Implications of the New Curriculum with Padington Chakabva

I am grateful to all stakeholders for the constructive contributions made on the column so far. Today we explore the curriculum framework. The New curriculum organizes the learning into three levels which are: Early Childhood Development (ECD) to grade 2, Junior School which covers grades 3 to 7, Secondary  School which covers form one to form six. As I alluded to in the previous article, there is not much of a change on these levels. The greatest change is that unlike the old system which was too academic and exam oriented, the new curriculum framework emphasizes the acquisition of foundational skills for learning at ECD.

This really means that ECD will prepare young ones on the groundwork and preparation on how to become a learner. Learning is a lifetime process, one Brazilian writer Paulo F in his book 'Pedagogy of the oppressed', almost confirms that man learns even at the moment of death. That really means that experience is the best teacher. Maria Montessori, one of the numerous education philosophers really encouraged ECD pupils to be placed in a play garden where they learn by experiences and exploration. In line with the new curriculum, the implications to the teacher are huge. A wide range of learner centered teaching methodologies have to be employed. In this case the ECD learner becomes the player and the teacher takes the role of a coach, normally the coach does not play the game, he does the coaching as the learner does the playing. It follows then that learners become 'inforbit inforschemata constructors'. Learners must be allowed to interact with the information, they learn and experience. The paradigm shift for teachers is to shift from teaching to helping students to learn. That is of importance when we are exploring the way teachers can lay foundational skills for learning to ECD learners.

ECD is the foundation for learning, you will agree with me that if the foundation is not properly laid, the whole building becomes weak and risks collapsing.

The Junior School which covers grades 3 to 7 reinforces the foundational skills and provides learners with life and work skills. There are several learning areas for Junior school. The most important aspect of Junior school is the thrust on provision of life and work skills to the learners. A number of selected skills has been outlined in the syllabi for the various learning areas at the Junior school level. The most important aspect is that the Junior school might be the exit point for some learners. Not all learners get the opportunity to proceed to Secondary school for various reasons. It is important that by the time a learner completes Junior school, they must have already acquired certain life and work skills relevant to that level, which they might build on to survive in the society. The Curriculum framework prepares graduates for the education system to have the following exit profiles. Critical thinking, problem solving, leadership, Communication and team building and Technological skills. These are critical skills for survival and bedrocks for good citizenry.

Let me just highlight the learning areas for Infant School, which is ECD to grade 2. Learners at this level are expected to learn indigenous language which will be the medium of instruction, Visual and performing arts, physical education, mass displays, Mathematics and Science, Family and Heritage Studies, Information and Communication Technology. These are the learning areas at ECD to grade 2. I must be haste to mention that in each learning area, there are a number of critical skills that learners will acquire. These are the skills which a vital at each exit point and they mean that value has been added to the system.

The Junior School, which covers grade 3 to grade 7 will have the following Learning Areas: Languages including a foreign language, Mathematics, Heritage Studies and Life Skills Orientation program, Agriculture, ICT, Visual and Performing Arts, Family, Religion and Moral Education (FAREME), Physical Education, Sport and Mass Displays.
These are the Learning areas for Junior School. The learner had to be prepared to learn most of these learning areas.

Lots of stakeholders have been keen to know the Learning Areas for Secondary School, let me explore the learning areas for forms one to four. These are the learning areas for forms 1 to form 4.
 
- Heritage Studies
- Mathematics
- Sciences: Physics, Chemistry, Geography, Biology and Optional General Science.
- Humanities: History, Religious Studies, Sociology and Economic History.
- Literature in indigenous languages and English
- Indigenous languages and English
- Foreign languages; French, Kiswahili, Chinese, Portuguese
- ICT: Programming Language and Packages
- Agriculture: Agricultural Engineering, Animal Science, Crop Science, Horticulture (A level)
- Commercials: Accounting, Commerce, Economics, Business Enterprise Skills.
- Practicals: Wood, Metal, Textile Technologies and PEMD. (To be cont) feedback 0785199703.