CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT POLICY STATEMENT: CHALLENGES AND DILEMMAS FACING SENIOR PHASE SOCIAL SCIENCE TEACHERS IN LEJWELEPUTSWA DISTRICT

Abstract

Subsequent to the ushering in of the new political dispensation in 1994, the curriculum of South Africa had to be revised. This was done in compliance with the preamble to the South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996. The mandate of the preamble to the said Act among others is to provide education of higher quality for all children of different races in South Africa; and to develop the talents and capabilities of all the people of our country. In order to achieve all these, the government abolished the previous segregated curriculum and opted for the other one it believed would address the mandate of the preamble to this Act. Instead of the government setting up a commission of inquiry which would investigate into the suitable curriculum for all South Africans, a committee which comprised of members of all teacher unions, and some of the university intellectuals in the country was constituted. This is where the government went wrong, because a committee does not conduct an investigation. It is against this background that the government made a series of costly blunders. For example, the government hastily introduced the outcomes based education (OBE) mode of teaching which was of course not a curriculum per se; and not well researched. This resulted in the failure of the implementation of this teaching mode (OBE). The government was then forced to redesign it, and called it the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) which was also thrown outof the window because of a plethora of reasons. Owing to the rejection of the RNCS, the government introduced a new “curriculum” known as Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). The new “curriculum” is still RNCS oriented. The only change is that it gives direction as to how the NCS is to be delivered. This research project therefore investigated as to whether it is possible for the senior phase Social Science teachers to teach in line with the new “curriculum”, without any hindrance and also to find out whether learners are efficiently and effectively able to attain lessons aims and objectives. To gauge the trustworthiness, and authenticity of the findings of this research project, I collected data using triangulation in the form of interviews, observations; and the reading of documents of the schools that took part in the research project. All the three qualitative methods and a number of theories I employed assisted me a great deal in collecting data needed. I consolidated the data I collected by means of the aforementioned techniques to cognitively and cooperatively construct legitimate knowledge. For example, the research found that there are indeed challenges and dilemmas that hamper the attainment of the aims and objectives of the lessons; the teaching of the contents; the application of the teaching methods and the assessment of what has been taught in the Social Science classrooms. In addition to this, I must indicate that the findings may help the educational practitioners to improve the teaching practice in the Social Sciences classrooms as well as the curriculum designers. Lastly and more importantly, the study contributes immensely to the curriculum studies nationally and internationally.