A Curriculum of Inclusivity: Towards a “Lived-Body” and “Lived-Experience” Curriculum in South Africa

Abstract

Drawing on Merleau-Ponty's "lived body" theory, we argue for a shift towards a lived-experience and body-specific curriculum in South Africa. Such a curriculum would view learning as a lived, embodied, social and culturally contextualised field. Its central aim would be to draw the learner into a plane of consciousness conducive to being awakened to the act of learning through an attitude of full attention. We specifically use the term "body-specific" to imply, as opposed to a one-size-fits-all curriculum model, one in which lived experience and the "body" form the conceptual basis on which the curriculum is built. Consequently, we reject the orthodox cognitive conception of the curriculum which views learning as a mental exercise oriented towards the acquisition of pre-designed knowledge that is "outer fixed" and "inner constructed". In contrast, we propose that learning should be outwardly constructed through lived experience and inwardly fixed (embodied) as knowledge develops against the pre-noetic background of the lived world. Underpinning this is the essentially Merleau-Pontian notion that the knowledge we hold originates from (i) our relationships with this world that are embodied in experience, and (ii) our engagements within society and culture. The "inner" and "outer" shift in learning infers a switch from pure, disciplinary, homogeneous, expert-led, supplydriven, hierarchical, peer-reviewed and almost exclusively university-based learning to experiencebased, applied, problem-centred, trans-disciplinary, heterogeneous, hybrid, demand-driven learning. In such a curriculum, the role of the teacher would be to focus on how the world arranges itself around the learner and to guide learners to see how the world reveals itself to them through their personal lived experience.

Teachers’ experiences of teaching Accounting in the context of curriculum changes in South Africa

“…Curriculum changes were necessary to foster the skills needed for a democratic society and the globalised world. 1,2 The changes that were reflected in Accounting as a school subject were intended to better align it with the international Accounting standards in the Accounting profession. 3,4 As such, it altered the misconception teachers and learners had whereby they regard Accounting accounting as a routine subject that is only centred on the process of bookkeeping and recording of transactions.…”

“…This failure may lead to unsuccessful implementation of curriculum reforms by the teachers, which is then attributed to their poor conceptual understanding of reforms in their specific subjects. 1,11,12,13 Whilst teachers do undergo training to keep abreast of new developments in education, the extent to which training prepares them is questionable. This is particularly the case in Accounting where teachers were expected to change to a conceptual approach in teaching of content knowledge.…”

“…This is particularly the case in Accounting where teachers were expected to change to a conceptual approach in teaching of content knowledge. With research indicating teachers' difficulties in implementing the curriculum changes 1,10,14,15 and students' high Accounting as a subject is plagued by persistent changes because of shifts in the discipline originating from the developments in the profession. This study focuses on teachers' experiences of teaching Accounting as a subject during the time of curriculum change.…”