Curriculum

Deficit Factors In the Implementation of Educational Policies and Reforms in Bayelsa State, Nigeria (Published)

This paper focuses on deficit factors in the implementation of educational policies and curriculum reforms in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. It is reasoned that the education sector in Bayelsa State has undergone certain reforms guided by public policies at all levels in recent years. However, much as these policies are actions by public officials, there is a significant absence of corresponding results in productivity and performance index. This perhaps may be as a result of the deficits occasioned by exclusion of the policy holders (teachers and students) who are critical to the implementation and reform process that are expected to drive positive educational outcomes. This paper takes an analytical view on the merits of the educational policies and reforms from 2012 till date viz-a-viz teachers’( personnel), exclusion factors, wastages and corruption that have attended these policies and reforms among others. The conclusion is that, these educational policies and reforms in the state do not have a buy-in of the critical stake- holders with resultant effects of aparthy, absence of commitment, indifference attitude and stagnation in performance. The paper recommends among others that, there must be deliberate engagement of the critical stakeholders on the types of educational policies and reforms that would ultimately benefit the state without any form of exclusion elements in its planning and implementation.

Keywords: Curriculum, Deficit Factors, Educational, Implementation, Reforms, policies

Corruption in the Education Industry in Nigeria: Implications for National Development (Published)

This paper sees corruption generally as a condemnable behaviour and particularly identifies corruption in the education industry as a practice that has multiple capabilities for undermining the national development of Nigeria. Corruption in the education industry terribly creates infrastructural deficits that result in poor instructional delivery and making many people not to have access to education which in addition to being a fundamental human right is a spring board for their empowerment and emancipation infrastructural deficits and inability of a people to have access to education systematically renders useless the ability of the people to engineer  national development as generations of citizens are left frustrated, disgruntled and disenchanted in addition to manifesting terrible immorality in the forms of militancy and insurgency. Embrace of militancy and insurgency as a result of lack of access and infrastructure owe their sources to corruption, which disastrously has multiplier effects on the economy and the national development of the Nigerian state: potential human beings who ideally are great assets for the development of Nigeria are lost to actions/activities that are not investor and investment friendly. The paper recommends among other things the teaching of skills that can promote greater transparency and accountability in managing issues in education, stronger and implementable in managing issues in education, stronger and implementable social justice measures for the citizens to developing curricular and pedagogical measures for sensitizing citizens to rise up to kill corruption in Nigeria.

Keywords: Accountability, Corruption, Curriculum, Education, Innovation, National Development, Nigeria, Pedagogy, Transparency

A Model for Planning and Implementing Curriculum Change in Private Higher Education in Botswana (Published)

This paper examined the role of academic middle managers (AMMs) in the planning and implementation of curriculum change in private higher education institutions (PHEIs) in Botswana. Drawing from various sources of literature and theoretical underpinnings, the study described how AMMs enact their role in curriculum change. A quantitative approach that used a structured questionnaire for data collection was used in the study. Results of the study showed that AMMs face numerous challenges during curriculum change which have a negative impact on their role. These challenges include lack of authority, lack of detailed job descriptions, work overloads among others. Results further showed that the following variables namely curriculum leadership, AMM job requirements, AMMs role enablers, work experience, educational levels of AMMs are important predictors of effective AMMs role in the planning and implementation of curriculum change in PHEIs and hence need to be optimized. It was also shown that gender, age, department size do not have a significant effect on the effectiveness of AMMs in their role in curriculum change while level of education and years of experience have a significant effect. Based on the results, a model for enhancing the effectiveness of AMM role in the planning and implementation of curriculum change was proposed.

Keywords: Academic Middle Manager, Curriculum, Demographic Characteristics, Implementing, Model, Planning, Role, curriculum change

EVALUATION OF COLLEGES OF EDUCATION (COE) SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM VIS-À-VIS THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL (JHS) SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM IN GHANA (Published)

: Social Studies as a subject in the Junior High School (JHS) curriculum in Ghana is taught mostly by teachers trained in the country’s thirty-eight Colleges of Education. Analysis of the Colleges Social Studies curriculum vis-à-vis the JHS syllabus reveals differences in how the subject is structured to prepare teachers to teach it at the JHS level. An interpretative design was used for the study. The study revealed that: Colleges of Education subscribe to and use a cross-disciplinary perspective whereby facts, concepts and generalisations are bootlegged from the social science subjects which is dominated with geographical concepts, whilst the JHS subscribes to and uses trans-disciplinary approach which is holistic, theme based and problem solving. It was recommended that there must be a national curriculum policy on Social Studies that all pathways to teaching of the subject should undergo review according to such national standards to merits the needs of society.

Keywords: Curriculum, Curriculum implementation, Evaluation, Social Studies, Syllabus

Evaluation of Colleges of Education (CoE) Social Studies Curriculum Vis-à-vis the Junior High School (JHS) Social Studies Curriculum Design and Implementation in Ghana (Review Completed - Accepted)

Social Studies as a subject in the Junior High School (JHS) curriculum in Ghana is taught mostly by diploma teachers from the country’s thirty-eight Colleges of Education. Analysis of the Colleges Social Studies curriculum vis-à-vis the JHS syllabus reveal differences in how the subject is structured to prepare teachers to teach it at the JHS level.

An interpretative design was used for the study. The study revealed that: Colleges of Education subscribe to and use a cross-disciplinary perspective whereby facts, concepts and generalisations are bootlegged from the social science subjects which is dominated with geographical concepts, whilst the JHS subscribes to and uses trans-disciplinary approach which is holistic, theme based and problem solving. It was recommended that there must be a national curriculum policy on Social Studies that all pathways to teaching of the subject should undergo review according to such national standards to merits the needs of society.

Keywords: Curriculum, Curriculum implementation, Evaluation, Social Studies, Syllabus