Teachers’ views on support provided to implement CAPS guidelines to their teaching in South African schools

Abstract

Teaching is amongst others informed by guidelines outlined in policy documents. In South African schools, teaching is informed by the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). However, measures to make teachers implement this policy correctly are limited. Hence, this study explored teacher’s views on the support they receive to effectively implement the CAPS policy in their classrooms. The paper followed a qualitative approach guided by an interpretivist paradigm. Specifically, an exploratory case study design was used. A convenient sampling strategy was used to select eight teachers from four schools in the Capricorn district. Semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used to collect data. Rogan and Grayson’s Theory of Curriculum Implementation was used as a frame to the study, and data collected through semi-structured interviews, and analysed through a thematic approach. The study revealed that the teachers had a dim view of the support provided to effectively implement CAPS in their classrooms. In relation to the above results, guidance should be provided to teachers to support them in the implementation of this policy. Thus, Continuous Professional Development programme are need to pay attention to this gap between policy and practice