A study to investigate the effectiveness of the implementation of Curriculum 2005 in Grade 8-9 in Chesterville Secondary School.

Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.This study focuses on the effectiveness of the implementation of Curriculum 2005 in Grade 8 and Grade 9 in a Secondary School in Durban and it also investigates if educators have moved away from traditional ways of teaching as required by Curriculum 2005. Teachers' knowledge of the new curriculum, reactions and attitudes play a major role in any curriculum change. To make this study possible, the modules that introduced the concept of curriculum innovation are Theorizing Curriculum, Curriculum Design and Development as well as Managing Curriculum Change. These modules preceded this study. The methods of data collection were Interviews, Questionnaires and Observation (informal). The data collected suggests that educators are still experiencing problems with regard to the implementation of Curriculum 2005. Seemingly the cascading model had some discrepancies smce most educators who attended the workshops seem to be unclear of what they have to do in the classroom. It is also evident that most educators that were trained to implement Curriculum 2005 are not teaching Grade 8 and Grade 9 for various reasons like the policy of Redeployment and Rationalization. Senior Phase Learning Areas are regarded as filler subjects which means that, the Senior Phase Learning Areas are not given the same status as the Learning Areas in Further Education and Training Phase. The school will rather allocate educators at Grade 10 to 12 first before considering the Senior Phase. The attendance of Outcomes-Based Education workshops are not considered when allocating teaching loads. There is also no structure from the school or Department of Education that ensure that those educators that are trained remain in the Senior Phase so as to master the outcomes-based approach. So every year a new teacher is exposed or introduced to new ways of teaching without being trained. On the basis of the findings, there is no effective implementation of Curriculum 2005 and most teachers are still using traditional ways. The Department of Education has a great task to ensure that there is development and support of educators that are still battling with the implementation process. It is also the responsibility of the Department of Education to ensure that all children in South Africa receive quality education and narrows the gap between previously advantage and previously disadvantage communities. But all depends on the teachers' skills and knowledge of the new curriculum, structures to support the implementation process and the support from the Department of Education. Without teachers' understanding and the necessary support structure, the intended outcomes will not be achieved