Farhana (2020) provides a definition of education as a structured framework encompassing roles and norms designed to ensure the transfer of knowledge, values, and behavioral patterns from one generation to the next. Hence, education involves purposeful, organized, and continuous endeavors to convey, provoke, or acquire knowledge, values, attitudes, skills, or sensitivities, along with any resulting learning. This definition inherently highlights the fundamental intent of education. UNESCO (2014) suggests that effective education, aiming for holistic human development and fostering tolerance, necessitates culturally attuned curricula that underscore the positive aspects of cross-cultural discourse and variety while fostering creativity. South Africa, embraced as a diverse nation, can readily identify with this notion, striving to tailor its curriculum to cater to the distinct educational needs of its diverse learners. This paper intends to investigate the responsibility placed upon the curriculum system to fulfill the objectives of the education establishment.
Arslan (2018) argues that a well-structured curriculum is imperative for the establishment of formal education. Within a curriculum, various types and descriptions exist, highlighting the intrinsic link between education and the curriculum system that administers it. This underscores that the curriculum system is entrusted with the educational responsibilities aligned with the intended purpose of education. If the curriculum system deviates from the requisites of educational goals, it loses its relevance. This further emphasizes that prior to curriculum developers formulating the curriculum system, a comprehensive deliberation on the objectives of education is essential to ensure its pertinence.
Ng (2020) delineates a dual-pronged perspective on the fundamental purpose of education. Firstly, education serves the greater society and community by nurturing individuals into responsible contributors who ensure ongoing societal prosperity and well-being. Secondly, it focuses on individual development, allowing individuals to attain self-fulfillment, a fundamental human right. This implies that individuals bear the responsibility to acquire knowledge and skills for societal contribution and personal livelihood. Conversely, the community is obligated to provide education to its members to enable their self-actualization. However, at times, the society’s pursuit of progress may lead to neglecting or minimizing the self-actualization aspect. Society objectives might overshadow those of the individual. This insight underscores that education’s presence in any nation is inherently tied to both societal and individual advancement, fostering positive and responsible contributions to the community.
Consequently, the two-pronged approach toward education’s purpose becomes a foundational criterion for designing the curriculum system. “Curriculum system pertains to the concept of ‘curriculum,’ originating from the Latin term ‘currere,’ meaning to run a course, therefore, the term indicates a subject with specific objectives, generating outcomes for learners” (Arslan, 2018:6). Each curriculum discipline (subject) must align harmoniously with the requisites of the educational purpose. A pertinent example is a society lacking skilled accountants; in this context, a school could be established to address this need. Once the school is operational, to bridge the identified gap, the curriculum should incorporate practical and relevant accounting courses tailored to contemporary accounting practices, rather than solely theoretical accounting content. This approach renders learning meaningful and directly addresses the core educational objective. Ng (2020) therefore asserts that effective learning occurs when students engage within an environment that encourages exploration, socialization, and communication experiences. However, the situation appears different in South Africa, where the societal demand might be for adept investigative journalists, proficient legal practitioners, etc. Nevertheless, the foundational education system fails to offer explicit journalism or law courses. Even when Accounting is provided, it often lacks alignment with higher education standards and real-world accounting firm practices. These discrepancies raise concerns about the curriculum’s relevance and its alignment with the educational purpose.
The South African society is characterized by a diverse student population encompassing various cultural, social, racial, and religious backgrounds. The establishment of education in this context was intended to elicit a specific response from the curriculum. Among these diverse students are individuals aspiring to become Journalists, yet they lack access to pertinent Journalism subjects like Multimedia Journalism, Photojournalism, Mass Communication and Ethics, Broadcasting Journalism, News Reporting, Political Studies, and more. Similarly, students with aspirations in sports careers are not provided with subjects like Sports Coaching, Sports Journalism, Sports Development, and Sports Marketing within the public school curriculum. This absence of subject offerings that cater to students’ interests and differences indicates a deficiency in the quality of the curriculum. In alignment with this viewpoint, Stabback (2016) contends that a high-quality curriculum system should allow for and encourage differentiation in learning, enabling educators to tailor the curriculum to meet the distinct academic needs of students. It advocates against the imposition of uniform content and teaching methods on all students, regardless of their differences. Instead, a quality curriculum should grant educators the flexibility to adapt their teaching approaches to match the unique needs and capacities of their students. This notion outlines an ideal curriculum system that addresses the demands of societies at large. The question arises whether South Africa’s CAPS Curriculum system adequately addresses these concerns.
Arguments like these prompted the development of the Personalized Education Curriculum System (PECS). Rooted in a humanistic approach and drawing from quality curriculum theory and competency-oriented education, PECS focuses on practical assessments to gauge students’ relevant skills, aptitudes, and values essential for navigating modern society effectively. PECS emerged as a response to dissatisfaction with the modernist curriculum system in South Africa, akin to the birth of postmodernism. It seeks to rescue learners from a curriculum that lacks progressive elements and fails to provide differentiated learning suitable for all students. Similar to the historical advent of progressivism, PECS acts as a disruptive and qualitative curriculum system aimed at resolving the confusion stemming from curriculum inconsistencies. PECS intends to restore the worth and respect of the education system by rendering it responsive to societal needs through a curriculum rooted in liberal education principles. A unique aspect of PECS is its emphasis on affording learners’ insights into the working world during their schooling years. This distinct feature underscores the relevance and inspiration that PECS offers to the educational community of South Africa, as well as the broader African context. This perspective envisions an improved education system achieved through the implementation of such an approach.
Know more about PECS: https://simnandisolutions.co.za/personalized-education/
– Click on PECS PowerPoint presentation.
Please answer these 3 questions and submit them: https://simnandisolutions.co.za/pecs – Questionnaires
Cite this publication: XABA, S.S. 2023. The purpose of education versus the curriculum system delivering the education. https://simnandisolutions.co.za/post/
Bibliography
Farhana (2020). Educational institution. http://www.uop.edu.pk/ocontents/EDUCATIONAL%20INSTITUION.pdf. Date of Access: 30 August 2023
UNESCO, 2014. EDUCATION. https://cercles.diba.cat/documentsdigitals/altres/Education%20Dimension_0.pdf. Date of Access; 29 August 2023
Arslan, H. 2018. An Introduction to Education. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Ng, S. B. (2020). Developing curriculum design for the 21st century – Balancing the need of character building and meeting other emerging needs of the future. Asia Pacific Journal on Curriculum Studies, 3(2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.53420/apjcs.2020.
Stabback, P. 2016. What makes a quality curriculum? https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000243975. Date of Access: 19 April 2023