Tobephobia experienced by teachers in secondary schools: An exploratory study focusing on curriculum reform in the Nelson Mandela Metropole

Abstract

Because of its history from apartheid to democracy, the aspiration to reform schools is a recurrent theme in South African education. Efforts to reform education in schools based on the outcomes-based education (OBE) curriculum approach created major challenges for policy makers in South Africa. The purpose of this exploratory research was therefore to determine whether secondary school teachers lack the professional competence to cope with curriculum reform and whether this incompetence results in them experiencing Tobephobia (TBP). The qualitative research method was used to conduct this investigation. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 teachers in 25 public secondary schools in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. In terms of their responses, it was evident that the teachers’ concerns about their professional competencies associated with the OBE curriculum had a negative impact on their ability to implement curriculum changes in their classrooms. The comparison of OBE with the syllabus by the teachers evoked their bias towards the traditional syllabus approach in maintaining the quality of education for all learners. Because of the historical bag gage associated with the syllabus in South Africa, it is recommended that a standards approach to the curriculum be considered by the Department of Education to resolve the curriculum problems in secondary schools. The responses from the teachers in this exploratory study once again affirmed the existence of TBP in secondary schools.     

Global–local dynamics of curriculum policy development: a case-study from Singapore

Non-government education is often a highly emotive and frequently irrational area of educational debate, especially when it centres on the degree of government funding and support. Frequently people take fortified positions, being either for or against it, often on political grounds and often without taking into account the cultural contexts and complexities involved. The purpose of this article is to look beyond these confines. It is based on a research project focusing on ‘whole’ curriculum policy at the individual school level in non-government schools in a variety of English-speaking countries in the developed world. The article is in three parts. The first part outlines the conceptual framework employed to guide our research project on curriculum policy. The second part presents a case-study of Chinese High School (CHS) in Singapore. This is an exemplar of the type of case-study of curriculum policy in non-government schools being undertaken as part of our research. Also, it is an interesting case in its own right; while the school has developed a global orientation to its curriculum policy and has incorporated ‘the global’ into ‘the local’ extremely rapidly, this curriculum transition has not been without its tensions and costs. The third part of the article offers a discussion of the ‘bigger picture’ implications of the findings.     

Policy ‘partnerships’? Power dynamics in curriculum reform

In curriculum policy, discourses of ‘policy partnerships’ and ‘communities of practice’ have become increasingly prevalent and were reflected in Western Australian curriculum policy processes from the mid‐1990s to the late 2000s – a period of significant, highly contested change. This paper presents the findings of an empirical study into the impact of curriculum reform on the changing dynamics within and between the government and non‐government education sectors, drawing on critical theory and post‐structuralist approaches to policy analysis within a broader framework of policy network theory. This approach is used to highlight power issues at all levels of the policy trajectory. This research found that despite policy discourses of collaborative and consultative processes to create a ‘shared’ curriculum, the government and non‐government education sectors remain largely distinct due to significant power differentials, as well as structural and cultural differences. The analysis reveals three closely connected emergent themes – limited collaboration, regulated consultation and enhanced state control of curriculum policy agendas. It is argued here that although discourses of ‘policy partnerships’ and ‘community of practice’ are increasingly evidenced in contemporary curriculum policy, they do not take sufficient account of embedded hierarchical power relationships. Further, such discourses can be used as legitimisation strategies to promulgate policy changes which enhance the steerage capacity of the state. Deeply entrenched power differentials operate simultaneously to distort policy partnerships and communities of practice, by both including and excluding particular sets of policy actors.     

南非“以结果为本的教育”课程模式探析

新南非建立后,针对种族隔离时期所遗留下来的各种教育问题,对教育进行了积极的改革。在课程模式上,南非政府引入了“以结果为本的教育,”结合教育改革进行了适合本国国情的探索。文章试图对南非“以结果为本的教育”课程模式的产生、概念的理解和特征三个方面进行探析,以期为我国的课程模式提供借鉴。     

From Policy to Practice: Curriculum reform in South African education

An important development in the post-apartheid South Africa was a departure from apartheid education through an outcomes-based curriculum reform. This resulted in several structural and policy tensions within the system. This paper highlights how these tensions have played themselves out and shows how government and stakeholders have addressed the challenges emanating from them. The paper argues that the tensions that dominated the post-apartheid curriculum reform have resulted in a significant paradigm shift focused on reclaiming knowledge and cognition in the classroom as expressed in the new revisionism in curriculum debate. From a policy point of view, it argues that the South African experience demonstrates how the pursuit of grand philosophies and ideals such as OBE and curriculum 2005 requires, at both macro and micro, systemic and institutional levels, generally and at the level of detail, a great deal of technical and political skills that cannot be achieved overnight. This calls for realism and pragmatism in school reform by focusing attention not only on what schools in society stand for but also on what they can realistically do and achieve, given their legacies and the particular circumstances in which they operate.     

Reforming further education teacher training: a policy communities and policy networks analysis

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s teacher preparation for the schools sector in the United Kingdom was subject to a series of reforms and innovations including the establishment of new institutional arrangements to oversee the sector, namely the Teacher Training Agency (TTA – now the Training and Development Agency, TDA). Since 2002 the arrangements for training teachers in the broadly defined learning and skills sector have also been subject to scrutiny and a wide‐ranging reform agenda has been put forward by the Government. This paper examines the key reforms using a three stage model to analyse the policy development process and discusses the functions and status of the sector skills council, Learning UK (LLUK), in order to examine its relationships with external stakeholders. Contrasts are made with the approach adopted by the TTA during the reform of teacher training for school. The paper concludes with a tentative assessment of the progress of the reform agenda and the identification of a number of salient issues that warrant further research.     

The new compulsory schooling age policy in NSW,Australia: ethnicity,ability and gender considerations

The new schooling-leaving age policy in New South Wales, a state in Australia, requires all students to stay at school until they are 17?years old. The policy was introduced in January 2010, with little warning and, it appears, little consideration of its impact in complex contexts. In south-western Sydney, the most diverse region in the city, the impact is just being felt. In this paper, we draw on Ball’s approach to policy, maintaining ‘the complexity and scope of policy analysis – from an interest in the workings of the state to a concern with contexts of practice and the distributional outcomes of policy’. The paper explores the impact of the increase in school-leaving age on the curriculum, and the implications for ethnically diverse schools, and for students with learning and behavioural issues. Interviews with principals, teachers, parents and students suggest that there are dimensions of gender, ethnicity and ability to consider when responding to the new policy. Many schools find a lack of opportunity or too much competition for opportunities, and limited pathways. Whole school change is restricted by inadequate resourcing in some schools and by insufficient social networks in their communities.     

Past/forward policy-making: transforming Chinese engineering education since the Reform and Opening-up

Although engineering education has played important roles in China’s growing power and influence on the world stage, engineering education policy since the Reform and Opening-up in the late 1970s has not been well documented in current English-language scholarship. Informed by historical and sociological studies of education, engineering and engineering education, this paper attempts to address this scholarly gap by relating contemporary Chinese engineering education policy-making to its broader historical, cultural and ideological contexts. Based on analysis of policy documents and reports released by the Chinese government and engineering schools, and drawing on prior scholarship of Chinese (engineering) education policy, this paper employs the concept of ‘past/forward’ as an analytic lens to interpret and understand four major areas of engineering education policy change in contemporary China: institutional reform, disciplines and majors, training objectives, and curriculum reform.     

山东省某市民办教育发展的经济学分析

通过对山东省某市民办教育发展状况的调查分析发现,民办教育是在市场供求机制作用下产生的,并且其发展水平与政府的相关政策有一定的关联性.在政府没有提供直接财政资助的条件下,民办教育间接地利用了公立教育系统的人力和声誉资源,吸引和接收了部分学生,帮助政府解决了公共教育经费短缺的部分问题.民办教育已经发展成为整个教育系统的一个组成部分,满足了社会多样化的教育需求.在教育分层格局下,学业成绩和学费成为学生赖以选择学校的两种资本,也是学校挑选学生的衡量指标.从两所案例民办学校经费收支情况看,学费收入大于经常性支出,有一定的经费节余,但是如果将建校成本、贷款和其他债务考虑进去,民办学校难以在短期内全面实现盈余.政策制定者应该从教育选择、入学机会、教学效果、教学效率、公平和社会凝聚力等多个维度,衡量和评价发展民办教育的社会效果.     

Inquiry-based learning in China: Do teachers practice what they preach, and why?

China is undergoing an education reform that calls for a change from a rigid, fixed curriculum and didactic pedagogy to a more flexible, school-based curriculum and more inquiry-based pedagogy. This study investigated the extent to which Chinese middle and high school teachers (a) endorse an inquiry-based approach and underlying learning principles, (b) practice this mode of teaching, and (c) believe that the approach is practically viable in the current educational contexts in China. A structured survey was developed to solicit Chinese teachers’ responses to the above three issues. A total of 582 valid responses were collected, representing middle and high schools in different geographic locations. The results show that Chinese teachers are receptive to inquiry-based pedagogy but find practical constraints in fully implementing it. Several cultural and pragmatic reasons are explored. Policy implications are discussed with respect to teacher education/development, capacity building for the new pedagogy, and teaching/evaluation alignment. Finally cultural issues are discussed regarding using inquiry-based learning to enhance critical thinking and nurture independent thinkers.     

奥巴马政府教育改革的政策研究与启示

随着《不让一个儿童掉队》(No Child Left Behind)法案在美国遭到的质疑越来越多,奥巴马政府颁布了新的教育改革政策。其中包括加大学前教育投资、提高课程及评价标准、改革教师相关政策、发展特许公立学校以及普及高等教育等措施。与《不让一个儿童掉队》法案相比,此次改革具有更强的实践指导意义,但同时也遭到了反对派的质疑。新教育改革政策不仅承担着提高教育整体水平的职责,而且还肩负着使全美各领域从金融危机中复苏的政治任务,因此奥巴马教育改革政策在引起社会公众关注的同时,也引发了学术界的深刻反思。     

德育及公民教育在香港课程改革中的理念、策略和实践经验

香港特别行政区推行的课程改革,将德育及公民教育作为首要发展项目,并就具体的推行策略建议中小学校应优先培育学生五种价值观和态度:坚毅,尊重别人,责任感,国民身份认同及承担精神;强调以学生为本的方针,鼓励学校将学生身边发生的事情灵活地融入课程设计中。此目标和策略的厘定,是回应现今香港的社会情况及未来发展方向,亦考虑到学校现况及参考其它国家的实践经验。学校推行德育及公民教育的策略,除了开办正规的德育及公民教育课程外,亦会在正规的学科学习中,渗透一些涉及价值判断的讨论活动,藉此提升学生的道德判断能力;或是藉实践学习的经验培养学生的价值观。教育统筹局作为推动香港德育及公民教育发展的官方机构,负起带领学校推行课程改革的职责:引入新思维、鼓励新尝试及交流新知识;目的是希望将课程改革的信息带到学校,以提升教师在这方面的认识和教学技巧,并为学生提供一个有利培育正确价值观的学习环境。     

地方课程政策供给与学校课程改革——基于京、沪、浙三地近年来义务教育课程政策分析的思考

我国新世纪以来的基础教育课程政策赋予了学校一定的课程开发权,但整体来看效果不尽如人意。而近年来京、沪、浙等地在课程政策方面进行了一些探索,推动了学校层面的课程改革,涌现出了一批有影响的课程改革先进学校。他们调整地方课程计划、协调课程运行、改革评价方式、扩大学校的课程权限,协同建设学校课程资源等,为学校课程改革提供了空间支持、权力支持、资源支持、能力支持和方向引领。这表明地方课程管理的政策供给是制约学校课程改革的重要因素。地方课程政策推动学校课程改革,要赋予学校课程建设的权力和空间,对学校课程权限的规定要具体、明确,要规范地方的课程管理行为。应制定和颁布国家课程管理指南、地方课程管理指南和学校课程管理指南。     

利益相关者视角下的基础教育课程政策研究

课程政策表征为政府等政治实体出台的与课程领域相关的政策性文件,其实质是课程权力和利益的分配。它内在地赋予课程政策以价值关涉而非价值中立。鉴于此,要实现我国基础教育课程政策由实然性科学祛魅走向应然性价值返魅,就需要摒弃既往课程政策传统意识形态法理化、价值取向工具化、程序机制僵硬化的机械态势,构建具有全景敞视的思维意识、权力错位的自我衍射、马赛克流动的教育资源的生命之春。     

Senior secondary school assessment and standard-setting in Queensland,Australia: social context and paradigmatic change

ABSTRACT

This article draws on three assessment paradigms – psychometrics, outcomes-based and curriculum-based assessment – to discuss paradigmatic changes in senior school assessment and achievement standard-setting in Queensland, Australia, over the last 50 years. These include radical reforms in 1970 from university-controlled examinations to school-based assessments applying normative standard-setting, to subsequent reforms in 1978 introducing competence(curriculum)-based assessment and standards. From 2019, a new reform introduces a combination of school-based and external assessment with procedures for establishing standards still in progress.

Changes to Queensland assessment and standard-setting are discussed in terms of three preconditions for paradigm change – dissatisfaction, an alternative acceptable paradigm, and majority acceptance of change. Influence of paradigmatic origins of reformers is discussed. The amalgam of curriculum-based assessment and psychometric paradigms in the new Queensland system is considered in terms of theoretical compatibility and potential impact on the new standards.     

School curriculum,globalisation and the constitution of policy problems and solutions

To varying degrees, education policy reforms around the world are driven by educational discourses relating to globalisation. At the same time, national and local histories, cultures and politics mediate the effects of globalisation discourses. This paper employs methods of analysis that draw on the concepts of ‘vernacular globalization’ and ‘policy archaeology’ in order to examine the ways in which the effects of globalisation on National Curriculum policy reform are mediated by conditions and priorities that are specific to national contexts. The enquiry focuses on three curriculum policy problems that are associated with the English school curriculum and have recently been identified as requiring reform: inappropriate curriculum knowledge, the skills deficit and the one-size-fits-all curriculum. The paper concludes by summarising the results of the analysis, identifying some curriculum issues arising from it and offering reflections on the methodological approach it has employed.     

Challenging ideological environments: international teachers’ experiences in an outside-of-country teacher training programme

Teacher training for developing nation contexts is often conducted in short, intensive inside and outside-of-country programmes. Concerns have been raised in relation to the uncritical take-up of the western-centric material provided by these programmes, which are usually funded by national and international government organizations. This paper explores an approach used in an outside-of-country teacher training programme funded by an Australian government grant. The research focused on teacher trainers from the Monastic education system and their reflections on whether critical literacy approaches could be incorporated into curriculum in Myanmar. It used a Bakhtinian framework to analyse the teacher trainers’ ideological environments and their hybridizations of critical literacy discourses for their own contexts. It was found that while the teacher trainers were passionate about the worth of developing critical literacy skills for their teachers and pupils, they struggled with a range of constraints that existed for them within their country. The research illustrated the importance of providing spaces for participants in programmes such as these to critically reflect on the relevance of non-government organization (NGO) and international non-government organization (INGO) training programmes, especially in light of the multiple challenges that are a part of their everyday lives.     

世界教育改革趋势对台湾技职教育发展的影响

世界教育改革的重点主要体现在"去集中化"的政府改革,以"教育券"发放取代直接对学校补助的财务改革,以如何提高教师专业品质及教学成效为主轴的师资改革,以培育学生终身学习能力为焦点的课程改革,注重社会公平的平等性改革等方面.受其影响,台湾技职教育也进行了一系列改革,如试办综合高中,推动高中职社区化,采取招生管道多元化,实施课程统整,促进教师专业发展,进行高等技职学校改制等.     

Languages,cultural capital and school choice: distinction and second-language immersion programmes

This paper argues that languages, increasingly marginalised in schools in English-speaking countries, are gaining ‘elitist’ ground as part of the ‘value-added’ marketisation of schools and parents’ desire for their children to gain ‘positional goods’ through schooling. In arguing our case, the paper draws on survey and other data derived from second-language immersion programmes in two Queensland secondary schools, where key learning areas such as mathematics and science are taught through the medium of another language. As a corollary, we also argue that some schools – in our case, government schools – are using their immersion programmes as markers of distinction in a period of post-comprehensive schooling and emerging school markets, which includes both government and non-government schools. There is also a global policy context to such programmes in respect of countries such as Spain, China and Germany supporting the teaching of their respective languages in nations around the world.