Curriculum packages,proposals or prescriptions? Advantages and Disadvantages
This exposition will explore some of the major benefits of an adaptive approach to curriculum implementation in Zimbabwe, as a pose to an adoptive approach, namely increased professional autonomy and creative freedom for teachers, relevance to learner demographics and a wholesome learning experience. Considerations will also be made of the constraints of such an approach, chiefly the issue of resource intensity, accountability and control. It will also outline the applicability of an adoptive approach, in Zimbabwe’s examination oriented educational system, where homogeneity of delivery at the peripheral level is of essence.
A curriculum provides the framework for how and when to teach what. McKimm (2007) suggests, the curriculum defines learning outcomes, timetables, content, appropriate teaching methods and assessment instruments. Materials such as teacher’s guides, recommended text books and syllabi for each subject all form part of the curriculum package. In the Zimbabwean context, the curriculum package is arranged by the centre, called the Central Curriculum Development Unit (CDU). The CDU prepares and distributes the curriculum package to the various provinces via the district office to the schools.
Taking the curriculum as a proposal is like using it as a prop on the stage, it’s a mere accessory, and it accentuates the core theme of the story. It gives the setting while the actual script is in the hands of the director and cast who are the teacher and the learners respectively. In this case, modifications can be made to suit the geographical and social location of the learners. While a prescriptive approach implies the curriculum package is a script which is to be aped word for word and gesture by gesture, mimicking the demands of the examination. A prescription enforces rules about how a subject should be taught as such the teacher is like a drill sergeant implementing objectives in finite timeframes.
To begin with, Ndawi and Maravanyika (2011), “argue
A curriculum provides the framework for how and when to teach what. McKimm (2007) suggests, the curriculum defines learning outcomes, timetables, content, appropriate teaching methods and assessment instruments. Materials such as teacher’s guides, recommended text books and syllabi for each subject all form part of the curriculum package. In the Zimbabwean context, the curriculum package is arranged by the centre, called the Central Curriculum Development Unit (CDU). The CDU prepares and distributes the curriculum package to the various provinces via the district office to the schools.
Taking the curriculum as a proposal is like using it as a prop on the stage, it’s a mere accessory, and it accentuates the core theme of the story. It gives the setting while the actual script is in the hands of the director and cast who are the teacher and the learners respectively. In this case, modifications can be made to suit the geographical and social location of the learners. While a prescriptive approach implies the curriculum package is a script which is to be aped word for word and gesture by gesture, mimicking the demands of the examination. A prescription enforces rules about how a subject should be taught as such the teacher is like a drill sergeant implementing objectives in finite timeframes.
To begin with, Ndawi and Maravanyika (2011), “argue