The curriculum and pupils' responses : a case study in an open secondary school in South Africa

[摘要] In the mid 1970s certain hitherto white private schools beganadmitting pupils of other race groups. As desegregated schoolsbecome more common in this country, there is need for curriculumresearch that can inform both policy makers and practioners.This study explores curriculum issues at a secondaryschool ten years after it admitted pupils of all race groups.Located within the qualitative research paradigm, thisresearch is an ethnographic case study based on a year's participantobservation in the school The study focused on teachers' approaches to their work,their aims, choice of material and methodology, academicachievement patterns, perceptions of factors influencingthese and strategies for dealing with them; pupils' responsesto different curriculum content, teaching styles andstrategies, and the interplay between social interaction andlearning.Within a framework of Similarity, there were differences amongblack and white pupils' expectations of the school, theirevaluation of subjects, their prioritization of constructs ofgood teaching and their evaluation of the school in fulfillingkey expectations. Black pupils underachieved academically.and were relatively more sensitive to the subtle tension underlyingrace group interaction.The curriculum was perceived as basically assimilationist, andmost teaching conservative. geared toward narrow academicaims. A small group of teachers who promoted a lessEurocentric approach which tended to be more pupil-centered,activity-based and issue-centered met some opposition fromtheir colleagues.The study highlights the interplay between social interactionand achievement, the need to address both social and personaleducational aims together with academic achievement. The findingssuggest that unless certain key curriculum changes areimplemented, black pupils are likely to remain academicallymarginalized in open schools, and desegregated schools runthe risk of contributing little to social change.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand