Reflections on COVID-19 and the Viability of Curriculum Adjustment and Delivery Options in the South African Educational Space

Conference: The European Conference on Education (ECE2022)
Title: Reflections on COVID-19 and the Viability of Curriculum Adjustment and Delivery Options in the South African Educational Space
Stream: Curriculum Design & Development
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Authors:
Hosea Olayiwola Patrick, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Rhoda Titilopemi Inioluwa Abiolu, Durban University of Technology, South Africa
Oluremi Adenike Abiolu, Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria

Abstract:

The coronavirus pandemic brought unprecedented changes leading to `business unusual’ in all facets of livelihood on a global scale. The restrictions on gathering, social distancing and lockdown measures necessitated by the need to curtail its spread, had, and still have enormous impact on the educational sector as indeed all spheres of life. These measures implied a change in the traditional modus operandi of curriculum and delivery options for educational institutions in South Africa in the bid to continue academic sessions. Hence, a transition of educational institutions from physical interactions to virtual meetings and the need to evolve curriculum contents and delivery. With the peculiarity of the South African socioeconomic and political space, this paper assessed the viability of curriculum change and delivery options (e-teaching and learning) for both students and instructors in the higher institutions. It drew from discourses around the theory of localisation within educative context to create a more student-centred approach. The study adopted a participatory action desktop research method to discuss how institutions transitioned to a localisation of frameworks and policies to ensure successful academic sessions. The conclusion enumerated the need for the implementation of policies and frameworks on proper utilisation of online systems to adjust to the demands of less contact-based approaches in favour of virtual approaches. The study called for adequate consideration to issues around the teaching and learning localisation techniques considering the peculiarities of South Africa with focus on the opportunities, feasibility, and challenges of online measures especially for those in economically disadvantaged spaces.

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