Five reasons why CAPS is harming our children, by Marina Goetze
CAPS is the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement that describes the South African national curriculum for Grades R – 12. I don’t work in the basic education sector but I have friends who do and this is something they talk about all the time. You could probably say the same thing about many (most?) higher education curricula.
- It is too content heavy. Because we think that covering content is the same thing as teaching.
- There is no time for consolidation. Because there is so much content to cover.
- It is too rigid. Because we don’t trust teachers to take students where they need to go at the pace they need to go.
- Children are over assessed. Because we think that assessment is evidence of learning.
- We are not producing thinkers. Because a curriculum that emphasises assessment of content has no space for developing creativity.
Read the original piece on LinkedIn.