Abstract
Curriculum development is a dynamic and consultative process that includes different stages such as planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating. This is also the case with the curriculum development process in Namibia wherein, different stakeholders who collaborate to develop and review the national curriculum under the guidance of the National Institute for Educational Development. The process of curriculum development generally involves a variety of stakeholders such as curriculum specialists, parents and/or guardians, the corporate world, academic institutions, and teachers. Available evidence suggests that in many developing countries teachers are not fully engaged during curriculum development process even though these teachers are the most critical stakeholders owing to the fact that they are the ones who interact with the educational content as well as the students every day. The study therefore sought to find out if Namibian teachers participate in developing the curriculum against this stated evidence from other countries. For this study, a qualitative research method was employed. To facilitate the data collection process, eleven secondary school teachers were interviewed while six curriculum specialists completed questionnaires at the body, NIED. Furthermore, literature review on related topics was conducted through document mapping and analysis. The empirical data from the questionnaires and interviews was then analysed alongside the reviewed literature. The study was guided by Sherry Arnstein’s model of ‘ladder of citizen participation’ and Miranda Fricker’s concept of ‘Epistemic Injustices. These were then used for interpreting and understanding the questions of exclusion, power-relations, inequalities, and injustices embedded within curriculum development processes in Namibia. The findings in this study revealed that while evidence suggest that teachers should have a crucial role in developing the curriculum and that they need to totally participate at all levels of this process, in Namibia however, these teachers are not fully involved in these processes particularly during the initial, and the post implementation stages. The study also revealed that teachers mostly participate in implementing the curriculum as they actualise the curriculum plans into practice within the classrooms. The study concluded that teacher participation during
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curriculum development projects is instrumental since teachers are the custodians of the curriculum and they know their students and the learning context. It also concluded that curriculum development in Namibia just like in any country is marred by issues of power-relations, politics and flexing of authority.