The Story of a Physical Science Curriculum: Transformation or Transmutation?

Autor/inn/en	Nakedi, Mpunki; Taylor, Dale; Mundalamo, Fhatuwani; Rollnick, Marissa; Mokeleche, Maebeebe
Titel	The Story of a Physical Science Curriculum: Transformation or Transmutation?
Quelle	In: African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16 (2012) 3, S.273-288 (16 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1029-8457
DOI	10.1080/10288457.2012.10740745
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Physical Sciences; Science Curriculum; Curriculum Development; Educational Change; National Curriculum; Position Papers; Educational Policy; Models; Student Educational Objectives; Academic Standards; Educational Assessment; Physics; Chemistry; South Africa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Natural sciences; Naturwissenschaften; Naturwissenschaft; Curriculum; Development; Curriculumentwicklung; Lehrplan; Entwicklung; Bildungsreform; Positionspapier; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Analogiemodell; Education; assessment; Bewertungssystem; Physik; Chemie; Südafrika; Süd-Afrika; Republik Südafrika; Südafrikanische Republik
Abstract	Recently "Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements" ("CAPS") were introduced in South Africa in response to confusion precipitated by previous curriculum documents. The purpose of this paper is to explore that confusion in the subject 'Physical Sciences' and consider the nature of the transformation from the previous curriculum by looking at curriculum documents and examination papers. We present a two phase curriculum change model which suggests that congruency between curriculum documents and examinations is critical for effective curriculum change. We analyse the pre-"CAPS" curriculum, the "National Curriculum Statement" ("NCS"), on its own terms by using the stated outcomes as our reference point. Our analysis reveals that the weighting and conceptualization of the outcomes shifted through successive documents, which undermined congruency between the documents and meant that content-oriented science masqueraded as inquiry-oriented science. This led to a retreat from the original vision of weighting skills and relevance equally with content. The examinations took this retreat a step further. Evidence of the retreat is that the nature of the questions asked in the 2008 examinations on the "NCS" was similar to that of the 2007 examinations on the previous curriculum which had not changed since apartheid. However, in the "NCS" examinations there was a small shift towards contextualisation and inquiry oriented science. The retreat means the vision of transformation which was the rationale for the "NCS" curriculum was eroded--instead of transformation, there was transmutation back to the old apartheid curriculum. The Physical Sciences "CAPS" cements the retreat and creates new confusion by changing the syllabus again without signposting the change. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01