International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue I, January 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Curriculum Implementation in Zambia: Best Practices of Bridging the Gap Between the Intended and the Achieved School Curriculum

Robert Changwe¹ & Christine Mwanza²
The University of Zambia, School of Education, Department of Language and Social Sciences Education, P. O Box 32379, Lusaka, ZAMBIA
Corresponding Author’s

Abstract
Curriculum implementation is part and parcel of the curriculum development process. When curriculum developers intend to develop a curriculum, they are expected to put in place ways and means of having it implemented. Once this is ignored, all the good efforts and aspirations of curriculum developers as well as of the general public risk being wasted and misrepresented. Therefore, a very good curriculum is worthless if it cannot bring about the results of what it was intended for. Based on studies that have been done both locally and internationally, the authors of this paper attempted to give an analysis of barriers that may render a well-developed curriculum useless if appropriate remedies or simply best practices of bridging the gap between the intended and achieved curriculum are neglected in the education system of the country. Due to several impediments to the effective implementation of the school curriculum, it was recommended that the Zambian government needed to put in place best practices that would improve the quality of Zambian education by providing adequate funding to the education sector and this will in turn lead to the country’s economic development. There was also a need for the Ministry of General Education to consider improving; the quality and quantity of the teaching staff, availability of school facilities and equipment as well as ensuring that time is appropriately managed for the good management of the curriculum.

Keywords: Curriculum impediments, curriculum development, curriculum implementation, intended curriculum, achieved curriculum.

Introduction

Matters of curriculum cuts across all areas wherever education issues are being discussed. It is impossible to talk about education without referring to curriculum issues, after all, it is a curriculum that brings about the achievement of all educational goals. It could be because of these grounds that Mulenga (2018) considered curriculum as a central business of every educational institution. Despite having several definitions of the concept curriculum in literature, Tanner and Tanner (1980: 25) defined curriculum as;
the planned and guided learning experiences and intended learning outcomes, formulated through the systematic reconstruction of knowledge and experience, under the auspices of the school, for the learner’s continuous and willful growth in personal-social competence.