Tyler and Taba Objective models in Multicultural societies like Botswana

The good and bad sides

Relevance

To implement the curriculum:• establish what educational purposes should the school seek to attain? This

will include identification of key concepts such as ethnic diversity, immigration and assimilation around which teachers will organize the curriculum.• Formulate teaching strategies and activities to teach the concepts and

generalizations. Strategies and activities should be culturally pluralistic to accommodate all learners.• Learning objectives are the centrality of both the Tyler and Taba models

(Mosothwane, 2013). These objectives leads to the attainment of broad national ideals like being moral and tolerant of multiple cultures in Botswana.

• Mosothwane, M. (2013). The Dynamics of Curriculum Reforms in Botswana with Special Reference to Science Education. International Journal of Scientific Research in Education. Vol. 6(4), p.331-351. http://www.ijsre.com. Accessed 7/3/2014

Cont…

• The two models highlights the imperativeness of evaluating the curriculum at some point. This implies that emerging and controversial issues can be incorporated as per the needs of learners and society e.g. Gays and lesbians.• Teachers as facilitators of learning are involved in curriculum design

and implementation to bring onboard their culturally diverse backgrounds when developing curriculum materials such as, textbooks, teachers guides, supplementary readers and workbooks.

Flaws of the Tyler and Taba models in multicultural societies

Good and relevant as they are, these models have unfortunately;• Led all public primary and secondary schools to follow the same school

curriculum, calendar, lesson planning, classroom teaching timetable, admission guideline and language as medium of instruction (Molefe et al (2005) in Pansiri (2011) in total disregard of the fact that Botswana is a multicultural society e.g. Some ethnic groups may share a common language, but have different histories, traditions., food, value systems…(Nyati-Ramahobo, 2000).• Some curriculum objectives can’t easily be tested through CRT e.g

CAPA,HE,Agriculture. Thus, overlooking the practical and multiple skills of learners.

What makes the Taba & Tyler models to fail in BW• Although they emphasis evaluation of the curriculum to include issues

as and when they arise, our curriculum is evaluated after a long period of time when issues are no longer controversial and thought-provoking to a multicultural Botswana society e.g. Satanism.• Botswana has a national curricula mandated by the Ministry of

Education to be taught in all schools. Although teachers are free to choose modes of teaching, the curricula have prescribed content and forms of assessment which limits flexibility for decision-making by schools or teachers, thus overlooking the linguistic and cultural diversity of the learners. (Molosiwa, 2009)

• Molosiwa, A.A. (2009).Monocultural Education in a Multicultural Society: The case of Teacher Preparation in Botswana. International Journal of Multicultural Education. Vol. 11(2). p. 6-13

Way forward…Approaches to Multicultural Curriculum Reform • Contributions Approach: selecting books and activities that celebrate

holidays, heroes, and special events from various cultures. Teachers at this stage “celebrate” difference by integrating information or resources about famous people and the cultural artifacts of various groups into the mainstream curriculum.• Additive Approach: the content, concepts, themes and perspectives

are added to the curriculum without changing its basic structure e.g. incorporating literature by and about people from diverse cultures into the mainstream curriculum.

• Transformation Approach: the nature of the curriculum is actually changed so that the students can view events and issues from global perspective (Sadker & Sadker, 2002 in Ojebiyi & Salako, 2011). All subjects must be taught from diverse perspective, voices of all students in the classroom must be included.• Social Action: combines the transformation approach with activities to

strive for social change. At this level, students are encouraged to make decisions and take actions related to the concepts, issues or problems they have studied. (Ojebiyi & Salako, 2011)

OJEBIYI,O.A. & SALAKO, E.T. (2011). TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES FROM MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVES: A PRACTICAL APPROACH FOR SOCIETAL CHANGE IN NIGERIA .The Journal of International Social Research. Vol: 4(16). p.314-322

Indigenous Views

• There’s need for Affirmative Action i.e. taking positive steps to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded to correct the effects of past and current discrimination. (Jeremiah,2008)

• Affirmative action suggested above could be the teaching of learners in their mother tongue and curriculum materials written in the child’s mother language in recognition of Botswana’s multicultural society. (Nyathi-Ramahobo, 1996, Polelo, 2006 and Tshireletso, 2007) in Pansiri (2011)

• Botswana to become a typical shining example of democracy in Africa (as often labeled), it should revisit its philosophical policy of Education for Kagisano with a view to promote multiculturalism, pluralism and diversity in both education policy and pedagogical practices.(Jotia & Pansiri,2013:p101)

• There is need for teachers and administrators to attend to issues such as content integration, the knowledge construction process, prejudice reduction, equity pedagogy, and an empowering school culture. (Banks & Banks, 2006; Polelo, 2003; Cochran-Smith, 2003 in Molosiwa, 2009)

• Pansiri, O.N. (2011). Silent Exclusion: The Unheard Voices in Remote Areas of Botswana. International Journal of Educational Science. Vol 3(2). p 109-118

• Jotia, A.L & Pansiri, O.N. (2013)MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION: THE MISSING LINK IN BOTSWANA EDUCATION POLICY. European Journal of Educational Studies . Vol: 5(1) p.101-110

• Jeremiah, K.(2008). The Use of Setswana as a Medium of Instruction, A Core Subject and a National Language: Is It Not a Negation of Affirmative Action? A Study of Botswana Linguistic Situation. Vol: 8(11) p. 398-415