Interpretation of the national curriculum statements policy from the macro level to the meso level.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how the National Curriculum Statements (NCS) Policy was interpreted by two provinces -the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal - from the macro to the meso level. The study further ascertains what happened during the training of national, provincial and district trainers and lastly how the educators realized and recognized the new curriculum, as they are the people who will implement the curriculum in their respective learning sites. There was a change of the curriculum from National Report 550 to NCS as per the mandate of the democratic Government of National Unity which promised better education for all in 1994. According to the principles of the NCS, teachers were supposed to make a paradigm shift in education from a teacher-centred approach to a learner-centred approach. The NCS was supposed to be implemented in grade 10 with effect from 2006 and the first product of the NCS .was in 2008. The researcher also tracked the recontextualisation process up to the matriculation results of 2008 in the uMzimkhulu circuit, which was integrated into KZN in 2006, with the result that educators were trained by both provinces. The study followed the interpretivist paradigm with the qualitative research methodology. The researcher sampled two officials from each province, two advisors and two educators as my primary sources and interviewed them using semi-structured interview format. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed by the researcher. The data obtained was organized into themes. Grounded theory methods were used to collect and analyze data. The study collected data using participant observation, interviews, analysis of relevant documents and field notes.The findings of the study inform the responses given in interviews revealed that there was an urgent need for more in-service training, especially for both beginner and experienced teachers, as there is high teacher turnover due to the rural nature of Sisonke District. The DoE need to consider the issue of employing Subject Advisors as they are key role players to the implementation of the NCS, so as to workshop and do follow up support visits to the schools in order to monitor and support. The DoE has to conduct well-organized workshops on the new curriculum. Another finding was that teachers need to be consulted before the implementation of any new development to avoid negative responses.