Examining the challenges experienced by teachers with the implementation of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in Grade 10 Physical Sciences in an education district in the Eastern Cape Province

Abstract

Recently Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) were introduced in South Africa in response to confusion precipitated by previous curriculum documents. The purpose of this study is to uncover the challenges faced by teachers concerning the implementation of Grade 10 Physical science in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement and consider the nature of the transformation from the previous curriculum by examining curriculum documents and CAPS. This study is underpinned by curriculum changes and critical theory. I conducted my research study in the district of Butterworth in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa .I used qualitative and quantitative methods. The research instruments used are questionnaire and interview schedule. The research design involved fifty teachers and four school teachers for interview. The significance of this study is to ensure that all South African teachers have the necessary knowledge, values, skills and attitudes in order to understand the implementation of CAPS. The study provides a general overview on the benefit of CAPS, in Physical Science, the nature of the CAPS scheme in line with the attainment of educational assessment domains, tools and techniques used to assess educational domains, validity and reliability issues in physical science assessment, and challenges faced in the implementation process of CAPS. More specifically, an effort is made to shed some light on the challenges faced at the end of the study. Resource inputs to improve educational quality may first require some other conditions for quality education to be met, such as curriculum alignment