Running Heading: CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION IN SCHOOLS 1

Curriculum Implementation in Schools

Report on a School Visit
Criselda Chub, Lourdes Jacobs, Anna Ku
THE UNIVERSITY OF BELIZE
Dr. Pricilla Brown
Date: 30th of October, 2019
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Information of the Interviewee

Name of Interviewee: Mr. Dave Forman

Position: Director
School: Claver College Extension
School Contact Information: Main Street
Punta Gorda Town
Toledo
Telephone Contact: (501) 606-3079
Email: clavercollege@gmail.com
Date of Interview: October 25th, 2019
Duration/ time of interview: 1:30-1:50pm (20 minutes)
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Interview Guide Report

The importance of knowing the implementation of a curriculum in institutions plays a vital role

for each educator’s life. We, teachers, need to become fully aware of the learning necessities our

children seek in order to become successful leaders of this nation. As outlined by Alvior, “A

curriculum development has a broad scope because it does not only include the school, learners

and teachers. It is also about the development of a society” (Alvior, 2014). With this said, we

took an opportunity to learn more about a Belizean Secondary Level curriculum through a

consultation. On October 25th of 2019, we, Criselda Chub, Anna Ku and Lourdes Jacobs, had the

privilege to interview Mr. Dave Forman, director of Claver College Extension in Punta Gorda

Town, Toledo. Our interview was based on the role of curriculum found in Belize and their

educational settings. Successfully, we managed to attain proper and educational answers to our

questions that were formatted based on our Introduction to Curriculum Development online

course. Our questions focused on the implementation, types, effectiveness and the effects of a

curriculum change in a secondary school setting.

As we focus on the questions, we can see at how well the director knows the importance of a

curriculum in an educational setting. The first questions asked where based on the importance of

an effective school curriculum. We looked at why are schools required to follow an effective

curriculum as well as the importance it is for teachers in understanding the function in having

and using an effective school curriculum. Our interviewee’s answers reflected the true

importance of having an effective curriculum. He believe that the school definitely does need an

effective school curriculum as it is one of the driving forces that provides guidance and structure

for a learning institution. He explained that the importance in having the administrators and

teachers know the curriculum is by sharing and learning the idealistic philosophy and importance
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of it. And once they have attained knowledge, teachers should take the planned curriculum and

implement it throughout their teaching.

As we moved on into the second section of the interview, we focused on the types of curriculum

and its usage. We asked what where the type/types of curriculum used in their educational

system as well as how successful the implementation has been for the success of the students.

Mr. Forman explained that the type of curriculum was similar to any regular high school

institution of the country. First years includes Math, English, Spanish, Computer, Integrated

Science, Social Studies and Life Skills. Second year includes Math, English, Spanish, Computer,

Integrated Science, Social Studies and Principles of Business. Third and Fourth year focused on

Math, English, Spanish, Computer, Social Studies, Principles of Business and Human & Social

Biology. He explained that the only difference was that due to time constraints, the school only

has certain amount of subjects that are offered. He also explained that the curriculum used at the

school is aligned with the CXC syllabus and the standardized examination at the end of the year.

As stated by Mr. Forman, “The institution does comparative studies and also use the CXC and

ATLIB results to identify if the school is up to par and to see if the goals of the school have been

met. Nevertheless, the school also looks on how the students integrate themselves into society.

The strongest point of the school’s curriculum is to have students graduating and be employed

hence contributing back to the society.”

Part three focused on the effectiveness of the school curriculum. The questions we asked were if

the school curriculum promoted effective teaching and learning processes, the types of strategies

that are implemented in order to measure the efficiency of the school’s curriculum and if it

provided effective strategies for students with disabilities. Mr. Forman stated that beside the

analytical and statistical studies derived from the data of summative assessments, the school
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measured its efficiency by dialoguing with recent graduates who are employed. As for the

question on strategies used for students with disabilities, Mr. Forman stated, “Presently, the

school has never receive an applicant who is categorized as being disable.”

The following set of questions, were based on the challenges of a curriculum. The questions that

were asked are: “What has been some major challenges that your school has faced with the

written curriculum?”, and “What challenges have teachers found on the implementation of the

curriculum into their teaching lessons?” Mr. Forman’s answers reflected on the interaction

between the teachers and students where they find it difficult to cover the curriculum and

syllabus on time. He stated that the time of classes which is from Monday to Friday from 5:30 to

9pm does not allow enough time to cover all subjects. Classes only run for 40 minutes per night

which it is not enough time to get much done, hence this is the reason they have implemented

online courses in order to complete the task. He also stated that the challenges teachers face is

not being able to complete their syllabus as well as getting the SBA’s in promptly. They strive

for students to take full responsibility of their work for example completing given projects and

assignments.

Lastly, we asked on the curriculum changes. We looked at what was the director’s role on the

implementation of a new and changed curriculum as well as how a changed curriculum can

influence a better academic outcome for the educational setting. Mr Forman explained that in the

past, the Ministry sponsored a series of high school curriculum writing workshops where he

played a part of the curriculum implementation team. As a result, he contributed in the changes

of the Math lower division curriculum which included the standards that are used for the upper

division. He clarified that these standards are applicable to all secondary institutions whereas we

can find teachers using and implementing them. He also explained that this change has improved
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the result of the exams since it is a CXC driven curriculum. In his words, “we have tried to use

other ways to evaluate how the curriculum works instead of rating it by the scores of the

standardized exams. There have been academic improvements and also non-cognitive factor such

as building confidence level have increased in students over the years.”

In conclusion, we can see that Mr. Forman’s understanding on the importance of a curriculum

demonstrates coherence and clarity. Although Mr. Forman is a director of an extension college,

we can see that he demonstrates his concern in implementing the curriculum fully into his night

division courses. As we know, there are many meanings for the word “curriculum”, but

according to the Education Reform, “Curriculum refers to the knowledge and skills students are

expected to learn, which includes the learning standards or learning objectives they are expected

to meet” (Education Reform, 2015), and through this interview we have learned how important it

is to have it implemented in the education of our children. Throughout the interview, we also

learned that the Belizean curriculum reflects similarities to the CXC-based curriculum as it is

used in order to attain excellence student achievement on both standardized and CSEC

examinations. As expressed by Mr. Forman, curriculum indeed is a driving force for institutions

as it provides direction for the betterment of our students’ academic success. He highlighted that

the Belizean curriculum for secondary institutions allows students to build their portfolio in

attaining employment, and this reflected back on March 14, 2017 when the CEO of the Ministry

of Education, Deborah Domingo elaborated on the curriculum change for the secondary level. As

stated in her own words, “The Ministry of Education has embarked on an effort to rationalize

and diversify the curriculum at the high school level. So one of the first things we have done is to

pull our stakeholders together to have us develop a profile of who the high school graduate for

Belize should be, what attributes should they have. Having done that we have looked at, well
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how best do we deliver this through the curriculum" (Channel 7 Belize, 2014). In other words,

we can see that our students’ academic and social achievements are the main focus in the

implementation and change of our national curriculum in Belize.

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Reference:

Alvior M.G (2014, December). The Meaning and Importance of Curriculum Development.
Retrieved from: https://simplyeducate.me/2014/12/13/the-meaning-and-importance-of-
curriculum-development/

Forman, D. (2019, October 25). Curriculum Interview Analysis. Personal Interview with C.
Chub.

The Glossary of Education Reform (2015, August). Curriculum.

Retrieved from: https://www.edglossary.org/curriculum/

7NewsBelize (2017, March). Coming up with a Relevant Curriculum.

Retrieved from: http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=39667
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Appendix:
Interview Questions:
1) Importance of effective school curriculum:

a) Why does the school need to follow an effective curriculum?

b) How important is it for the school administrators and staff to understand the function

in having and using an effective school curriculum?

2) Questions relevant to type of curriculum used is evident:

a) What type/types of curriculum can be found in the school’s educational setting?

b) How do these types of curriculum help in the academic success of your students?

3) Questions on effectiveness of the school curriculum is evident:

a) Does your school curriculum promote effective teaching and learning processes? If

so, how?

b) What strategies have you implemented in order to measure the efficiency of the

school’s curriculum?

c) Does your curriculum provide effective strategies for children with disabilities?

4) Questions focusing on curriculum challenges is evident:

a) What has been some major challenges that your school has faced with the written

curriculum?

b) What challenges have teachers found on the implementation of the curriculum into

their teaching lessons?

5) Questions focusing on curriculum change:

a) What is your role in the implementation of a new and changed curriculum?

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b) How does a changed curriculum influence a better academic outcome for your

school’s educational setting?