EDN6004S
CHANGING FRAMEWORKS OF CURRICULUM POLICY,
IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION
2012
The course is concerned with curriculum policy, in particular change and continuity in
processes of curriculum reform. There are three central ideas informing the course. The first
concerns a historical analysis of curriculum identifying reform swings between two opposite
poles, given the shorthand of ‘traditional’ and ‘reform’ or progressive curricula. The second
idea is that these swings have implications for the three ‘message systems’ of education –
curriculum, pedagogy and evaluation (or in the terms of TIMMS, the intended, the enacted
and the assessed curriculum). Traditional and progressive moves change the nature of
curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, and the relation between them. The third tenet of
the course is the centrality of knowledge in the consideration of curriculum policy, change
and evaluation. Whereas the course begins with a broad scan of the political sociology and
historical literature on curriculum, throughout and in conclusion it focuses on analyses
within the sociology of knowledge, which draw attention to the structuring of curriculum
knowledge. Fundamentally it is the nature and status of knowledge that shifts when the
curriculum changes. The course aims to expose students both to the broader political
context and processes of curriculum reform, as well as specific conceptual approaches to
the analysis of different curriculum forms.
Course presenters:
Professor Joe Muller, Dr Ursula Hoadley, A/Prof Rob Siebörger,
Guest Lecturer:
Dr Cheryl Reeves (CPUT)
Time:
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4-5pm, or as per alternate arrangement
with lecturer
1.
26 JULY
2.
31 JULY
3.
2 AUGUST
4.
7 AUGUST
5.
14 AUGUST
6.
16 AUGUST
7.
21 AUGUST
8.
23 AUGUST
The lineage of curriculum policy change in SA
(Joe Muller, Room 503.2)
1995-2003: Curriculum 2005, the Review, and the NCS.
(Joe Muller, Room 503.2)
NCS to CAPS
(Ursula Hoadley, Room 5.11)
The challenge of cognitive demand
(Cheryl Reeves, Room 5.11)
Curriculum reform and assessment
(Rob Sieborger, Room 5.07)
Curriculum implementation: classroom studies 1990s to present
(Ursula Hoadley, Room 5.11)
Studies of curricula I
(Ursula Hoadley, Room 5.11)
Studies of curricula II
(Joe Muller, Room 503.2)
2
1.
26 JULY
The lineage of curriculum policy change in South Africa (JM)
MAIN READINGS:
Chisholm, L. (2003) ‘The state of curriculum reform in South Africa: the issue of Curriculum
2005’ in J. Daniel, A. Habib & R. Southall (eds) State of the Nation: South Africa 2003 – 2004.
Pretoria, HSRC Press.
Young, M. (2002) ‘Educational reform in South Africa (1990-2000): An international
perspective’ in A. Kraak & M. Young (eds) Education in Retrospect: Policy and
Implementation Since 1990. Pretoria, HSRC.
Ravitch, D. (2000) ‘Conclusion’ in Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reform. New Jersey,
Simon and Schuster.
ADDITIONAL READINGS (ON VULA):
Jansen, J. (1999). ‘Setting the scene: historiographies of curriculum policy in South Africa’ in
J. Jansen and P. Christie (eds), Changing Curriculum : Studies on Outcomes-based Education
in South Africa. Kenwyn, Juta and Co.
Cross, M., Mungadi, R. & Rouhani, S. (2002) ‘From policy to practice: curriculum reform in
South African education’, Comparative Education, 38, 2: 1771-187.
2.
31 JULY
1995-2003: Curriculum 2005, the Review, and the NCS. (JM)
MAIN READINGS:
Ministry of Education (2000) Chapter 3 ‘Structure and design of the curriculum’, of A South
African Curriculum for the 21st Century. Report of the Review Committee on C2005. Pretoria:
Ministry of Education.
Fiske, E. & Ladd, H. (2003) ‘Outcomes-based education and equity’. Mimeo.
Nykiel-Herbert, B. (2004) ‘Mis-Constructing Knowledge: The Case of Learner-Centred
Pedagogy in South Africa’. Perspectives, vol. XXXIV no 3, September.
ADDITIONAL READINGS (ON VULA):
Cross, M., Mungadi, R. & Rouhani, S. (2002) ‘From policy to practice: curriculum reform in
South African education’, Comparative Education, 38, 2: 1771-187.
‘Overview Document’ of the National Curriculum Statement Grades 7 to 9 outcomes
statements for the learning areas languages, maths, social sciences, and life orientation.
Donnelly, K. (2005) Benchmarking Australian Primary School Curricula. Canberra,
Department of Education, Science and Training.
3
See http://www.education.gov.za/Curriculum/Curriculum.asp
Fataar, A. (2006) ‘Policy networks in recalibrated political terrain: the case of school
curriculum policy and politics in South Africa.’ Journal of Education Policy, 21:6.
Harley, K and Wedekind, V. ‘Political change, curriculum change and social formation 1990
to 2002’ in Chisholm, L. (ed) Changing Class. Pretoria: HSRC.
Muller, J. (2002) ‘Progressivism redux: ethos, policy, pathos’, in A. Kraak & M. Young (eds),
Education in Retrospect. Pretoria, HSRC.
See also: Fleisch B. (2008) Primary education in crisis: Why South African School children
underachieve in reading and mathematics. Cape Town: Juta.
3.
2 AUGUST
NCS to CAPS
Department of Education (2009) Report of the Task Team for the Review of the
Implementation of the National Curriculum Statement.
Taylor, N (2009) OBE, knowledge and politics Curriculum reform in South Africa 1994-2009.
Comment on Draft Report of the Review Panel Strengthening the Implementation of the
NCS. Department of Basic Education.
ADDITIONAL READINGS (ON VULA):
Hoadley, U. (2011). Knowledge, knowers and knowing: Curriculum reform in South Africa
(pp. 139-154). In L. Yates & M. Grumet (eds.) Curriculum in Today’s World: configuring
knowledge, identities, work and politics. Routledge.
4.
7 AUGUST
The challenge of cognitive demand (CR)
Umalusi (2007) Cognitive challenge. A report on Umalusi’s research on judging standards of
intended and examined curricula. Pretoria: Umalusi.
Reeves, C & Muller, J. (2005). Picking up the pace: variation in the structure and organization
of learning school mathematics. Journal of Education, 37.
Hugo, W, Bertram, C, Green, W and Naidoo, D. (2008). Bernstein, Bloom and the analysis of
pedagogy in South African Schools. Journal of Education, 43.
5.
14 AUGUST
Assessment and the structuring of curriculum (RS)
Hevey, D. (1997). The UK national (and Scottish) vocational qualification system: state of the
art or in a state? International Journal of Training and Development, 1, 4, pp. 242-258
Vandeyar, S. & Killen, R. (2003). Has curriculum reform in South Africa really changed
assessment practices, and what promise does the revised National Curriculum Statement
4
hold? Perspectives in Education, 21, 1, pp. 119-134.
SAQA (2001). Criteria and guidelines for assessment of NQF registered unit standards and
qualifications. Pretoria: SAQA.
DBE (2011) National protocol for assessment Grades R-12. Pretoria: DBE.
7.
16 AUGUST
Curriculum implementation: Classroom studies 1990s
to present (UH)
Chick, J. K. (1996). Safe-talk: Collusion in apaprtheid education. In: H. Coleman (Ed.), Society
and the language classroom, pp. 21-39. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, N. & Vinjevold, P. (1999). Teaching and learning in South African schools. In: Getting
learning right. JET: Johannesburg.
Hoadley, U. (2008). Pedagogy and social class: a model for the analysis of pedagogic
variation. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 29,1, pp. 63-78.
Reeves, C. & McAuliffe, S. (2012). Is curricular incoherence slowing down the pace of school
mathematics in South Africa? A methodology for assessing coherence in the implemented
curriculum and some implications for teacher education. Journal of Education, 53, pp. 9-36.
ADDITIONAL READINGS (INCLUDED IN PACK):
Fleisch, B. (2008). Teaching and knowing, in: Primary education in crisis. Cape Town: Juta.
Hoadley, U. (2012, forthcoming). What do we know about teaching and learning in South
Afrcan primary schools? Education as Change.
7.
21 AUGUST
Studies of curricula I (UH)
Christie, F. & Macken-Horarik, M. (2007) Building verticality in subject English. In: F. Christie
& J.R. Martin (Eds.), Language, knowledge and pedagogy: Functional linguistic and
sociological perspectives. London & New York: Continuum.
Dempster, E and Hugo, W. (2005) Introducing the concept of evolution into South African
schools.
ADDITIONAL READINGS (ON VULA):
Pinar, W. (2010) Curriculum Studies in South Africa: Intellectual histories and present
circumstances. NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
8.
23 AUGUST
Studies of curricula II (JM)
Firth, R. (2011). Making geography visible as an object of study in the secondary school
curriculum, The Curriculum Journal , Special issue on Geographical Education.
5
Martin, J., Maton, K. & Matruglio, E. (2011) Knowledge and knowers: epistemology and
axiology in Australian secondary school history. Department of Linguistics, Department of
Sociology, Faculty of Education, University of Sydney, Australia.
ADDITIONAL READINGS (ON VULA):
Bertram, C. (2007) ‘Doing history?’: and analysis of Grade 10 assessment tasks in the new
history curriculum. South African Socieety for History Teaching conference, 21-22
September 2007. And Lee, P and Howson, J. “Two out of Five did not know that Henry VIII
had six wives”. History educaiotn, historical literacy and historical consciousness. In Symcox,
L. and Wilshut, A. (eds. ) National History Standards. Information Age Publishing: Charlotte
NC.
Bertram, C. (2012) Exploring an historical gaze: a language of description for the practice of
school history. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 44, 3, pp. 429 - 442.