International Academic Journal of Education & Literature

ISSN Print : 2708-5112 | ISSN Online : 2708-5120 Frequency : Bi-Monthly Language : English Origin : Kenya Website : https://www.iarconsortium.org/journal-info/IAJEL

9

Implementation Challenges of Building Technology and Design

Curriculum in Kwekwe District Secondary Schools, Zimbabwe

Abstract: The study explored the implementation challenges of the Buildin g

Technology and Design (BTD) updated curriculum in Kwekwe District secondary

school of Zimbabwe. The study was prompted by the challenges faced by

secondary Schools in Zimbabwe to implement the updated curriculum after its

inception in 2017 in the country. The study adopted a qualitative approach and a

descriptive case study design. Two schools were selected for the study usin g purposive sampling technique. The study sample comprised two school heads,

four BTD teachers and ten BTD Ordinary Level learners from both rural and

urban school communities. Data was collected from urban participants using

Instant Messaging Interviews (IMI) and focus group discussion via WhatsApp

and through face-to-face interview and focus group discussion from rural

participants. Results showed that BTD teachers who took part in the study were

all qualified, but were not up skilled academically and hence could not teach some

aspects of the BTD curriculum. The study also showed that there were inadequate

resources and poor remuneration for teachers which resulted in them being de-

motivated. The study recommends that government should source funding to

finance the process, train and employ more secondary schools BTD teachers, as

well as improving teachers’ working conditions. The study also recommends that

government should help schools put up relevant infrastructure for the effective

teaching and learning as well as organisin g updated curriculum training

workshops for BTD teachers. The study further recommends BTD teachers to upgrade themselves academically so as to remain relevant in the system.

Keywords: Updated Curriculum, Curriculum Implementation, Learners,

Infrastructure, School resources, building technology and design.

INTRODUCTION

Although Zimbabwe’s education system was ranked second best in

Africa and 42nd

on global scale, its post-independence curriculum was overly academic in nature and lacked relevance to the development needs of learners as well as changing societal demands and challenges (Kanyongo, 2005). Marume, (2016) posits that secondary school graduates in Zimbabwe lacked

technical and vocational skills needed for their day to day lives as well as the world of work. The need to reorient the content and exam based curriculum was brought to the attention of the then president of Zimbabwe, Comrade Robert

Mugabe, by findings of The 1998 Commission of Inquiry into the Education and Training (CIET) in Zimbabwe which produced a report in 1999 (Nziramasanga, 1999). However, it took about eighteen years for the recommendations of the commission to be put into action.

The introduction of the updated curriculum in Zimbabwe in the year 2017, was partly as a result of the endorsements

from this Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training (CIET) Report published in 1999. According

to the secretary’s circular number 2 of 2017, the main drive of this programme was premised on the expansion of competences that is, understanding, attitudes and skills, and inculcation of the national identity including values of

ubuntu/unhu/vumunhu. The updated curriculum popularly known as the competence based curriculum (CBC) was geared at producing an individual who is an entrepreneur, equipped with skills which encompass problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, innovation, communication, teamwork as well as application of scientific and technological

knowledge (Nziramasanga, 1999). Competence according to Tuxworth (2005) in Paulo (2014) is a ‘capacity in an individual’. Thus competence can be defined as what teachers want learners to attain or comprehend for example the ability for learners to construct a straight wall in English bond.

Research Article

Article History

Received: 30.04.2021 Revision: 10.05.2021

Accepted: 20.05.2021

Published: 30.05.2021

Author Details Markie Mabena

1, Silas Sithole

2 and Lawrence

H. Mukawu2

Authors Affiliations 1Rio Tinto Zhombe High School

2Lecturer Department of Technical Education Robert Mugabe School of Education and Culture Great

Zimbabwe University

Corresponding Author* Silas Sithole

How to Cite the Article: Markie Mabena, Silas Sithole & Lawrence H. Mukawu. (2021); Implementation Challenges of

Building Technology and Design Curriculum in

Kwekwe District Secondary Schools, Zimbabwe.

Int Aca J Edu Lte. 2(3), 9-18 Copyright @ 2021: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non commercial use (NonCommercial, or CC-BY-NC) provided the original author and source are credited.

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One of the learning areas incorporated in this

competence based curriculum (CBC) is Building Technology and Design (BTD) formerly known as Building Studies in the old curriculum. The new

learning area witnessed the introduction of new topics and methods such as; the Information and

Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as in Automatic Computer Aided Drawing (AutoCAD) and Architecture Computer Aided Drawing (ArchiCAD) for

Building Design and Drawing, case studies, e-learning and school on the shop floor to mention just a few (Curriculum Development and Technical Services,

2015). Hence learners were expected to be engaged in development projects in the community, infrastructure

maintenance and attachment to construction industry with the aim of preparing them for future entrepreneurial and career prospects in their societies.

However, according to the Kwekwe District schools Inspector teachers in some schools were not teaching AutoCAD and ArchiCAD as was required by the new

curriculum. School on the shop floor and case study approaches were also hard to come by in most schools.

Mubaiwa (2015) points out that the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education admitted that there were teething problems in the implementation of the much

fancied competence based curriculum and this presented a fertile ground for this study to explore these challenges with a view to advice policy.

Statement of the Problem

The introduction of the CBC in Zimbabwe, faced a plethora of challenges and criticism from parents, teachers unions and students on the execution dynamics

of this novel curriculum in secondary schools in the country (The Zimbabwe Herald, 2 March, 2018: Zhuwau & Shumba, 2019). The challenges included

among others; lack of clarity on implementers, (Esau & Mpofu, 2017) lack of preparedness to implement

competence based curriculum (Paulo, 2014), inadequate teaching and learning resources (Zhuwau and Shumba 2019) and even some authors and curriculum

developers were yet to understand the significance of competence based curriculum and lack of teacher’s orientation and training among others (Ngwenya, 2020).

Some strategies clearly spelt out in the Curriculum Framework for Primary and Second Education 2015-

2022 had not satisfactorily been employed yet. This might be as a result of different challenges that are situational. There was lack of evidence to show that

teachers as curriculum implementers were prepared to effectively implement the competence based curriculum (The Zimbabwe, Herald 2 March 2018). Therefore, the

current study strives to explore the challenges faced by BTD teachers in implementing the competence based

curriculum in Kwekwe District of Zimbabwe.

Research Questions

To unpack the study, the following questions sought to be answered:

What was the teachers’ state of preparedness in

implementing the CBC in BTD in secondary schools in the district?

Why were some aspects of the Building

Technology and Design as a learning area not being taught in secondary schools in the district?

What support strategies could be adopted to successfully implement the competence based curriculum in Building Technology and Design in

secondary schools in this district? Theoretical Framework

The theoretical viewpoints of the study resonates with Rogan and Grayson’s (2003) theory of implementation on three chief concepts, which are

profile implementation, capacity factors and support from outside agencies. Outside agencies, can support

innovation, and to evaluate the implementation of the competence based curriculum in BTD in secondary schools. Molapo (2018) acknowledges that outside

support agencies describes and construct actions that can be undertaken by outside organisations, such as education departments, international development

agencies, local or international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and teacher organisations to

influence practices, through sanction or support. Its constructs are separated into two: non-material and material support (Mpanza, 2013). Nonmaterial support

include professional development of teachers while material support could comprise delivery of resources such as apparatus, books, and buildings. This construct

recognises differences in schools’ capacities for the implementation of innovations. Indicators are divided into four groups namely: physical assets, school

management and ethos, learner and teacher factors, (Molapo 2018; Mpanza 2013: Tshiredo 2013). The

other concept, is profiling of implementation which assist in comprehending, analysing expressing and analysing the degree to which the ideas of the new

curriculum is put to practice (Rogan & Grayson, 2003). Tawana (2009) argues that this construct of profiling implementation expresses the type and degree to which

the curriculum reform is being put to effect. In this case this would be the implementation of CBC in BTD. It

recognizes the existence of different ways of putting a curriculum into action as shown in Fig 1 below. However, the theory of curriculum implementation

doesn’t accommodate the degree to which the curriculums is influenced by external forces such as politics.

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Figure 1. The analytic framework (adopted from Rogan and Grayson, 2003).

LITERATURE

A number of studies were carried out on factors that impede curriculum implementation the world over.

Mupa (2020) carried out a study in Masvingo province on who disengages the implementation gear in schools and found out that paucity of resources ranked high

among such factors. The study that was qualitative also established that teachers were a key impediment

because they lacked knowledge of the subject content and also lacked pedagogical methods for effective implementation of the curriculum.

Curriculum development

A new curriculum often goes through three phases

or stages namely formulation, implementation and evaluation (Maleka, 2014) as well as stakeholder

consultation (Nevenglosky, 2018). Curriculum implementation is the process of placing to practice an agreed new syllabuses (Ogar & Awhen, 2015). Put

simple curriculum implementation involves putting to use the ideas and plans as articulated and agreed to by various stakeholders at formulation stage. Once the

curriculum formulation stage has been finalised then it will be put to use in schools. .Curriculum

implementation is comparatively often fraught with many challenges when compared to other phases (Ogar & Awhen, 2015). Thus it is observed that educational

policies have more problems on implementation than formulation and evaluation.

Teacher preparedness in implementing the CBC in BTD in Kwekwe District

Teachers are key to the successful implementation of curriculum reforms (Ngwenya, 2020). Nevenglosky, Cale and Anguilar (2018) posit that there is need to

prepare and train teachers to meet the objectives of any new curriculum. In the competence based curriculum the role of teachers should be providing opportunities

for learners to develop and realise their potential (Waseru, 2018). To achieve the paradigm shift to

teaching and learning, teacher training should be prioritised first and foremost to make sure that

necessary changes are made before implementation of the curriculum Gatlin, (2009) in Sedenciuc (2013). In line with this assertion, Retnawati, Hadi and Nugraha

(2016) attest that teacher curriculum training and socialisation are the original capital of positive

implementation of the programme. Once socialisation and training of a new curriculum are properly organised, then teachers would understand it. It follows

that if teachers appreciate and have a buy in of the new curriculum, then the implementation process will be a smooth run.

Why ICT concepts were not taught in the

curriculum? According to Chen (2008), teachers’ perceptions

have a significant bearing in their judgement to

integrate technology into the classroom. The associations between teachers’ practices and perception helps to show how they make technology-integration

decisions. Chen (2008) and Windschitl (2009) agree that for one to implement plans nationally for

integration of technology, those in policy making positions should know that teachers’ beliefs affect practices on integration of technology.

Ertmer as cited in Chen (2008) suggests that in most

cases teachers whether senior or less experienced don’t have adequate understanding on how to integrate

technology into the different facets of education to enhance the learning and teaching processes in the classrooms. Programs to do with professional

development programs ought to be taken beyond teacher training that often emphasises skills, such as how computers are operated and how skills are refined.

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Support strategies to be adopted to successfully

implement the CBC Due to difficulties in implementing the competence

based curriculum, teachers need to be monitored

constantly as well as supported to ensure quality learning and teaching (Makeleni & Sethusa, 2014).

Results of the monitoring and evaluation need to be done as reference so as to improve the implementation of the curriculum as well as the development process.

Resources such as the necessary infrastructure,

teaching materials and the political will such as

legislation of curriculum implementation and design (Zhuwau & Shumba 2019) does affect its

implementation. The provision of relevant teaching materials such as text books for the curriculum points to the schools preparedness to implement a new

curriculum (Esau & Mpofu, 2017). Altrichter (2005) argues that usually, educational

changes follow a top-down approach, but initial contribution by teachers increase their readiness to

adopt the new programs even if incentives are withdrawn. Training of teachers before implementation is helpful to re-orient the teachers on the new practices

and aims, however, teacher support is also important where participants implement completely new programs, especially, on the initial stages of the

implementation of a curriculum reform. There should be changes first in teaching methods, tools of

assessment, and the school culture for a practical change to take at a school (Altrichter, 2005). Teacher training programs should also be changed to equip

teachers with relevant competences that enable them to handle challenges of the new curriculum (Paulo, 2014). Altrichter (2005) further elucidates that teachers should

be supported professionally because recent curriculum changes demand for teachers’ professional judgement

and determination more than it was a while ago. The Korean education system is considered high

quality due to quality of teachers employed in this country (So & Kang (2014), Teaching as an occupation has attracted individuals of high calibre as a result of

the high starting salaries for the profession and hence has high social status in Korea. Thus, for any

educational reform to be successful there is need to keep the teachers motivated by remunerating them handsomely such that they do their job wholeheartedly.

Altrichter (2005) agrees that teachers are a continuous feature in the education system and hence have an important part to play for classroom innovation. If they

are de-motivated to be involved in the innovation, then the process will be bound to fail.

METHODOLOGY Research Design

A qualitative descriptive case study design which yields qualitative accounts that describe and explain the difficulties of actual life conditions which could be

problematic to capture through other methods such as experimental or survey research (Zaidah, 2004) was

adopted. Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2007) declare that interpretivists do trust that the social world need to be understood from the position of the persons who are

part of the group action being researched. The descriptive case study explored the feelings, opinions and perceptions of learners, schools heads and teachers

on the way the competence based curriculum (CBC) was being implemented in trying to expose possible

implementation challenges bedevilling the in BTD in secondary schools in the district.

Participants and Setting Participants of this study consisted of Ordinary

Level Building Technology and Design (BTD) learners,

BTD teachers, and the school heads drawn from the ten secondary schools in Kwekwe District offering BTD as

a learning area in their curriculum.

Sample

Probability and non-probability sampling techniques were adopted at different stages of data generation. Probability technique was used to sample secondary

schools offering BTD as a learning area which were included in the study from all the secondary schools in

the District. The systematic random sampling was done to choose two schools from ten secondary schools in the district which offer BTD, one from five schools in

Kwekwe rural area and one from five schools in Kwekwe urban area. In systematic random sampling, chances of selecting each element from within the

group are equal when sampling (Mujere, 2016). Thus, the systematic random sampling gives the investigator

samples that are highly representative of the studied group of population. The technique also allowed the sample composition to include both rural and urban

community schools in the study.

Instrumentation

Semi-structured interview guide was constructed for school heads as well as BTD teachers. A focus group

discussion protocol was designed for Ordinary level learners taking the subject as one of their learning areas. A focus group discussion has the advantage that an

investigator has a chance to interact with participants thereby allowing them to make clarifications after probing and follow up questions (Gray, 2009). Social

media was also used to solicit data in this study (Aida, Fairuz, & Woollard, 2019). Researchers used instant

messaging interviews on focus group discussion via WhatsApp because it was not possible to visit participants at their schools because schools were

closed due to the covid-19 induced lock down.

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WhatsApp was found to be very flexible in setting

interview appointments with participants hence participants and interviewers were not tied to a fixed meeting schedule.

Collecting Data via Social Media

In this study, instant messaging interviews on focus group discussions via WhatsApp were chosen because it allowed the researchers to update participants on the

investigation project via a series of chatting conversations and participants were allowed to ask questions and explanations before participating in the

study. Researchers also cherished the flexibility associated with WhatsApp in setting interview date and

time with the participants. Participants and interviewer had flexible meeting schedule.

However, due to its time flexibility, utilising WhatsApp required more time for the convenience of the participants. Researchers did not demand an

immediate answer from the participants. In addition, social media allowed the participants to be in-control of

their identity disclosure. Their images, real name and address remained unknown unless they decide to reveal it themselves. However, cautious participants sought

confirmation of their identity and anonymity first before proceeding to responding to questions. Hence, the participants interviewed via WhatsApp felt more secure

and freer to speak than they could have felt in a face-to-face interview.

Procedure

School heads were conducted through the phone and

they furnished researchers with contact numbers for the BTD teachers at their schools who in turn helped in locating BTD learners who were already on holiday.

The purpose of the study was explained to participants and appointments were made to school heads, BTD

teachers and the two focus groups participants. School heads, urban BTD teachers and urban school focus group learners agreed to have instant messaging

interviews and discussions. This was done to minimise chances of bringing people together to reduce the spread of Covid-19 disease. The rural BTD teacher and

rural school focus group learners agreed to meet for the face-to-face interview and focus group discussion the

same day. This was done because most rural school learners had no access to smart phones for instant messaging in group discussion.

More to that, issues of internet network connection

and data bundles were a challenge to these participants.

The rural BTD teacher facilitated in bringing the rural school learners to school campus for the discussion.

The interview and focus group discussion were conducted in open air with permissible social distances of about one metre being observed. Researchers

provided sanitizers for the participants to sanitise themselves before, during as well as after the interview and focus group discussion. A working infrared

thermometer was borrowed to check the temperature of

participants before conducting the interview and focus group discussion as per the Covid-19 pandemic requirements.

Face-to-face interviews were carried out with the

rural BTD teacher. Head teachers and urban BTD teachers had instant messaging interviews via WhatsApp. Urban school focus group discussion was

done via WhatsApp but that for rural school learners was done face-to-face. At one of the schools there were more than two teachers in the learning area who were

interviewed via WhatsApp. Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness was evaluated through credibility, transferability and dependability of the research inquiry (Guba, 1981).To enhance credibility of findings,

triangulation of the different data generation methods was done (Creswell, 2014). Triangulation was achieved through using different methods, such as focus group

and individual interviews, which forms part of data generation strategies for qualitative studies (Guba,

1981). The use of different methods and involvement of a wide range of informants, compensated for their individual disadvantages and advantages their different

benefits. Different experiences and viewpoints were checked against others and, as such, a clear picture of the needs, attitudes of those under inspection were built

based on the merits of a range of participants.

Dependability is the provision that if the research was retaken, in the same setting, with the same approaches and using the same participants, similar

results would be found (Shenton, 2004). For confirmability, stages were taken to ensure that results were as a consequence of ideas and experiences of the

respondents rather than the preferences and characteristics of investigators.

. Ethical considerations

Ethics in research studies refer to rules of being

morally good in the conduct of research (Borg & Gall, 2005; Sindhu, 2017). Issues of ethics, such as voluntary participation, informed consent, privacy, anonymity and

confidentiality which are said to be concerned with qualitative rather than quantitative research were highly

considered in the study (Goodwin, 2020). Participants signed consent letters before participating in the study. Learners had their consent letters signed by their

guardians. For urban school participants, the letters were completed, signed, scanned and sent to researchers via instant messaging. On the other hand, letters for the

rural participants were printed and sent to the participant before the interview and focus group

discussion date. Researchers did not use any incentives to convince participants to take part in the study.

Codes were adopted instead of names in order to enhance anonymity and confidentiality of participants. Information gathered was protected from unauthorised

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users and only researchers had to handle the notes

during and after the interviews and focus group discussions. Since participants were school heads, BTD teachers and BTD ordinary level learners, the

interviews and discussion questions were prepared in English, which literally means that there was no need

for anyone to interpret anything since the participants could converse in English language.

Researchers provided bundles for participants although the bundles were not enough for the whole process. Sanitizers for rural school participants where

face-to-face interview was conducted was also provided. Basic Covid-19 preventive measures were

taken before, during and affect the processes of data collection with these participants. Researchers ensured that participants who came for the interview and for the

focus group discussion had their face masks on as per the requirements of Covid-19 response measures. Social distancing of two metres was observed during interview

and focus group discussion sessions. Participants had to sanitise before, during and after interviews and focus

group discussions and these sessions took place in open air environment.

RESULTS Comments and phrases were subsequently collated

into broader themes called thematic units that capture recurring patterns in the data (Nowell, 2017). Data from

participants was presented along the following themes; teachers’ preparedness in implementing CBC in BTD,

Why some concepts were not taught in the CBC and what support strategies could be adopted to successfully implement CBC in BTD in secondary schools in the

district?

State of teacher preparedness to fully implement

CBC in BTD On area of specialisation at college, the rural teacher

(RT), urban teacher 1(UT1) and urban teacher 3 (UT3) indicated that they were holders of National Certificate in Brick and Blocklaying which qualified

them to teach the subject at secondary level. It was urban teacher 2 (UT2) who indicated that he was a holder of a National Certificate in Woodwork. All

the four teachers who took part in the study were holders of diploma in education and hence had the

necessary pedagogy for teaching (Sifuni, 2013) but none of them was degreed. The number of years of experience ranged from twelve to eighteen, meaning

that they had not upgraded themselves academically for over a decade.

Why some aspects of the CBC in BTD in Secondary Schools were not being taught?

Quite a number of the CBC were found not to be taught. participants raised several reasons for that stance. When asked about areas of the CBC where

teachers enjoyed teaching most and areas they felt

needed improvement, teachers showed that they

were not conversant with all the teaching methods prescribed in CBC but were well versed in some methods but not in another.

When asked about areas that needed changes or

improvement, (UT2) lamented; The topic on Plumbing and Drainage should be

revised because there is too much content and some of

it is college staff that cannot be grasped easily by Ordinary Level learners. More to that, I feel that part of the assessment procedure for CBC, usually at the end of

the course needs to be changed. I think summative assessment of practical and application skills carry too

much weight than theory. More weight should be on practical skills since

hands on skills help learners to develop self-reliant skills after school. These skills make the learner relevant to the society after school.

Urban teacher 1 (UT1) echoed:

Yes I am conversant with some of the methods. I have never used e-learning, the school on the shop floor, survey and gallery walk method. This is

because of lack of resources as well as lack of knowledge on how these methods work.

On the same note, UT2 commented, I am not conversant with all methods. I am yet to

use educational tours, surveys, gallery walk and school on the shop floor methods because of unclear procedures to be followed and limited financial

resources. On challenges faced by teachers in implementing the

CBC in BTD in secondary schools, teachers’ responses were as follows;

Lack of textbooks with new topics introduced in CBC is one of the major challenges we have in schools. There are no text books for the new

curriculum. Other challenges include shortage of ICT infrastructure, lack of e-learning resources as well as lack of technical knowledge on how to

effectively use software such as AutoCAD and ArchiCAD. Learners should be taught how to use

these software but we cannot because of the reasons I have highlighted (UT3).

UT2 had this to say: My challenge is that of lack of AutoCAD and ArchiCAD knowledge and skills that are required in

the teaching and learning of BTD. The other challenge is that of inadequate time allocation for

BTD on the teaching time table. At our station BTD is allocated five periods of thirty minutes each per week per class which translate to two periods for

theory lessons and three periods for practical lessons. This time is far less than the time prescribed by CBC of eight periods of thirty-five to forty

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minutes each per week per class which translate to

four periods for theory lessons and four periods for practical lessons. Thus, little time is given to BTD.

This shows that teachers were facing quite a number of challenges in trying to implement CBC in

BTD in secondary schools because the teaching time allocated to this learning area is far below the minimum standard required.

Support strategies to successfully implement CBC in BTD in Secondary Schools

On suggestions to be adopted for the successful implementation of CBC in BTD, the following

responses were given by participants. Rural learner 3 from focus group (RL3) suggested

that: If only our school can construct a shed for BTD practical lessons, learning this subject will be more

interesting. It will mean that we will not miss any practical lesson when it rains.

On a different note, RL1 had this suggestion:

We need adequate and relevant tools so that we can

successfully do our practical lessons. If we are to have tools for each learner and avoid sharing tools such as spirit levels and trowels, it means every

learner will have enough time to perfect his or her skills during practical lessons.

Urban learner 1 from focus group (UL1) and UL6 stated that:

The headmaster should buy more computers for the school, install AutoCAD and ArchiCAD software so that we can learn to draw using modern technology.

We are aware of the existence of such software but we have never seen anyone using them. We want to

learn about them. The school must facilitate that. UL5 made his suggestion when he said,

Its high time schools buy new curriculum text books for our subject. If it is the case that no publisher has produced one, the government should make sure

that these books are produced.

Rural teacher (RT) said: Extensive consultations should have been done from the onset and teachers as curriculum implementers

were supposed to be staff developed according to their area of specialisation before they could start teaching CBC

Rural School head (RSH) suggested that,

There should be two-way communication where feedback is given by the foot soldiers, viz-a-viz the teachers, when implementing CBC. Teachers should

be allowed to air their views and supervisors should desist from crafting threatening measures against subordinates. Remember there is a saying that goes,

‘anything for us without us is not for ours’. Teachers

should be the drivers of the programme and not merely implementers.

These findings show that teachers felt that the government did not help in preparing them to receive

and implement the CBC in BTD in secondary schools as clearly as recommended in the Curriculum Framework (2015-2022). The Ministry of Primary and

Secondary Education seem not work well with teachers on the implementation of this program.

On what support strategies to be adopted to successfully implement CBC in BTD in secondary schools the

following were responses from participants: RT commented:

There is need to revisit the syllabus and come up

with realistic content for ordinary level learners. What we see in the syllabus is work of some too ambitious individuals whom we doubt are classroom

practitioners. Some staff in the content of other topics is college material that cannot be covered

with the limited time available in school timetables.

UT1 suggested:

The government should employ more teachers so that the issue of abnormal class sizes is solved. Too many learners in one class will reduce teacher-

learners interaction times which subsequently affect the implementation of CBC in BTD. In addition,

these teachers need attractive remuneration that will motivate them to always go an extra mile when executing their duties.

UT2 expressed the view that:

Workshops on CBC implementation should be

organised at all levels for all learning areas. These workshops should be facilitated by people who are

specialist in that learning area. The workshops should be given adequate duration, they should not be too short. The is also need to have follow up

workshops at cluster, district and provincial levels to evaluate the process so that gaps can be identified and adjustments made.

Participants felt that for the implementation of CBC in BTD to be successful, teachers need to be staff

developed since there would be a number of changes in teaching styles and assessment tools.

DISCUSSIONS

The study sought to evaluate the implementation challenges of the competence based curriculum (CBC) in Building Technology and Design (BTD) in

Secondary schools in Kwekwe District of Zimbabwe. Results showed that teachers were not prepared to

receive changes in the curriculum. This is in contrast with literature which showed that teacher preparedness should be dealt with if the curriculum is to be

successfully implemented (Ngwenya, 2020).

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Some writers have also shown that curriculum

training and socialisation are the initial capital of successful implementation of the curriculum (Retnawati, Hadi & Nugraha, 2016). Teachers who took

part in the study were lowly qualified and incompetent to implement some aspects of the new curriculum. In

the literature review it was also noted that teacher training programs should change in tandem with the new curriculum for teachers to handle it successfully

(Paulo, 2014).Most teachers were trained when the old curriculum was in force, hence there was need to up skill these teachers through further training or staff

development workshops. The fact that Building Technology and Design teachers in the district were not

staff developed or acquired additional qualification such as Bachelor’s degree implied it was bound to fail. It was also noted that Building and Technology teachers could

not teach those aspects that to do with ICT such as Auto and AchiCAD because they had no knowledge on how to handle those areas.

Results also indicated that there was no teacher

support in terms of resource allocation to the new curriculum. Yet literature revealed that there is need to support teachers’ professional development, since

recent curriculum reforms call for teachers’ professional determination and judgment more than ever before (Altrichter, 2005). Altinyelken, (2010) explains how

major changes such as construction of new schools and classrooms, deployment and training of additional

numbers of teachers, and increases in the production and distribution of textbooks led to the successful implementation of the Universal Primary Education

(UPE) in the 1990s by Uganda. It also emerged that teachers need to be motivated so that they can wholeheartedly implement the competence based

curriculum in schools. This assertion is held by So and Kang (2014), that teaching as a profession in Korea

attracted many outstanding individuals due to the relatively elevated starting salaries and the profession’s high social status. The competition to become a

secondary school teacher in Seoul increased greatly which saw Korea maintaining its high quality education across its students. Yet this research showed that

teachers were demotivated to teach due to poor remuneration and high shortage of resources. Teachers

in both rural and urban schools felt that there were no text books for CBC in BTD, no e-learning resources as well as inadequate ICT infrastructure. Syomwene,

(2013) agrees that lack of resources and facilities certainly trigger additional obstacles in curriculum implementation. Literature showed that resources such

as learning materials, funding, human and supporting infrastructure needed to be in place for the smooth

implementation of this program (Zhawau and Shumba 2019:Esau & Mpofu, 2014: Woods, 2008). Altinyelken (2010) clearly pointed out that lack of adequate learning

materials limited the implementation of the thematic curriculum in Uganda. Without adequate learning

materials, CBC in BTD was difficult to be successfully

implemented. Results also revealed that teachers as curriculum

implementers were not strategically supported to receive and implement this CBC in BTD. Teachers

could not use Information Communication Technologies (ICT) to teach such areas as AutoCAD and AchiCAD yet workshops could empower these

teachers through short courses to master such skills in the district. Yet literature contends that through training, external agencies like government departments

can promote curriculum implementation through, standardisation and closer monitoring (Altrichter,

2005). Retnawati, Hadi & Nugraha (2016) recommend that effective training programmes that should cover the content of curriculum, the learning strategies and

assessment should involve all teachers who will participate in curriculum implementation. Important things that matter most for any successful instructional

innovation were not fully communicated to the teachers. This was against the assertion by Penuel, et.al. (2015)

who said that teacher professional development is very important when preparing teachers to participate in curriculum reform. Retnawati, Hadi & Nugraha (2016)

concur that curriculum training and socialisation are initial capital of successful implementation of the curriculum.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The study explored the implementation challenges

of the updated curriculum of the Building Technology and Design in Kwekwe district of Zimbabwe. The main challenges faced during the process was that: teachers

were lowly qualified because no one had a bachelor’s degree, hence were incompetent to implement the new

curriculum, inadequate resources such as lack of funding, unavailability of new curriculum BTD text books, inadequate infrastructure as well as poor

remuneration of teachers and large class sizes due to few BTD teachers manning the learning area. As recommendations, the study suggests that the Ministry

of Primary and Secondary Education should conduct workshops on areas such as AutoCAD and ArchiCAD

and encourage teachers to empower themselves through up skilling. Government through the Ministry of Primary and Education should source to funding on the

implementation process of the BTD in secondary schools in the district. More teachers to be employed to reduce large class sizes, working conditions for teachers

should also be improved by government. The government to spearhead the putting up of relevant

school infrastructure to enhance the proper implementation of the curriculum. Teaching time need to be looked at with a view to allocate adequate time to

the learning area per week.

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