An approach to critiquing curriculum documentation
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The document examines curriculum development by critiquing various theoretical frameworks and institutional practices. It discusses the evolution of personal definitions of curriculum, the role of academic developers, and the importance of responsive curriculum in relation to national educational agendas. Furthermore, it emphasizes the significance of knowledge structures, pedagogical alignment, and reflective practice within higher education contexts.
An approach to critiquing curriculum documentation
- 1. Critiquing curriculum documentation: My approach
- 2. My experience of curriculum before the PG Dip HE
- 3. My experience of curriculum after the PG Dip HE
- 4. Defining curriculum development O’Neill (2009), Barnett (2009) and Luckett (2010)
- 5. A personal definition or lens O’Neill maintains that curriculum means different things to various role players, these include, the structure and content of a module, the structure and content of a programme, the students’ experience of learning and a dynamic and interactive process of teaching and learning (O'Neill 2010, 62). All of them?
- 6. A personal definition or lens Barnett states that curriculum is more than content, rather it is an educational vehicle “for effecting changes in human beings through particular kinds of encounter with knowledge” (Barnett 2009, 429).
- 7. A personal definition or lens Luckett asserts, curriculum is understood as a social, epistemic and ontological practice, with knowledge being the key to curriculum theory. (Luckett 2010, 7, 8).
- 8. My approach to critiquing curriculum documentation Explain Reflect Theoretical underpinning Critique
- 9. My approach to critiquing curriculum documentation Curriculum development institutional context institutional curriculum development practices relationship between knowledge and disciplinary / field structures institutional QA principles and processes role as an academic developer
- 10. Institutional context • Luckett’s curriculum paradigms (1995) –Traditional paradigm • Curriculum as product –Hermeneutic paradigm • Curriculum as process –Critical paradigm • Curriculum as praxis • Where does my institution fit and why?
- 11. Institutional practice National policies & structures White paper 1997 Merger SAQA, NQF, HEQSF, CHE, HEQC Institutional structures and processes Comprehensive Polices Departments Roles Culture Vision & Mission • Curriculum Differentiation (Shey) • Curriculum Responsiveness (Moll)
- 12. Critiquing curricula • Is the curriculum responding to the national transformation agenda? • Relate to the institutional context –Is the curriculum responsive? –What are the dominant beliefs / views regarding knowledge –Are these espoused beliefs / views reflected in the curricula
- 13. Critiquing curricula • Pick a model –Luckett’s proposal for an epistemically diverse curriculum • Bernstein’s pedagogical device • Maton’s knowledge / knower structures • Disciplinary / field structures
- 14. Institutional QA practices • How is the quality of the curriculum assured? –Theoretical underpinnings vs technical • Any reason why? –Is there sufficient capacity? –How does the process relate to the espoused culture of the university
- 15. My role as an academic developer • Theoretical underpinning of my approach – O’Neill (2010) – McKenna (2011) • My role w.r.t. curriculum development • Gaps I have identified • Using my agency to strategically address these gaps
- 16. Application to my context Unpacking the qualification from programme level to the individual outcomes on a specific module
- 17. Unpacking the qualification Exit level outcomes Module outcomes Purpose of the module Outcomes T&L Methods Assessment methods & tasks Criteria Marking Feedback Rationale Purpose What support is in place to enable student success?
- 18. Application to my context Rationale of the programme The rationale of the PGCHET stipulates that facilitating the training and development of HET practitioners respond to the need for greater international recognition and professionalism, improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, in order to develop knowledge in the field and to enhance accountability in the field of HET.
- 19. Application to my context Focusing on a module • Bernstein’s pedagogic device – How knowledge is converted into classroom talk, curricula and online communication (Singh 2002) – 3 fields • The field of production • The field of recontextualisation • The field of reproduction • Luckett’s proposal for an epistemically diverse curriculum
- 20. Application to my context Why Luckett? Luckett’s proposal for an epistemically diverse curriculum aims to be responsive to international trends and to the South African context regarding curriculum challenges and curriculum reform, which relates directly to the rationale of the PGCHET. • Does the programme achieve its purpose?
- 21. Application to my context The purpose of the Programme and Module Design in HET module is to “guide the candidates in mastering programme and module planning and design skills to enhance their students’ learning … the module will also promote a reflective teaching and learning practice” (my emphasis) (Gerber 2010, 3) Mastery of skills = foundational competency (Q1) Reflexive practice = reflexive competency (Q4)
- 22. Application to my context • In which quadrants are the outcomes positioned? • What is required of the students to meet these outcomes? • Does the module content provide the theoretical underpinnings to achieve the outcomes? • Does the module teaching (field of reproduction) provide the students with the required knowledge? • How are the outcomes assessed to develop the required knowledge? • Constructive alignment (Biggs)
- 23. Application to my context Bernstein’s selection, and sequencing and pacing • Selection – What knowledge is selected (content)? – How does it related to the purposes? – How responsive is the knowledge? • Sequencing – The “flow”, alignment, scaffolding and coherence • Pacing – Notional hours – Contact time vs. self study
- 24. Application to my context Knowledge structures and disciplines • Bernstein’s knowledge structures – Horizontal – Vertical • Maton’s Specialisation codes of legitimation – Epistemic relations (ER) – knowledge structure – Social relations (SR) – knower structure • Disciplinary / field structures (Biglan) – Hard and soft disciplines – Pure and applied disciplines
- 25. Application to my context How do these apply to the curriculum? E.g. Education • Soft:Applied discipline • Horizontal knowledge structure • Knower code (ER-SR+) Does the knowledge selected in the curriculum develop the students as knowers? – If so how? – If not why not?
- 26. Curriculum development is central to the academic project Questions?
- 27. - Barnett, Ronald. “Knowing and becoming in the higher education curriculum.” Studies in Higher Education Vol.34, no. No.4 (June 2009): 429-440. - Bernstein, Basil. “Vertical And Horizontal Discourse: An Essay.” In Pedagogy, Symbolic, Control and Identity, by Basil Bernstein, 155-174. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2000. - Biglan, Anthony. “The characteristics of subject matter in different academic areas.” Journal of Applied Psychology Vol. 57, no. No.3 (1973): 195-203. - Luckett, Kathy. “A proposal for an epistemically diverse curriculum for South African higher education in the 21st Century.” South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.15, no. No. 2 (2001): 49-61. - Luckett, Kathy. “Knowledge claims and codes of legitimation: Implications for curriculum recontextualisation in South African higher education.” (Unisa Press) Vol.40, no. No.1 (2010): 6-20. References
- 28. - Luckett, Kathy. “Towards a Model of Curriculum Development for the University of Natal's Curriculum Reform Programme.” academic development Vol.1, no. No.2 (1995): 125-139 - Maton, K. “Knowledge and Knower Structures: What's at stake in the two cultures debate why school music is unpopular and what unites such diverse issues.” In Knowledge & Knowers: Towards a Realist Sociology of Education, by Karl Maton, 65-85. Routledge, 2013. - McKenna, Sioux. “Paradigms of curriculum design : implications for South African educators.” Journal for Language Teaching = Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig Vol. 37, no. No. 2 (2011): 215-223. - Moll, Ian. “Curriculum Responsiveness The Anatomy of a Concept.” In Curriculum Responsiveness: Case Studies in Higher Education, by Hanlie Griesel, Patrick Fish and Ian Moll, 1-19. Pretoria: SAUVC, 2004. - O'Neill, Geraldine. “Initiating curriculum revision: exploring the practices of educational developers.” International Journal for Academic Development Vol.15, no. No.1 (2010): 61-71. - Shay, Suellen. “Conceptualsing curriculum differentiation in higher education: a sociology of knowledge point of view.” British Journal of Sociology of Education, 2012: 1-20. - Singh, Parlo. “Pedagogising Knowledge: Bernstein's theory of the pedagogic device.” British Journal of Sociology of Education Vol.23, No.4 (2002).
Editor's Notes
- #5: Within the South African context curriculum reform is an imperative and although curriculum development is a crucial part of the academic project, it has been argued that not many academics, or academic developers, have sufficient knowledge to effectively support this complex activity (O'Neill 2010), which is why a clearly defined approach is crucial.
- #8: The social practice looks at how curriculum knowledge is constructed within the interplay of various contexts, such as the global, local and disciplinary contexts. The epistemic practice refers to how knowledge is formed, and includes knowledge structures and the pedagogic device The ontological practice refers to the knowers, or the identity of students, and how they view the world, for example, do they view the world as journalists, academic developers or teachers
- #12: Institutional buzz words
- #22: The reference to “mastering” and “skills” is problematic, as it refers to a skills based, or technicist, approach to curriculum development that is not supported by the necessary scholarship or theoretical underpinnings that are required to develop reflective practitioners. The mastery of skills is merely a foundational competency, from Luckett’s first quadrant, and there is no indication of how a student will move from the first quadrant to the fourth, where reflexive competence is positioned.
- #26: Based on the aforementioned I would assign a “relativist code” (ER-SR-) to this module and programme, as there is no focus on specialist knowledge or knower attributes