Exploring the Head of Department’s role in curriculum management in the senior phase
| dc.contributor.advisor | Kabi, Jonas | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.author | van Sasie, Micaila Sharonic | en_ZA |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-01-08T12:51:47Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-01-08T12:51:47Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023 | en_ZA |
| dc.description | Dissertation (M.Ed.(Education Management and Leadership))--University of the Free State, 2023 | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | In attempting to explore the Head of Department (HOD)’s role in curriculum management in the Senior phase, this study took into consideration whether curriculum implementation in the Senior phase was adhered to within a South African context. It should be noted that the expectation is that the Senior phase should prepare learners for the Further Education Training (FET) phase (DBE, 2011). In this qualitative study, the researcher aimed to explore the perspectives of Head of Departments’ regarding curriculum management in the senior phase. There is a tendency in secondary schools to focus on the FET phase to prepare learners for the Grade 12 examinations. However, the expectation of the education department is that all phases must receive equal treatment. Nevertheless, FET teachers often attend workshops for training for development, of which the first priority is resources and external moderation. This has an effect on the learner performance in the Senior phase as SMTs focus on preparing learners in Grade 12. The morale of teachers who only teach Senior phase subjects is often low as they are not exposed to professional development. In this qualitative study, the researcher provided an interpretation and analysis of HODs insights by responding to the question, ‘What is the role of the Head of the Departments’ in curriculum management in the Senior phase?’ This study is conducted from an interpretive paradigm that was followed with a phenomenological design to explore the HODs’ views on curriculum management in the senior phase. The researcher used a functionalist theoretical framework that advocates equal and just treatment of both phases by effectively managing and leading the curriculum in the Senior phase. Aligned with functionalism theory, this study applied instructional leadership to portray how Heads of Departments require support and opportunities to manage and lead the curriculum in the Senior phase effectively in order to take on their curriculum role and explore to why Heads of Departments are not performing their duties as expected. Purposively sample criteria were used to select the participants, namely HODs and teachers. The researcher used semi-structured interviews through interrogate the participants perception. In this study, the findings indicate that HODs are confronted with numerous challenges that hinder them from effectively managing and leading the curriculum in the Senior phase. Furthermore, the findings also reveal that HODs had not got the opportunity to go for training in curriculum management, although they did indicate that workshops to assist teachers were provided for them. It was evident that both HODs and teachers did not undergone training, as, majority of participants indicated that they need assistance in managing curriculum effectively. The researcher provided several recommendations from the findings of this study: regular monitoring of curriculum by HODs, assist teachers in challenges, regular department meetings to track progress of teachers, initiate professional development programmes for teachers, intervention programmes for parental involvement and effective intervention programmes for improvement of learner performances. To conclude, the HODs role in curriculum management is vital for the success of schools, especially in the Senior Phase, where learners begin to transition into a more complex subject matter. It is important for HODs to practice effective school leadership to be able to implement effective curriculum strategies that can assist in bringing stability within schools. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11660/12921 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.rights.holder | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Curriculum management | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | FET | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Head of department | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Instructional leadership | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Senior phase | en_ZA |
| dc.title | Exploring the Head of Department’s role in curriculum management in the senior phase | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Dissertation |