Inspecting the Foundations - Umalusi

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ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR CURRICULUM DOCUMENTS1. CONTENT SPECIFICATION AND COVERAGE (BREADTH AND DEPTH)The key content and conceptual areas must be guided by the discipline or knowledge area, takinginto consideration the purpose of the curriculum. The key content and conceptual areas must beweighted in ways that are appropriate for the subject at the level in question, and support meetingthe aims and purpose of the syllabus. The description of content should be suffi cient to fosterteaching of the necessary depth, and yet remain a manageable guideline.There should be clear and appropriate specifi cation of necessary/appropriate conceptualprinciples or procedures within each content area. This should also include guidance for teacherswith regards to differentiating between diffi culty levels within the discipline, as well as the levelsof diffi culty associated with the suggested assessment activities. There should be an appropriaterange of cognitive operations demanded of learners (such as remember, understand, apply,analyze, evaluate, and create). Explanations should be supplemented by exemplars of tasks/activities which cover the full range of cognitive operations and diffi culty levels for each year ofstudy. These exemplars should not be limited to formal written assessment tasks but should includeinformal classroom activities.In language subjects, the syllabus should indicate the types of texts to be covered and prescribe aminimum number of core texts (e.g., novels, plays, poetry, etc.) for each grade/year of study.2. ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE AND COHERENCEThe organizing principle of the discipline or subject determines the emphasis and coherence ofthe curriculum, and must be clearly stated in the syllabus or curriculum document. The internalprinciples of the discipline or its theoretical framework should allow for logical progression andshould, at any given time, be the dominant paradigm. A clear sense of overall coherence emergesfrom the choice of topics, and their ordered connectedness to that organizing principle, as wellas the way in which these are assessed. The coherence within the curriculum needs to mirror thediscipline itself.3. SEQUENCE, PROGRESSION, AND PACINGThe organizing principle of the subject should allow for logical progression and appropriatesequencing between skills and content areas – over the course of the year, and across grades/years of study. Progression should be evident in content and skills areas, as well as in increasinglevels of cognitive demand. There should be clear suggestions about how much time shouldreasonably be allocated to the various parts of the curriculum, as this would help teachersand examiners identify the relative weighting given to the various parts of the curriculum. Thedocuments must also state how far along the curriculum teachers/learners need to be by the endof each grade/year of study.4. AIMS/PURPOSE/VISION/OUTCOMESThe syllabus documents should provide a clear sense of the aims of the subject, in relation tocontent, skills, and cognitive operations. The stated aims of the syllabus should underpin the designof the syllabus/curriculum as a whole; that is, all aspects of the syllabus/curriculum should worktowards enabling the achievement of the aims/outcomes. The aims should not merely functionas philosophical statements, and should take account of the broad social context in which thesyllabus is to be enacted and assessed. The aims need to be understandable to those using thecurriculum.This section of the curriculum should also show the articulation of the current curriculum with otherlevels of the education system.81
5. PEDAGOGY AND METHODOLOGYSuggested or desired teaching approach(es) to the subject domain should be explicitly stated;so, in language, for example, whether a communicative teaching approach or text-basedlanguage teaching approach underlies the curriculum. The pedagogy should align with the statedpurpose of the curriculum and be appropriate for the likely contexts in which the curriculum is tobe used. Clear guidelines are needed to explain what methodologies should be used to meet thepedagogical principles.6. ASSESSMENT GUIDANCEThere should be clear information in the curriculum about both internal assessment (continuousand summative) and external assessment (exit-level summative assessment) and their respectiveweighting. This applies also if there is a practical element as a part of the curriculum.Principles of assessment, different types of assessment, and criteria and rubrics designed to assessthe range of diffi culty levels should be clearly outlined. Guidance should be provided as to howmany of the different assessment types should be used in each grade/year of study. The weightingof these recommended assessments should agree with the weighting accorded to the differentcontent areas in the curriculum. Assessment guidance should not be so specifi c as to limit theteaching/learning process.Exemplars of exit-level summative assessments must be provided to indicate the expected levelof teaching and learning associated with the curriculum. Furthermore, evaluated sample answersindicating the various expected levels of achievement should form part of the documentation.7. PRACTICAL TASKSWhere applicable, the curriculum must provide a clear indication of the nature of the practicaltasks associated with the discipline, and should include a diverse range of methods suited to thesubject. The weighting of the practical component in the curriculum and in the assessment must beclearly indicated.8. PROVISION AND PACKAGING OF CURRICULUM DOCUMENTS/SYLLABUSCurriculum statements or syllabuses must be user friendly (in terms of layout, design, and language)and must provide teachers with just the necessary scaffolding to be able to make the best usepossible of the information provided. Curricula also need to be freely available to teachers andupdates or amendments must be timeously provided.Although the syllabus/curriculum is likely to comprise multiple documents, the total number ofdocuments should be kept to a minimum; the relationship between the various documents shouldbe clearly outlined; and the focus and purpose of each document should be explicitly stated. Thelanguage of the documents should be unambiguous and jargon-free.9. PROCESSES, DESIGNERS, AND GROUPS CONSULTED IN THE PREPARATION OFTHE CURRICULUM DOCUMENTS/SYLLABUSCurriculum statements should be accompanied by a list of the designers of the curriculum, as wellas a description of the processes followed in the curriculum design, and of the consultations whichtook place.The group that designs the curriculum should include suffi cient representation, as required by thesubject, from some or all of the following stakeholders: the relevant profession(s), higher educationexperts, government experts, and teachers.82
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INSPECTING THE FOUNDATIONSTowards a
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AcknowledgementsThis report is the
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AcronymsABEABETAETAHCDoEECDETDPETQA
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describe Public Adult Learning Cent
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literacy campaigns. They attribute
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determine learner competence. But w
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3. Methodology usedThis research co
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some offer FET subjects only. Numbe
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4. Findings4.1 NQF LEVEL 1 QUALIFIC
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This history of a qualifi cation th
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the weighting used for Learning Are
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Table 3: GETC: ABET Learning Outcom
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(if this is seen to be in the inter
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was circulated at a national ABET m
Page 32 and 33: 4.2.1.5 Private ABET provider docum
Page 34 and 35: electives. Some of the examples of
Page 36 and 37: to maintain and improve the norms a
Page 38 and 39: the following:• The completion of
Page 40 and 41: The problem of English being the la
Page 42 and 43: This pattern of Setas’ being able
Page 44 and 45: learnership has been completed, it
Page 46 and 47: While the occupational qualifi cati
Page 48 and 49: • The associated curricula should
Page 50 and 51: Singizi (2007). Employment Pormotio
Page 52 and 53: PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIF
Page 54 and 55: UNIT STANDARDS:Core 7511ID UNIT STA
Page 56 and 57: Appendix BGeneral Education and Tra
Page 58 and 59: This Recognition of Prior Learning
Page 60 and 61: Elective Component:The Elective Com
Page 62 and 63: ID Number; Unit Standard Title; Cre
Page 64 and 65: • ID 14569; Demonstrate an unders
Page 66 and 67: 2.3 Algebraic techniques are select
Page 68 and 69: learning components and should use
Page 70 and 71: A choice of three Reading Core Skil
Page 72 and 73: Numeracy and Mathematics:• VBQU26
Page 74 and 75: Currently, there are over one hundr
Page 76 and 77: wider selection of vocational subje
Page 78 and 79: UNIT STANDARDS (continued):Fundamen
Page 80 and 81: PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO O
Page 84: Where possible and necessary, the c
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