The response of educators and school management team members on a curriculum delivery intervention programme

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the responses of educators and school management team members on a Curriculum Delivery Intervention Programme (CDIP) in a township school. The study also examined the factors that might influence the opinions educators and school management team members hold about curriculum delivery. The participants of this study were 60 educators who are teaching at an underperforming secondary school in Mpumalanga province. The secondary school was conveniently selected from 8 under-performing schools in the Witbank area. The data were collected through a mix-method approach using questionnaires, individual interviews and an observational checklist. A 100% responses rate was achieved. The literature review was conducted to identify the main interventions contained in the CDIP. Educators and school management teams responded to curriculum delivery interventions questionnaires. Data was collected by means of individual interviews and an observational checklist. The focus fell on the following main interventions: departmental support, professional development and classroom practices. The data for the study were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The findings of the study show that both educators and SMT members agree about the value of curriculum delivery intervention programme in the school. They also showed that the school had not been supported with necessary resources by the Department that well. The results also indicate that educators and SMT members disagree that skills development covers everybody in order to pursue educators’ development in the school. The staff agreed that they have an important role to play in ensuring that the implementation of CDIP is successful in their school. The study also revealed that the school did not have all key and relevant documentation as expected in the school files. However, educators indicated that the Department is not objective enough when delivering the curriculum in the school. The results derived from the curriculum delivery intervention might not be that accurate and reliable. The responses of staff correspond with their experiences on curriculum delivery practices initiated by the Department. Most of them also indicated that they have not seen much change since the CDIP started to enhance learners’ performance. The majority of staff members also indicated that factors such as lack of furniture, unavailability of learning materials, lack of teacher professional training and development, large number of learners in classrooms and shortage of educators in scarce subjects, play a significant role in influencing their teaching performance of the school. A number of recommendations were made for further research. The limitations of the study were also discussed.