The influence of the implementation of outcomes-based education from grades R-9 on successful teaching and learning in the further education and training phase

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of the implementation of Outcomes Based Education in grade R - 9 on successful teaching and learning in the Further Education and Training phase (FET) and on the basis of the literature review and the empirical research, suggests guidelines for addressing the problems encountered by grade 10 learners. The literature review revealed that the curriculum prevailing in the majority of FET institutions is characterized by, among other things, learners who tend to be passive; it is textbook and worksheet bound; and the emphasis is on what the teacher hopes to achieve. It also emerged form the literature review that the current system of FET qualifications and programmes offered by schools and colleges is inefficient as it does not prepare learners adequately for success in further learning or employment. FET programmes do not equip learners adequately for the social, economic and cultural challenges that they will face in the course of their lives. The literature review highlights a departure from the traditional methods of teaching and learning to a new FET system where learners are active, constructive and co-responsible participants that contribute to the teaching and learning situation. The current FET assessment paradigm that is based primarily on cognitive learning and on comparing the performance of one learner with another is unsuited to the challenges presented by new policies aimed at the transformation and integration of education and training. According to the new FET curriculum, integrated assessment needs to be incorporated appropriately to ensure that the purpose of the qualification is achieved. Integrated assessment uses a range of formative and summative assessment methods including portfolios, simulations, as well as written and oral examinations. The empirical research reveals the respondents' perceptions of fundamental issues, including an improvement in education in South Africa since the introduction of OBE; more learning problems experienced in grade 10 than in grade 9; problems experienced by learners in some of the grade 10 subjects.