The implementation of the curriculum and assessment policy statement

Abstract

Worldwide, national educational authorities set curricular guidelines for schools to ensure implementation. Despite these measures, the translation of policies into school or classroom activities is rarely a smooth or complete process. South Africa has made significant and much-needed positive curriculum changes. However, effective curriculum implementation requires a sound understanding of the curriculum policy, adequate and varied resources and greater attention to contextual factors. Using the interpretivist paradigm and qualitative research design, the study explored the perspectives and experiences of school managers regarding the challenges and problems of implementing the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements in the Intermediate Phase within the South African curriculum reform context. For the first research question, the thematically analysed data generated the findings which highlight a generally good understanding and positive outlook of the revised curriculum policy by the participants. In contrast, the findings for the second research question confirmed that inadequate resources such as a shortage of teachers and textbooks, overcrowded classrooms and other learning support materials impact teaching and learning and the process of curriculum implementation negatively. The study contributes to the important topic of curriculum reforms and curriculum implementation challenges and problems. The study recommends, among others, strategies needed for monitoring the implementation of the CAPS, placing individual school managers as change agents and adopting the three constructs of the theory of curriculum implementation for strengthening implementation.