Implementing the Mathematics Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement in an online context : experiences of teachers

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic forced educational institutions to seek measures to adapt in order to ensure the continuation of quality teaching and learning. Framed against Van Hiele’s levels of geometric thought, this qualitative study uses a phenomenological research design to investigate the experiences of mathematics teachers when implementing the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Mathematics in an online context. A document analysis of the CAPS policy document, as well as semi-structured interviews conducted among were used to collect data from fourteen teachers who teach mathematics in the Further Education and Training Phase (FET phase) in five secondary schools in Gauteng were used to obtain the data from. All the participants were purposively selected because they taught mathematics online during the COVID-19 lockdown. Preliminary findings suggest that the Mathematics CAPS policy document could not be effectively applied in an online teaching and learning context when compared to an in-person context. This is because assessments could not be conducted effectively, the time allocation to each topic in the Mathematics CAPS curriculum could not be adhered to, a lack of information and communication technology (ICT) related resources for both teachers and learners, as well as the lack of required ICT-related skills and competencies skills of teachers to teach mathematics online. The geometry section of the mathematics curriculum was also found to be the most difficult section to teach online.