Curriculum Design Practices of a Vocational Community College in a Developing Context: Challenges and Needs

Abstract

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Improving curriculum development practices in a technical vocational community college: examining effects of a professional development arrangement for middle managers

“…The three domains are as follows: 1 À the curriculum development domain, concerning the technical curriculum development tasks and activities that academic managers need to work on with others; 2 À the administrative domain, referring to the routine administrative tasks that keep the educational process running; and 3 À the leadership domain, concerning leadership roles and practices expected of academic managers if they are to perform effectively in the other two domains. Of these three domains, the curriculum development domain is the one least attended to by college middle management for several reasons, one of which is the lack of professional support (Albashiry et al, 2015;Nguyen, 2012;Stark et al, 2002;Wolverton, Ackerman, & Holt, 2005). The current study reports on the design and effects of a professional development arrangement (PDA) that focused on improving middle managers' learning about curriculum development, so that they could better lead the curriculum development tasks associated with the curriculum development domain.…”

“…A previous exploratory study (Albashiry et al, 2015) identified several college-wide sub-standard curriculum development practices jeopardising the college programmes' external consistency (i.e. relevance of the programmes to the external stakeholders' expectations) and internal consistency (i.e.…”

“…Principle 3: time span As these programmes and the follow-up activities demand extended time, senior management should provide middle managers with time release, both to attend the training sessions and later on to work on curriculum development tasks. Lack of time due to being busy with teaching and being involved in other work outside the TVET institution is a major barrier that prevents middle managers, in developing contexts, from participating in professional development programmes and/or exercising effective curriculum leadership in practice (Albashiry et al, 2015;Ottevanger et al, 2010).…”

“…It is usually the academic managers at the middle level of these institutions (e.g. academic departments) who are expected to play a critical role in maintaining and enhancing the quality and relevance of TVET programmes (Albashiry, Voogt, & Pieters, 2015;Boateng, 2012;Mazani, 2013). In practice, however, pre-and in-service professional development opportunities for TVET programme managers are reported to be scarce; as a consequence, Heads of Department (HoDs) in tertiary TVET institutions have been found to lack adequate competency in leading effective curriculum development practices, resulting in academic departments that do not have goals, and curricula that have not been reviewed for many years (Albashiry et al, 2015;Bakah et al, 2012;Gervedink Nijhuis et al, 2012;Mazani, 2013).…”

Professionalization of curriculum design practices in technical vocational colleges: curriculum leadership and collaboration

“…It is usually the academic managers at the middle level of these institutions (e.g., academic departments) who are expected to play a critical role in maintaining and enhancing the quality and relevance of TVET programs (Albashiry, Voogt, & Pieters, 2015;Boateng, 2012b;Mazani, 2013). In practice, however, pre-and in-service professional development opportunities for TVET program managers are reported to be scarce; as a consequence, Heads of Department (HoDs) in tertiary TVET institutions have been found to lack adequate competency in leading effective curriculum development practices, resulting in academic departments that do not have goals, and curricula that have not been reviewed for many years (Albashiry et al, 2015;Bakah et al, 2012a;Gervedink Nijhuis et al, 2012;Mazani, 2013).…”