 CURRICULUM UNDERSTANDING

• The finding on the pre-school teacher’s

knowledge in the curriculum was revealed in
the study of Reid, Stoolmiller and Webster-
Stratoon (2008) that teaching knowledge and
experience in the early curriculum is
problematic in the quest of implementing the
early childhood education. 2
  CURRICULUM FIDELITY

• defined as “the extent to which teachers

implement an intervention, curriculum,
innovation, or program as intended by the
developers” (Pence, Justice, & Wiggins,
2008, p. 332).
3
  CURRICULUM FIDELITY

• A second important reason for studying

curriculum fidelity is that it often helps to
explain why innovations succeed and
fail.

4
  CURRICULUM FIDELITY

• A second important reason for studying

curriculum fidelity is that it often helps to
explain why innovations succeed and
fail.

5
  CURRICULUM FIDELITY

• Third, an assessment of curriculum fidelity

allows researchers to identify what has
been changed in a program and how
changes impact outcomes.

6
  CURRICULUM FIDELITY

• Finally, curriculum fidelity reveals

important information about the
feasibility of an implementation.

7
  TEACHER TRAININGS

• Teachers’ pre-service education also affects their

successful curriculum implementation and
fidelity. Therefore, pre-service teacher education
should include courses and practice on how to
implement curriculum, and to what extent and
how to make adaptations according to school,
region, class, and student characteristics. (Bumen,
Cakar, Yildiz, 2014). 8
  TEACHER TRAININGS

• In-service education is necessary and

appropriate when people need special training to
correct deficits in their skills. It takes place
anytime, either as full time or part time, during
the professional life of a teacher (Namunga and
Otunga, 2012).
9
  TEACHER TRAININGS

• Hugh (1982) further maintains that when

teachers are afforded this opportunity, they
are in-serviced and the extent of such in-
servicing varying greatly from one day, one
evening, one weekend to longer residential
courses depending on the availability of
resources such as money and manpower. 10
  SPILLS

• Full implementation of the curriculum

demands that the teacher must be trained
to experiment and manipulate the
curriculum since by implication, the
teacher is the most important part of the
curriculum. (Yusuf, 2014). 11
  TEACHER TRAININGS

• Adequate training of educators in lesson

planning is imperative to equip them with
planning skills for successful
implementation (Molapo, Pillay, 2018)

12
  TEACHER TRAININGS

• Daresh and Playko (1995) give useful guidelines

about in-service education.

2. Teachers need regular in-service opportunities

within the educational system to enhance their
teaching methodology.
13
  TEACHER TRAININGS

• Daresh and Playko (1995) give useful guidelines

about in-service education.

3. Because teacher in-service training programs

must reach their intended audience, they should
be accessibly scheduled for teachers who are
curriculum implementers. 14
  TEACHER TRAININGS

• Daresh and Playko (1995) give useful guidelines

about in-service education.

4. Teachers should receive their first professional

support from the head teachers of their
respective schools and from the personnel who
support the teachers through supervisory visits. 15
  TEACHER TRAININGS

• Daresh and Playko (1995) give useful guidelines

about in-service education.

5. As well as organizing refresher courses,

especially when new curriculum innovations are
being introduced.
16
  SPILLS

• In this context, when curriculum changes are

undertaken in Turkey, professional development
activities should be organized flexibly in accordance
with local, regional and institutional needs, they
should be planned so as to be practice weighted (Bümen,
2005), and the understanding of continuous
professional development should be adopted.
(Bumen, Cakar, Yildiz, 2014). 17
  TEACHER TRAININGS

• Hugh (1982) argues that implementation of

curriculum change and the continuation of
the new approaches in schools depend not only
on the retraining of teachers but also on
knowledge, skills and attitudes fostered during
initial training of teachers.
18
  SPILLS

• The majority of these untrained teachers are

not effective implementers of the new Business
Studies curriculum. Their lack of preparedness,
their attitude and morale impact negatively on
the implementation of the Business Studies
curriculum at the secondary school level in
Kenya. (Jerotich, Kurgat, Kimutai, 2017) 19
  PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• People have different learning styles and

learning curves; some can develop new skills
quickly while others require more time and
practice. (Mihalic et al. 2008).

20
  PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Some lose motivation over time and may need

professional development to rekindle
enthusiasm. Others may simply not care about
implementing the program and may need
stronger incentives to carry out the program, or
they may need to be replaced. (Mihalic et al. 2008).
21
  SPILLS

• Once the teachers are defending the ideology of

the curriculum being implemented, then the
performance of the pre-school teachers in the real
classroom setting is affected positively during
implementation (Ntumi, 2016).

22
  TEACHER FACTORS

• Teachers’ decisions about teaching and their

practices are influenced by their perceptions of
program design (Fullan, 2007; Herron, 1971).

23
  SPILLS
• The last factor which affects curriculum fidelity in
Turkey is student characteristics. Some studies carried
out in Turkey (i.e. Kaya et al., 2012; E. Öztürk, 2003; İ.
H. Öztürk, 2012) have shown that if students’ levels of
achievement are high, teachers implement the
curriculum as it was planned, whereas if level of
achievement is low, only some or sometimes none of
the concepts included in the curriculum are covered by
teachers.
24
  ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT AND
SCHOOL CLIMATE

• School culture, opportunities and support provided by

directors, effective leadership, staff morale, how effective
the institution is at problem solving, and the degree of
readiness for implementing the new program are some of
the features determining curriculum fidelity at the
institutional level. (Bumen, Cakar, Yildiz, 2014)

25
  SPILLS

• This is because implementation often varies over time:

sometimes quality drops and other times it increases.

• Such a drop may also signal a need to re-examine whether

commitment, support and enthusiasm still exist for the
new program, and what steps might be taken to rekindle the
initial interest and support of the organization and its staff.
(Durlak, 2013) 26
  MATERIALS, FUNDING, AND
FACILITIES

• Moreover, some school types (e.g mobile education or

multi-grade classes) are known as institutions where
the inequality of opportunities stands out. This
situation was brilliantly critiqued by a young teacher in
an award-winning 2008 documentary titled (Aktaş
Salman, 2010) (On the Way to School)

27
  SPILLS

• Researchers have observed no stimulating learning

environment for some junior secondary schools in
Kaduna metropolis. Students learn under trees in some
schools, while in others, classes are without some basic
and sufficient learning facilities such as chairs, desks,
chalkboards (Yusuf, 2014)

28
  MATERIALS, FUNDING, AND
FACILITIES

• The availability and quality of resource material

and the availability of appropriate facilities
have a great influence on curriculum
implementation (Ntumi, 2016).

29
  MATERIALS, FUNDING, AND
FACILITIES

• Respondents claimed that teaching cannot

take place if the Department did not supply
enough textbooks for learners. (Molapo,
Pillay, 2018)

30
  TEACHER FACTORS

• Teachers’ characteristics are considered to

affect curriculum fidelity. Bumen, Cakar, Yildiz
(2014) stated that involvement of teachers in
planning and decision processes in the
introduction of new curricula can facilitate
fidelity of implementation or adaptations.
31
 6. TEACHER FACTORS

• Kern, Kruse and Roehring (2007) also maintains

the ideas that teachers’ perception about
teaching and learning are strongly influencing
the implementation of early childhood
curriculum.

32