Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf i-vii). Also available in print.

D.Ed. (Curriculum Studies) / The subject of this research was defined as : the devising of strategies for increased teacher involvement in curriculum development, with a view to improving the quality of education. This effort to develop a paradigm for curriculum development showed that such a paradigm should be constructed using both philosophical and relevant procedural points of departure. Study of the literature and of personal correspondence received from developed countries indicated that the teacher should only be expected to participate in those areas of curriculum development which correspond to his training. In developed countries aspirant teachers receive training, not only in curriculum development at the microlevel (lesson planning), but also to equip them for involvement in curriculum development on the mesolevel. Training for the latter activity involves the acquisition of specific knowledge and skills in the field of curriculum development...

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Fleisch (2002) and Jansen and Christie (1999) hold that implementation of the national school curriculum in post-apartheid South Africa was riddled with uncertainties, ineffective classroom management and a general lack of academic performance by learners, mainly as a result of inadequate training and support (SMTs) to support the implementation process through proper planning and subsequent management of the implementation (Rogan and Grayson, 2003:1172-1195). Middlewood (2003a: 66- 68) thus assigns the primary responsibility of planning, managing and overseeing the curriculum implementation process to the SMT. Research problem and question 1 In the context of this study, the School Management Team (SMT) includes the school principal, the deputy-principal and the head(s) of department(s) or senior teachers. 4 for teachers in the classroom. Having considered the above essential aspects related to curriculum implementation, there is thus reason to be concerned about the effectiveness of curriculum implementation in South African schools, specifically in rural schools. Due to their remoteness, limited resources, and fluctuating quality of teacher expertise, these schools are often more challenged in terms of curriculum implementation (Delport and Mangwaya, 2008:224). Although there are many factors affecting the (in)effectiveness of implementation, this study regards a school’s curriculum implementation plans and the subsequent management of these implementation plans as crucial to ensuring successful implementation of a new curriculum. The central research problem that guided this study thus relates to the planning and subsequent management of curriculum implementation at school level. The above problem has culminated in the formulation of the following research question: How do selected rural schools plan and manage curriculum implementation?.

This study is an exploration of power and how it is manifested in curriculum making. More specifically, it examines the responses of actors in the physics curriculum network to a proposal to introduce a Physics, Technology and Society (PTS) version of physics in the secondary schools of Bahrain. The proposal to introduce PTS created a point of entry to explore issues of power in curriculum making and highlight some of the strategies that actors used to maintain or reconstruct power relations. Data collection consisted of three phases during which interviews were conducted with Ministry of Education personnel, university physicists and physics educators, physics teachers, university and secondary students, and industry representatives. Interviews focused on responses to: 1) an example of PTS materials (Phase One); 2) the views of other actors (Phase Two); and 3) the Ministry's decision to proceed with piloting of the PTS materials (Phase Three). From Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the responses of the various actors can be understood in terms of their efforts to maintain or reconstruct the school physics network. Furthermore, the study shows that curriculum making can be seen as a networking process in which the success of the various actors is linked to the size and strength of the networks they are able to mobilize to their position. From this point of view, the Ministry, drawing primarily on local networks, is seen to move cautiously in response to the extensive international network which university physicists maintain and which provides high status pathways for students. Power relations are network effects, and in exploring them one gains a better appreciation of the network that constructed them. Therefore, this study illuminates aspects of the school physics network, revealing its constituent actors, the strength of the links between some of its actors, and the establishment of the curriculum as an obligatory passage point. Conclusions pertaining to the nature of this network and the strategies employed by actors in constructing and maintaining power relations as they engaged in negotiating the physics curriculum are drawn. Finally, these conclusions have implications for policy in curriculum change and, more specifically, for addressing issues of power and problems that emerge when fundamental changes in secondary science are introduced. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Bibliography: pages 91-96. / The current debates about curriculum policy decision making and the empirical investigation into the teaching of history in South Africa undertaken by the Human Sciences Research Council (1989-1991) have prompted this study. The research undertaken attempts to examine how history teachers' opinions can be collected, interpreted and utilised for curriculum policy formulation. The dissertation initially considers participation m curriculum decision-making and presents the case for the inclusion of teachers in decision making structures and processes. Recent initiatives in South Africa which have attempted to involve teachers in curriculum policy formulation are then examined. A research project was undertaken which surveyed the opinions of history teachers and the Cape Peninsula by means of questionnaires and interviews. Its results demonstrate that the research methodology employed impacts strongly on the information that is gathered and on the way that it can be utilised in curriculum policy formulation. The main conclusions reached were that teacher participation could contribute to a less technicist and more person-centered approach in curriculum development. This approach could improve the quality of the product (syllabus documents) and its subsequent adoption and implementation. The degree to which a school identifies with the syllabuses would be far greater, which would ensure flexibility and willingness to adapt to policies in which teachers have a sense of ownership.

This study was focused on what differentiated instruction is, what it takes to have a differentiated classroom, and if differentiated instruction really helps increase student motivation, engagement, and learning. Two classes of eighth grade students were taken through the process of differentiating assignments using four ways differentiation can take place: variety, choice, relevance, and centers.

PhD (CS) / Department of Curriculum Studies and Educational Management

The purpose of this study was to identify the forces and pressures that have influenced curriculum design decisions regarding general education requirements in the fine arts professional baccalaureate degree programs and to determine how curriculum planners are responding to these pressures. A review of the literature revealed a national movement to examine general education requirements in higher education. Problems arise when particular degree programs are already discipline-specific in nature with a substantial number of course requirements prescribed in the major area of study. The problems are compounded further in the professional degree programs where emphasis is often placed on knowledge and skills that are acquired through practical application of theoretical principles. The fine arts professional degree programs were selected as the focal curriculum structures. Based on the literature review it was expected that specific environmental forces, such as the renewed national interest in general education, would emerge as influences affecting curriculum design processes in the fine arts. Recent theoretical studies on emerging curricula structures also indicated a prevalence of systems perspectives where curriculum design processes focus on environmental influences that are precipitating a redefinition of program structures. It was anticipated by the researcher that a reexamination of curriculum design processes would reveal a responsiveness to specific forces identified in the theory as both internal and external environmental considerations. The research approach was primarily observational, utilizing parametric estimates and analyses. Particular data gathered were periodically subjected to inferential analysis. The researcher found that a majority of the fine arts curriculum planners contacted for this study were involved in curriculum review and revision of the professional baccalaureate degree programs. It was also revealed from results of the study that curriculum design influences were primarily institutional/internally motivated although current theoretical literature on curriculum design processes indicated that systems perspectives dominated these processes. Finally, it was discovered that fine arts alumni from professional baccalaureate degree programs favor traditional general/liberal curricular structures in higher education.

This study used a survey designed to identify content areas for preservice orientation for child care workers agreed upon by the educational community and the directors in the "trenches" where application of knowledge and theory is crucial to the provision of quality day care. The survey, devised from a review of the literature, elicited information about six content areas: Child Development, Communication and Interpersonal Skills, Environment, Curriculum, Health and Safety, and Nutrition. Participants were 88 Early Childhood Educators (ECE) and Child Care Practitioners (CCP). It contained 30 items to be rated on a five point scale. The interval scale ranged from 1 Strongly Disagree to 5 Strongly Agree. The survey instrument was field tested and revised. The responses were analyzed to identify differences in the judgment of participants concerning the content areas for preservice orientation for child care workers. A demographic profile was constructed from the data. Additional participant comments indicated the concerns of time, depth of content, identification of staff backgrounds and affordability. Collectively, the results of this study identified significant differences in the judgment of ECE and CCP groups regarding the content areas for preservice orientation training. The hypotheses were measured using parametric statistical measures--the t-test and the Pearson correlation. Only in the Child Development component was there a significant difference between the two groups. Participants reported that this area was not considered important since the child care worker needed to have this skill prior to being hired. No significant difference was found between the two groups for the other components: Communication, Interpersonal Skills, Environment, Curriculum, Health and Safety and Nutrition. The correlations between years of employment and judgment concerning the content areas were not statistically significant. The correlation between the groups and the subscales were not statically significant. The results support the researcher's selection of content areas to be included in preservice orientation and her recommendation that a preservice orientation package be developed to provide assistance to center directors who are responsible for training. States' preservice orientation requirements recommend number of hours and content. This study provides a rationale for specific content agreed upon by eminent theorists and practitioners.