This study aimed to explore the perceptions of academic staff on the concept of curriculum decolonization in a selected technical and vocational education and training (TVET) college in Eastern Cape Province. South Africa has been confronted with calls for curriculum decolonization and at some point, students all over the country decided to embark…

Low-resourced communities across the world face chronic and cumulative adversity that often lacks clear solutions. This adversity manifests itself in various institutions including schools. Professional resources to address this adversity, for example, bullying, poor academic performance, teenage pregnancy, inclusivity, in low-resourced…

This article probes teacher responses to three curricular reform initiatives from a South African situated contextual perspective. It focuses on Life Sciences teachers who have initially reported feeling overwhelmed by this rapidly changing curriculum environment: adopting and re-adapting to the many expected shifts. The research question posed…

Issues of transitional justice are central to countries moving away from identity-based conflict. Research tends to focus on the most well-known forms of transitional justice, like truth commissions. Far less attention has been given to education as a form of transitional justice, and even less to teacher professional development, even though…

Despite many positive developments in South Africa (SA), the education system and educational outcome face many challenges and require further improvement. This is reflected by elevated school dropout rates and suboptimal annual pass rates in various grades (Grades 7-12). Over the years, a plethora of studies has identified methods through which…

While it is widely believed that relevant research is needed for educational policy and practice, an important issue is whether policy-makers and implementers are really receptive to such research. This study sets out a conceptual framework relating to the issue in low-income countries, encompassing the cast of characters involved, contemporary…

It has become public knowledge that teachers have gradually been called to teach learners to world-class standards in order to enable them to participate actively in the global economy. This has fuelled a debate on how teachers should be prepared to fulfil this new role. In-service programmes on social justice and education have often been…

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the academic aims of curriculum reforms and the teaching roles related to them are similar, but non-teaching roles are likely to vary across countries. Taking an organization studies perspective, this article compares teachers' roles in reform along the Botswana-South Africa border. Though these teachers share language and…

This paper presents findings of four Grade 6 teachers' involvement as facilitators of a participatory action research (PAR) project conducted in three South African primary schools. Based on the results of Phase One research which indicated that Grade 6s learn about sexuality, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency…

Papers from the proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society was submitted in two volumes. Volume 1 contains papers submitted at the conference held in Sofia, Bulgaria, June 14-17, 2016. Volume 2 contains papers submitted at the 4th International Partner Conference of the International Research Centre…

The meanings that a teacher attaches to the new curriculum reforms act as his or her map on the curriculum implementation journey, and these usually determine the success of the education reforms. This research article explores the meanings attached to the new Science curriculum reforms by primary school teachers in a school district in South…

Since the move towards inclusion in line with international trends and South Africa's attempts to address issues of marginalisation and discrimination amongst all learners, including those with special needs and disabilities, it has become evident on perusal of various research studies and reviews that there is an obsession with how far we have…

This article examines the use of testimony in the making of a new history in South Africa, situating this phenomenon in the context of public construction of memory and identifying history teachers as critical to the process. Through an ethnographic study of 16 schools that illuminates the use of teacher testimony in Cape Town history classrooms,…

Starting in 1997, a sophisticated, outcomes-based curriculum was to be implemented in South African schools. This study examines and analyses how science teachers in one rural school responded to the demands of this new curriculum. I consider the capacity of the school and the extent to which outside support and pressure was provided. The levels…

The paper presents a model of curriculum development and applies this model to education of the gifted in the Republic of South Africa. Strategies in curriculum development are classified as center-periphery (in which central authorities develop curriculum to be implemented at the local school level), school based (in which the same individuals…