Intended and enacted curricula: tracing the trajectory of an enduring problem

This article reviews the literature on educational change and investigates the complex nature of putting educational ideas into practice. It also sheds light on the similarity between the intended and the implemented curriculum by arguing that a preoccupation with two conventional models of curriculum implementation has foiled meaningful classroom practice. An alternative model that could significantly enhance our understanding of implementation is suggested. Focusing on why and how teachers’ understanding of curriculum policy is critical to the translation of policy into practice, alternative ways in which policy might be conceived, developed and put into practice are considered

Two decades of curriculum transformation: what have we learnt and where do we go from here?

In this lecture, I will revisit the implementation of a new curriculum in South Africa’s schooling system and provide a brief overview of why curriculum change is so complex and fraught with difficulties. I will argue that an important reason for the failure of curriculum implementation could be ascribed to a relative neglect by policymakers of “teacher landscapes” or the beliefs teachers have about teaching. I will argue that it “matters what teachers think and do” and if policymakers do not take account of this reality, successful curriculum implementation will remain a challenge

The readiness of schools in Zimbabwe for the implementation of early childhood education

This qualitative study focuses on primary schools’ state of readiness for the introduction of early childhood education. Adopting a multiple case study design, the article explores, through semi-structured interviews and documentation, school heads, teachers-in-charge and classroom teachers’ perceptions of their respective schools’ state of readiness for the installation and implementation of early childhood education. The study established that, while classroom teachers were adequately qualified to implement early childhood education, teachers-in-charge were not. Secondly, school heads received limited induction for the introduction and implementation of early childhood education. Additionally, inadequate teaching-learning resources and lack of on-going teacher support contributed to schools’ lack of readiness for the introduction of early childhood education. The study recommends interventions that curriculum planners and implementers can utilise in order to create conditions that enable primary schools to be ready for introducing and implementing early childhood education.Keywords: early childhood education; implementation; primary school; school readines

Obtaining informed consent in non-Western contexts: reflections on fieldwork experiences in Zimbabwe

Current ethics frameworks for regulating social science research seem to be based mainly on Western sociocultural traditions, arguably making it difficult for researchers in non-Western contexts to use them as ethics guides. Yet, these frameworks tend often to be used, un-adapted, as default ethics compasses to guide the conduct of research in non-Western contexts. In this article, the authors reflect on their experiences in obtaining informed consent for an educational research study in Zimbabwe using a Western-based ethics protocol. The experiences are reflectively interpreted in the context of literature with a view to suggesting some sensitive issues that need to be taken into account when seeking informed consent of research participants in non-Western contexts, particularly in Africa

Decolonising the university curriculum or decolonial washing? A multiple case study

This article reports on four case studies of how higher education institutions were grappling with the demands of decolonisation of their curricula. The cases differ in form and content, and the unique approaches to decolonisation that each one takes, and the similarities displayed, are described. An important similarity among the institutions were the use of extensive public lectures, seminars and workshops as a common strategy to deal with the calls for decolonisation of the curriculum. An overarching theme in the four cases suggests that decolonising of the curriculum is predominantly characterised by symbolism and euphemism/s as a way of catering for the diverse aspirations of stakeholders in the respective institutions. Pinar’s notion of complicated conversations was used as a framework to critically comment on the multiple case studies

Assessment and social justice: Invigorating lines of articulation and lines of flight

This article is a collective project. It is a rhizome-article that is an assemblage of five heterogeneous essays that trouble dominant practices of assessment, generally, but also within the current COVID-19 pandemic. The authors problematise standardisation, measurement, quantification and other technologies of performativity that dominate contemporary assessment practices in schools and universities. In the essays, the authors invigorate lines of flight from dominant assessment practices and do so in the interest of assessment that is more humane and socially just. They point out that, as with anything else, a rhizome-article also has lines of articulation/connection and invite readers to invigorate these as they read the essays. The authors of this article draw on the works of several scholars but do so to think with them rather than having their work framed by them. Keywords: assessment, social justice, performativity, lines of articulation, lines of fligh

Engendering a Sense of Belonging to Support Student Well-Being during COVID-19: A Focus on Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 4

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a plethora of inequalities in South Africa. These inequalities have had a direct impact on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 3 (good health and well-being) and SDG 4 (quality education) were the focus of this article. This article investigated how students enrolled at a South African residential university perceived the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their well-being, their success in completing their studies and their future career prospects. A quantitative survey research design was followed. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire from 537 students in a South African university. Statistical Package for Social Sciences software version 27 was used to analyze the data. The results indicated direct influences on student well-being from concerns that arose from COVID-19 about future job concerns, degree completion, social support and belonging. The relationship between concerns about degree completion was moderated by a sense of belonging (social identification) but not by social support. The study has significant implications for how higher education institution governors and academics might consider reconceptualizing notions of student support, beyond the narrow, technical and basic curriculum support for degree completion, towards the affective and social as it relates to creating conditions for students to identify with and experience a profound sense of belonging.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Intended and enacted curricula: tracing the trajectory of an enduring problem

This article reviews the literature on educational change and investigates the complex nature of putting educational ideas into practice. It also sheds light on the similarity between the intended and the implemented curriculum by arguing that a preoccupation with two conventional models of curriculum implementation has foiled meaningful classroom practice. An alternative model that could significantly enhance our understanding of implementation is suggested. Focusing on why and how teachers’ understanding of curriculum policy is critical to the translation of policy into practice, alternative ways in which policy might be conceived, developed and put into practice are considered

Two decades of curriculum transformation: what have we learnt and where do we go from here?

In this lecture, I will revisit the implementation of a new curriculum in South Africa’s schooling system and provide a brief overview of why curriculum change is so complex and fraught with difficulties. I will argue that an important reason for the failure of curriculum implementation could be ascribed to a relative neglect by policymakers of “teacher landscapes” or the beliefs teachers have about teaching. I will argue that it “matters what teachers think and do” and if policymakers do not take account of this reality, successful curriculum implementation will remain a challenge