Browsing by Subject "Curriculum planning - South Africa"

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    An analysis of the constitution of a school subject through recontextualizing : the case of the NAC drama syllabus (1994)
    (1997) Hoadley, Ursula Kate; Ensor, Paula; Jacklin Heather
    This study sets out to develop a framework for the analysis of a school subject and uses as a focal study the NAC drama syllabus developed in1994. Drawing in the main on Basil Bernstein's theory of curriculum, an analysis is made of how a syllabus is constituted through recontextualizing, using the theoretical concepts of voice and identity, classification and framing, and hierarchy. The discourses that have been recontextualized in the formation of the syllabus are identified. Two sets of discourses are identified: educational policy discourses (namely the discourses of progressivism, utilitarianism and reconstruction and development) and educational drama discourses. The specialization of voice in the syllabus marks out the academic identity, and is an indicator of educational drama discourses evident in the syllabus. The specialization of identity marks out projected social identities, indicating the recruitment of educational policy discourses in the constitution of the syllabus. The field in which the syllabus is constructed is also examined, which following Bernstein is defined as the recontextualizing field. The syllabus writers, located in this field, act selectively on the educational policy and educational drama discourses in constituting the syllabus. The rules for selection in the development of the syllabus are examined, and these are related to the syllabus writers' situation within the recontextualizing field. It is argued that the syllabus writers are positioned subordinately within the field, and that this factor to a large extent regulates the operation of educational policy discourses as rules for selection in the drawing up of the syllabus .
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    Exploring learner and teacher roles in curriculum development in a process approach to a basic English as a second language programme for adults
    (1991) Clifford, Marian; Saddington, James Anthony
    This study explores the contribution that the learners and the teacher made to curriculum development in a process approach to English as a second language for adults. The research was carried out with a group of workers attending a basic English course in an adult education programme on the East Rand. This study covers the entire sixteen month period from 1986 to 1987, and was carried out by the teacher-as-researcher. The research methodology was a form of illuminative evaluation, using syllabus accounts. These accounts provided a record of what took place in the classroom and were organised into three main themes. Subsequent analysis of the accounts focussed on learner and teacher roles in determining the learning experiences generated in the classroom. These findings were then re-examined in the light of the literature on process approaches. Conclusions were drawn about these roles and the implications for teacher development and learner training. Subsequently these conclusions were presented as illuminative data to reflect upon the curriculum framework underlying process approaches. The conclusions drawn in this study challenge the assumption that learners and the teacher jointly and equally negotiate learning in a process approach. Instead they suggest that the teacher is very much in control as the overall manager of curriculum development, and that learners are secondary agents in this endeavour. The roles of both parties are also more complex and more interlinked than the literature implies. Following this, conclusions were drawn about the roles that learners and the teacher played in curriculum development in this study. The research went on to examine the broader implications of these findings, by assessing the feasibility of a process approach for large-scale adult basic education work in South Africa. From this assessment, a new 'hybrid' approach was proposed which retains important features of a process approach while modifying it to make it more accessible and appropriate for South Africa's needs. Finally, the study identified future research directions.