS) level in the classrooms of two science teachers in two schools of differing characteristics. The two teachers were selected purposively for the study. Observations of classroom teaching and casual conversations with the science teachers for an 11 week academic term period were the main source of data for the study. The focus of the observations was on the four stages of an Integrated Science lessons of which the application stage was found to be absent in the science teachers lessons. It was further revealed among other things that the instructional hours for the teaching of Integrated Science are not the same for all schools. Hence, curriculum developers are encouraged to factor the school culture of various schools throughout the country into planning national school curriculum.

Secondary Geography and the Australian Curriculum – directions in school implementation: a comparative study

ABSTRACTAt first glance, the introduction of a national curriculum for Australian schools suggested a new era of revival for school geography. Since the late 1980s, the development and introduction of more integrated conceptions of curriculum design and implementation has seen the decline of Geography as a distinct subject in Australian schools, with statewide guidelines or frameworks that promoted the integration of Geography along with History into Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE). The approval of the Australian Curriculum: Geography design in late 2013, therefore, offered some degree of optimism that Geography would be revived as a distinctive area of learning in the secondary environment.Utilising a qualitative comparative case study of three Victorian secondary schools, this paper argues that the hopes of renewal engendered by the institution of an agreed national Geography curriculum have been confronted by the reality of school curriculum and governance processes, in which existing local staff structures and priorities are more of an imperative in school-based Geography curriculum decision-making than policy-driven curriculum change.

Young Cambodians as Victims of Institutional Violence in the Criminal Justice System

Young Cambodians are often the victims of human rights abuses due to their interactions with the criminal justice system. This paper is based on the outcomes of a 6-month research project which gained the perceptions of young male Cambodians who reported that violence within the criminal justice system is normalised and perpetrated by police and prison authorities. The research documented the physical and psychological effects of institutional violence encountered by young people such as problems in reintegrating back to their families and communities. The paper concludes with a number of suggestions regarding the introduction of a juvenile justice system, increased training of police and the introduction of human rights as part of the national school curriculum.

The South African national school curriculum: Implications for collaboration between teachers and speech-language therapists working in schools

This critical review addresses the implications of the Curriculum and Assessment Plan Statement (CAPS) for collaboration between teachers and speech-language therapists (SLTs) in schools. A historical perspective on changes in the roles and responsibilities of SLTs is provided, reflecting a shift from supporting the child to supporting the teacher. Based on the role of SLTs and audiologists in schools, an innovative approach to the support of teachers is conceptualized. The curriculum content and methods support learners who experience challenges and barriers to learning in main stream classrooms. The implementation of the curriculum necessitates close collaboration between teachers and SLTs in order to ensure the best possible outcomes for all learners. This collaboration is reviewed by identifying the benefits of, and barriers to, the process, as well as crucial areas of collaboration. Inclusive education is mandated by White Paper 6, and collaborative support of teachers by SLTs is presented from the learners’ perspective within the context of the curriculum. An example of teacher support through the response to intervention (RTI) approach is described.

Regulative discourse, ritual and the recontextualising of education policy into practice

Abstract This paper uses Bernstein's notion of recontextualising to consider pedagogic proposals set out in South African school national curriculum policy and the take up of these in classroom practice. For this purpose a data set of video recordings, field notes and learning materials was analysed of 38 Grade 3 mathematics lessons in schools serving poor communities in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Curriculum policy for Foundation Phase numeracy since 2008 has placed great emphasis on small-group teaching and the use of pedagogic strategies aimed at encouraging differentiation in teachers' engagement with learners. Analysis of the data suggests that while there is some degree of differentiation, strong countervailing tendencies towards a communalising pedagogy are apparent. These are supported by deeply embedded, sedimented pedagogic regularities or rituals which give shape and dimension to regulative discourse as a key determinant of recontextualising. Policy initiatives become incorporated into classroom life in ways that prevent or minimise disruption of existing social relations in the classroom and dominant forms of authority. While the study is located in one region in South Africa the conclusions have relevance to other contexts which grapple with the complexities of policy implementation in giving effect to educational reform.

A Purposeful MOOC to Alleviate Insufficient CS Education in Finnish Schools

The Finnish national school curriculum, effective from 2004, does not include any topics related to Computer Science (CS). To alleviate the problem that school students are not able to study CS-related topics, the Department of Computer Science at the University of Helsinki prepared a completely online course that is open to pupils and students in all schools in Finland. The course is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), as the attendance scales without an upper bound. Schools in Finland have offered the MOOC as an elective CS course for their students and granted formal school credits for completing (parts of) it. Since our MOOC is exactly the same programming course as our university-level CS1 course, we are able to use the MOOC also as a long-lasting entrance exam to the CS BSc and MSc degrees. After two spring semesters of operation, we have observed that there are school students dispersed around Finland who are ready and willing to take on a challenging programming course online, and bridging the MOOC to a full study right makes a strong incentive to keep working on the programming assignments, even without traditional teaching.

RELIGIOUS MILITARISM AND ISLAMIST CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION IN TURKEY

AbstractThis article focuses on Islamist conscientious objectors (COs) in Turkey who have resisted both mandatory conscription and the Turkish state's use of Islamic discourses of jihad and martyrdom to legitimize it. Examining military conscript training and the post-1980 coup national school curriculum, the article first outlines the Turkish state's production of a particular interpretation of Islam and its dissemination of it through nationalist and militarist discourses and practices. The article then pursues an ethnographic analysis of Islamist COs’ resistance to conscription through nonviolent civil disobedience based on antiauthoritarian and antinationalist interpretations of Islam. Weaving together their own interpretations of jihad and martyrdom with transnational theories and ideologies, Islamist COs present a powerful critique of Turkish militarism and its religious claims. A focus on Islamist COs potently highlights the diversity of Islamic groups and sensibilities in contemporary Turkey, and the difficulties faced by nationalist projects to discipline religious imaginaries and put them to the service of the modern state.

Distorted representations of the ‘capability approach’ in Australian school education

Recently, curriculum developments in Australia have seen the incorporation of functionalist ‘general capabilities’ as essential markers of schooling, meaning that any pedagogical expression of classroom‐based practice, including subsequent instruction, should entail the identification and development of operational general capabilities. The paper questions and critiques recent curriculum developments in Australia that characterises capabilities purely in functionalist terms, something that the broader capabilities literature eschews. The analysis is informed by aspects of the theoretical frameworks of Martin Heidegger and Pierre Bourdieu. It examines the notion of ‘general capabilities’ in the Australian Curriculum. The paper argues that there is an inherent contradiction in Australian education policy, namely a vocationally oriented national school curriculum with implied functionings that cannot fulfil designated purposes. The paper finds that the curriculum%s connection to increased individual and national economic prosperity, one championing ‘jobs and careers of the twenty‐first century’, is evident, although current populous forms and categories of employment seem to suggest otherwise.

Teaching English in English, ‘in principle’: The national foreign language curriculum for Japanese senior high schools

AbstractResearch in language-in-education policy and planning (LEP) rarely examines how language teachers negotiate official policy statements on teaching methodologies. In this study, I investigate the current upper secondary school foreign language national curriculum in Japan that requires English classes to be conducted in English, implemented since 2013. I conduct in-depth, semi-structured interviews with three Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) to determine how they respond to the new initiative. I find that the JTEs struggle to make sense of the initiative’s feasibility due to the vagueness of the policy directives, their perceptions of the disconnection between the recommended methodology and current national assessment mechanisms, and JTEs’ own personal beliefs about first language use in the foreign language classroom. In order for teachers to feel empowered and supported in LEP delivery, it will be contingent on policymakers to provide consistent and coherent messaging, as well as sustained gu...

Case study — critical analysis of the educational game 56 Sage Street

Financial literacy is an important life skill for young people to survive and succeed in today’s competitive world. While this skill is not usually taught as part of the national curriculum in schools, a range of games are being developed to support the learning of financial literacy. One such game is 56 Sage Street, a game developed by Barclays Bank to teach young people the basics of money management. This dissertation explores how effective the game is in achieving its objectives. This research was conducted using a qualitative approach involving one adolescent participant. Four key themes were explored: financial literacy, characteristics of good games, learning from games, and discourse in games.

Teacher Approaches to Introducing Indigenous Knowledge in School Science Classrooms

Recognition of the critical role of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) in science in the new South African national curriculum for schools affirms the importance of IKS, particularly in the natural, physical and life sciences, as they are included in its policy. This paper explores the question of how teachers implement IKS in their science teaching when provided with the opportunity to do so. The study draws on a theoretical methodological framework developed for researching educational possibilities that take account of the current situation, the imagined situation for introducing IKS in science, and an arranged situation created to study ‘what is not yet but could be’ in science classrooms. Drawing on a range of data sources that began with a survey of teachers taking a postgraduate science education module, followed by IKS-related task analysis and interviews, three teachers from diverse science classrooms were selected for observations and further interviews. The analysis revealed three approaches to engaging IKS, which may be characterised as: an incorporationist approach that brings selected indigenous knowledge into science by seeking how ‘best IKS fits into science’; a separatist approach that holds IKS ‘side-by-side’ with scientific knowledge; and an integrationist approach that makes ‘connections' between IKS and science.

Sosyal Bilgiler Dersinde Coğrafi Bilgi Sistemleri Kullanımının Öğretmen Görüşlerine Göre Değerlendirilmesi

AbstractThe aim of this study is to evaluate the applicability of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), used increasingly in primary and secondary education across the world, in social studies lessons in Turkey. In line with this aim, 14 social studies teachers working in the province of Aydin, Turkey received a 6-hour training course about GIS during the 2011-2012 academic year. The training covered theoretical information on GIS, a demonstration of ArcGIS 9.2- a GIS software widely used in the world, and the presentation of GIS-based teaching materials prepared by the researcher prepared in accordace with the Turkish national social studies curriculum for primary schools. Following the training, interviews were conducted with the teachers, during which their views were sought regarding the applicability of GIS in social studies lessons in primary education, its benefits, potential difficulties, and what action should be taken. Data were collected using a 'Teacher Interview Form' consisting of 6 open-ended questions developed by the researcher. Content analysis was used for the data analysis. The study revealed that the teachers found GIS considerably useful in primary education due to its ability to enable students to learn visually, improve their map skills, and promote retention. However, the teachers also mentioned several potential problems, including their own shortcomings in using both computers and GIS, the lack of time allotted for such activities, students' inadequate computer skills, and the level of difficulty of GIS since it has been found to be rather difficult for the students. A number of solutions to these problems have been proposed in the study.KeywordsGeographic Information Systems (GIS), Education, Social Studies, Teachers' Views.Today, helping students realize how to access information and then to make use of this information instead of simply teaching them increasing amounts of information has gained greater importance. Since a large portion of the information taught in today's era of radically changing education systems requires a proper awareness of the physical aspects of the world and since Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a system in which spatial information may be stored, visualized, and analyzed, GIS finds itself as a valuable tool able to promote students' ability to comprehend and conceptualize such information.. GIS is an information system providing an integrated fulfillment of the following functions: the collection, storage, analysis, and presentation of graphical and non-graphical data obtained through location-based activities (Yomralioglu, 2002, p. 49).The number of studies revealing the benefits of using GIS in education has increased in recent years. Among these benefits are: GIS enables student-centred learning (Audet & Paris, 1997). In student-centred approaches focusing more on individual and group work, students are motivated toward creativity, problem-solving, and producing and expressing ideas (Kucukahmet, 2000). Via GIS, students become involved in the process of obtaining information rather than being taught monotonous information and skills during their educational career. The use of GIS improves students' problem-solving and research skills (Audet & Paris, 1997; Johansson, 2003; Kerski, 2006; Malone, Palmer, & Voight, 2002; Shin, 2006; West, 1998). GIS enhances spatial awareness (Audet & Ludwig, 2000; Johansson, 2003; Lee & Bednarz, 2009; Qiu, 2006). GIS promotes students' computer skills and attitudes towards technology (Baker, 2002; Pitts, 2005).GIS is also an important tool for aiding students to gain geographical consciousness, which can be defined as willingly having, protecting, using, organizing, planning, and saving nature and elements belonging to humans (Karabag & Sahin, 2007). GIS helps students to realize natural and human elements. Moreover, planning and analyzing the data regarding these elements makes decision-making easier. …

Designing an effective sexuality education curriculum for schools: lessons gleaned from the South(ern) African literature

Sexuality education forms part of the national school curricula of most sub-Saharan African countries, yet risk-related sexual behaviour among young people continues to fuel the HIV pandemic in this part of the world. One of the arguments put forward to explain why sexuality education seems to have had little impact on sexual risk-taking is that existing curricula have neglected to take into account the complexity of the social, cultural and gender norms that influence the behaviour of school-going young people in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past few years, the Department of Basic Education in South Africa has recognised the need to provide guidance to teachers on the content, pedagogical processes and messages that are relevant to their specific context. This paper critically reflects on findings from a literature-based study conducted to identify the cognitive and social factors influencing the behaviour of school-going young people in South Africa and the risk and protective factors that might be particular to their circumstances. The findings provide helpful guidelines about the development, content and implementation of sexuality education curricula more likely to be relevant in contexts of serious poverty and disadvantage. Although based on the South African literature, the findings may also offer useful lessons for curriculum designers in other developing countries.

Physics teachers' perspectives on High School national curriculum policies

This study aimed to identify, in the context of an activity developed in online course for continuing education and from the theoretical approach of Mikhail Bakhtin, the discursive appropriation of PCNEM by high school physics teachers who work in different regional realities. The analysis indicated a positive perspective by teachers related to PCNEM, in addition to full accordance with the main path indicated by the legislation: the contextualized teaching. Despite the differences between educational regions we could not identify explicit signs of how these differences impacted the appropriation of terms found in PCNEM. The silence of teachers in relation to non-methodological aspects of physics teaching shapes their perspectives and also emphasizes the concern for didactic transposition of the content required by the curriculum, leaving out the question of why we have this curriculum and not other.

Technology Education and Action Research: Two Complementary Processes to Capacitate Teachers

Technology Education (TE) across Africa is a key part of improving human resource development. TE offers a multitude of benefits for the continent from improving education and knowledge sharing, to increasing exposure for African innovation with end results of improving the living conditions of the continent’s residents. The driving force behind Technology Education is teachers themselves. If teachers are not equipped to teach TE as a process the continent will continue to bear the brunt of unsavoury results unless radical interventions are implemented. It is against this background that Action Research (AR) come handy to emancipate TE teachers of five sampled schools from Mk1 Circuit in Limpopo Province of South Africa. AR was used as a means for radical interventions and it was implemented in South African schools. Some of the notable problems that contribute to the education crisis in South Africa are unqualified or under qualified teachers, large numbers of learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, inadequate delivery of infrastructure, incompetent teaching and poor learner results. The AR cycles and spirals activities of observing, planning, acting and reflecting manage to professionally develop TE teachers from low self-esteem of teaching TE to a remarkable increased TE didactic and pedagogic knowledge levels. The study was underpinned by critical theory and guided by developmental action enquiry paradigm. Reflective questionnaires, non-participative observation and interviews were used to collect data. Action Research with technology teachers manages to closes the technology pedagogic content knowledge gap. It should be noted that TE is a late comer in both the national and international school curriculum arena. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n3p338

Developing Instruments to Measure Thinking Skills and Problem Solving Skills among Malaysian Primary School Pupils

In the new era of information technology, thinking and problem solving skills are crucial for students to master world class knowledge and contribute towards the building of a modern and progressive society. Thinking skills are given importance in the Malaysian national school curriculum at the primary and secondary school levels. Thinking and problem solving skills are incorporated in the learning outcomes to enable learners to solve simple problems, make decisions and express themselves creatively. Studies related to developing instruments to measure thinking skills and problem solving skills among primary school pupils are limited. This paper discusses the instrument developed by the researchers to measure pupils’ thinking skills and problem solving skills using de Bono's CoRT thinking tools (PMI, CAF, RULES, C&S, AGI, Planning, FIP, APC, Decision and OPV). The validity and reliability of the instruments as well as the scale and criteria to rate pupils’ responses are also discussed in this paper.