The Influence of Curriculum Dynamics and Policy Provisions on the Implementation of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Programs (TVET) in Bikita District of Zimbabwe
Keywords:
Competency based curriculum, Curriculum imperatives, Homogeneous sampling, Pragmatist design, Technical education, Technical vocational education and training, Unhu/Ubuntu, Vocational educationAbstract
The study was a pragmatist design oriented which employed the mixed method research design and a philosophical analysis of the influence of curriculum imperatives and policy provisions on the implementation of the secondary school Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) curriculum programs and practices in Bikita District in Zimbabwe. For the qualitative dimension of the study, the researcher purposefully selected individuals and sites that provided the necessary information on the same note homogeneous sampling, which is a type of purposive sampling was used to come up with participants who have experience with central phenomenon or the key concept being explored by this study. Regarding the quantitative research, the intent of sampling was to choose individuals that are representative of a population so that the results can be generalized to a population that is why the purposive sampling was used. The major finding was that, Zimbabwe’s national curriculum, the Competency Based Curriculum to which the TVET curriculum was a component, had no clear educational philosophical perspective anchoring it. The major study finding was that the curriculum imperatives, policy directives implemented together with the policy provisions enacted during the period under study, were also not aligned with the TVET curriculum. The study therefore recommended that the government urgently identify, adopt and publicize an ideal educational philosophical perspective and a philosophical underpinning not only understood and acceptable by all, but also directing the Zimbabwean education system in the right direction in line with the national Vision 2030- which is to make Zimbabwe an upper middle income economy by 2030. The Education system of Zimbabwe should also adequately resource the TVET curriculum to produce productive graduates who can turn around the country's industry for economic development.
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