Caps Curriculum Review

Introduction

Some governments wish to develop education through the publication of guiding principle or ideas to guide the profession which impacts teachers’ roles both directly and indirectly. The SADoBE (2009) states that a high quality, clear national curriculum that has its primary beneficiary in mind and that it serves as the heart of a nation’s education system, the main source of support and guidance for learning and teaching, and aims to standardize the quality of education. The SA Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) was developed to guide teachers and to promote student learning. This curriculum review aims to reduce the administrative duties of teachers and ensure a clear guidance and consistency for teachers when teaching.

The curriculum includes not only content knowledge and skills but also how courses and subjects are defined, how student performance is described, and how student performance is graded for all the subjects listed in the National Curriculum Statement Grades R to 12. The purpose of executing the changes was to pinpoint the challenges that negatively impacted the quality of teaching and to recommend better approaches to address the problems (DoE, 2011). The document also states exactly what topics and subtopics to cover every term and the time frame. This move to a more content based learner-centered approach not only minimizes the teacher’s duties, it also redefines the teacher’s role in the classroom as the knowledge bearer to a facilitator and overseer and restricts teacher autonomy. There is also a shift from the strong focus on group-work to a more learner and content focused approach where learners are encouraged to take more responsibility for their learning. This does not suggest that teachers should not explain content to learners but that teachers should encourage learners’ personal acquisition and understanding of knowledge by keeping in mind what and how students

The teachers are tasked to create an environment where learning can occur and learners have guided accordingly, with appropriate strategies and expectations for an individual situation. The use of space includes seating and furniture arrangements, storage and upkeep of materials, tidiness and the overall color and brightness. An organized physical environment provides learners with resources that are easily accessible, has a set routine, clear behavioral expectations and provides them with a sense of security and that allows them to feel comfortable and confident. Every classroom has its challenges these include lack of resources, varying levels of learner, classroom management, student behavior, misconceptions and unmotivated learners. When dealing with lack of resources being creative and open-minded, sharing ideas and resources with colleagues and brainstorming ideas with students come in handy. For example, the school environment is a particularly valuable resource for learning about Living things, and their habitats (Goldsworthy and Feasey, 1998). Every teacher is faced with students with varying range of skills, abilities, and experiences, being aware of the variety and how to support students to help them each learn. One of the aims for CAPS is inclusion (RSA DBE 2010a) when planning for lessons teachers to keep their students in mind and