This research report investigates the critique that selected independent schools have about the new curriculum in South Africa, the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). The NCS was introduced in response to the implementation of a political democratic dispensation in South Africa, in an attempt to marry the philosophy of democracy to education. The NCS is fundamentally different to the apartheid curriculum in that it is based on democratic values that are derived from the South African Constitution. The independent school sector has been vocal in its critique of the NCS. This study thus investigates this critique in an attempt to uncover the reasons that underlie it. Methodologically, this research project is located in the qualitative paradigm. The research participants comprised teachers and heads of curriculum from three schools in the independent sector, as well as managers from the Independent Examinations Board (IEB). The IEB is the assessment body to which the independent school sector belongs. The independent school sector that this study focused on is upper middle class high-fee paying schools, which are located in the ex whites-only suburbs in South Africa. To gather data from the research participants, I used questionnaires and interviews. The combination of structured and unstructured interviews allowed me to systematically probe the research participants’ understandings and views on the NCS. The themes that emerged from the findings are: (1) the old curriculum is used as a benchmark for the NCS; (2) democratic values teaching in the NCS is regarded as optional and (3) educators continue to hold on to their identities in alignment with the past curriculum. One of the key factors that is used to judge the worth of an independent school is the academic results that the school achieves. This has prompted the independent school sector to continue with the same pedagogical practices that they used in the past curriculum, since they have provided the sought-after academic results. In this regard, very little democratic values teaching is taking place in the schools, as intended by the implementation of the NCS. The IEB, as the assessment body, continues to focus on assessment practices that are largely reminiscent of the past curriculum where the main focus was on summative forms of assessment (form of assessment that is used to record a judgement of the performance or competence of a learner), rather than on formative forms of assessment (form of assessment that gives feedback to the learners so that they can improve their performance). This research project concludes with possible suggestions for each group of research participants that could assist them to implement the NCS as it was intended; that is, as a democratic values-based transformational curriculum. Recommendations for future research are also made.

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This research is a case study of the Stoneleigh Group; a partnership of voluntary youth work organisations that piloted a spiritual development programme for young people aged 18 to 25. The purpose of the research was to examine the claims made by the Stoneleigh Group to have developed a radical approach and outcomes of personal and social transformation within a programme of informal education out of doors. The research was undertaken in the contexts of reviews of research concerning outdoor education, informal education for young people, and youth transition. An ethnographic study of the retreat programme and its impact on the lives of the young people was combined with a critical study of the advocacy work of the Stoneleigh Group within the development of the National Youth Work Curriculum. The analysis was undertaken with the aid of Bernstein’s theoretical framework for curriculum and pedagogic critique. The study of the programme claims that the pedagogic approach was radical in its ideology and practice. However, it is argued that the impact on the young people depended on the ideology of the youth organisation for which they volunteered. A range of claims for a radical outcome are identified and discussed. The research argues that, despite the claim that the outcomes of social transformation were only partially achieved, the practices of the Stoneleigh Group were contested because of their perceived radicalism. The study of the advocacy work suggests that, despite these challenges, the Stoneleigh Group's contributions to the national discussions concerning the spiritual development of young people within the youth work curriculum resulted in proposals that supported a more radical pedagogic approach than currently practised. The research indicates that the Stoneleigh Group influenced statements made in the consultation. It is argued that the Group provided support for the concept of young people as agents of social change. In particular, it is suggested that the pilot was used to support a view of young people as capable of, and valued for, their challenges to the established norms of society.