Curriculum Development and Renewal

 Over the years I have designed and taught eleven different modules across four universities. These have included six undergraduate and five postgraduate courses. I am now however responsible for two undergraduate and two post-graduate course that I will continue to teach on a regular basis: the first year course on Introduction to Political Studies (POL 131) and the second year course on Comparative Politics (POL231); a post-graduate course, with Honours and Masters students on South African Politics (POL 719 and 819) and research methods courses for Honours students (POL 711) and a separate course for Master's students (POL 811). 

I believe thoughtful curriculum development and on-going curriculum renewal is a central part of teaching any political studies course. I approach all my course with the intention of laying a good theoretical framework which can then be applied, in lectures, tutorial and through assignments to contemporary political events. Politics is an ever changing discipline. The theory evolves, but so to, on a day-to-day basis does the practical application of theory. I strongly encourage students to keep up to date with the news. 

To ensure my curriculum is contemporary, authentic and contextually responsive I think carefully about what case study material to include in a course. Comparative Politics, for example focuses on themes such as the nature of a state, regime types, electoral systems, public participation etc. I teach the theory behind these concepts but it is important for students to apply them, comparatively, to country studies. To increase student’s engagement with the material and to draw on existing knowledge them may already have, I decided to choose a range of regime types close to home. Thus the course looks at South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland and Zimbabwe in comparative perspective. There is ongoing significant political development in each of these countries and students are able to apply theory to current situations. They are also able to, hopefully, talk to people who are historically from, or currently live in the countries, keeping the material authentic and engaging. 

Decolonizing the Curriculum

One of the key issues that should occupy any academic in a teaching environment is how to 'decolonize' what we teach and how students learn in contemporary South Africa. Decolonisation is a complex term and one I have written about in my own research (Anciano 2018). I follow Mbembe's (2015) view that  'decolonization' is a project of ’re-centring':

It is about rejecting the assumption that the modern West is the central root of Africa’s consciousness and cultural heritage. It is about rejecting the notion that Africa is merely an extension of the West. Decolonizing (à la Ngugi) is not about closing the door to European or other traditions. It is about defining clearly, what the centre is.

Reframing the centre in teaching and learning, I feel, is about putting students real live contexts at the heat of what they learn. Politics is an emotion laden topic and facilitating a learning journey on this subject has to be done with sensitivity to a student's context and history. Thus imposing a Western normative model and applying this to Euro-American contexts is not helpful in any learning journey – it may in fact simply alienate a student from the very subject you want them to love. I approach this challenge by using examples from African contexts in which students can think through general political science concepts. For example, in 1st year I teach the theory of 'power' using a clear and relatively simple model from a Western academic, Galbraith (1984). Galbraith outlines three instruments of power (condign, compensatory and conditioned) and three sources of power (personality, property/wealth and organisation). The students' learning journey is taken forward and arguably decolonised when they have to apply these categories of power to contemporary South African settings. Students have assessments that have over the years asked a range of questions, including, for example: ‘Who has more power to influence the legislature regarding paying for the upgrades to Nkandla: the Public Protector or the President?’; 'Critically analyse how different actors use power in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in parliament' and 'Critically analyse how different actors use power to influence the policy and implementation of affirmative'. This approach to teaching and learning follows Matthews (2018) view that to decolonise university curricula we need to be open to 'the possibility of the emancipatory reappropriation of aspects of the colonial library'.  Indeed, Mbembe buttresses this view when he cites Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Decolonizing the Mind, 1981) saying that:

With Africa at the centre of things, not existing as an appendix or a satellite of other countries and literatures, things must be seen from the African perspective. All other things are to be considered in their relevance to our situation and their contribution towards understanding ourselves. In suggesting this we are not rejecting other streams, especially the western stream. We are only clearly mapping out the directions and perspectives the study of culture and literature will inevitably take in an African university (Mbembe 2015:17)

 This approach to 'centering' Africa in teaching and learning can, I believe, be extended to all aspect of undergraduate and post-graduate learning if teachers are open to encouraging students to engage robustly with the environment in which they live. In post-graduate studies I have applied this philosophy to teaching Honours' research methods by arranging site visits to local communities in the first few weeks of the year. After vising Salt River and Khayelitsha students need to reflect on what they have observed and how their observations can be framed as research problems with associated research questions. This centres Africa, and its communities, at the heart of their studies; it decolonises theory by forcing the 'colonial library' to adapt and be relevant to South African contexts. It must be noted, however, that there is no 'quick fix' to dealing with entrenched historical and cultural legacies. We as teachers have to continuously reflect on how and what we teach and provide proactive ways of dealing with systemically biased views of knowledge production and transmission. 

Assessment

 Assessment is, in my view, and essential part of the course outline. It is tempting to design a course focusing on the content you want to teach and then, as an afterthought, add on several tasks for students to do that will provide you with the required marks; indeed this is the approach I used in my first few courses. Now, however, I recognize that assessments play many significant roles: they are integral to guiding the student. In the wealth of information facing a student, they guide students to making decisions on what to focus on. Ramsden cited in Butcher et al (2006) asserts “assessment defines students’ curriculum for them, and dictates what they will spend their time on and how they will organise their studies”. Assessments help structure the student’s thinking about what to learn, but more importantly they play a role in how students learn. 

 Assessments should be used to develop critical thinking skills, in line with UWC’s graduate attributes. I have discussed how I do this in first year above (and see Appendix C). In all of my second year assessments, I require students to apply their own mind to understanding and critically evaluating a concept as it applies in a specific concept. I am not interested in a student’s ability to memorize facts. I am interested in how they understand, evaluate and critically engage with any information. In my view these are the skills they will need for the workplace. It is unlikely they will need to know the specific details on how the electoral system in Swaziland works, compared to that of Zimbabwe, but they will need to be able to form a view on which is more likely to generate democratic outcomes and why. Any factual information needed to back up an argument is easily found through reputable sites on the internet, in contrast to the days when I was a student.

I thus tend to set assessment questions that require the students to do their own thinking. They cannot find a model answer anywhere and have to apply theory to context with their own analysis. In POL231 an example tutorial question would be: ‘Would you describe Zimbabwe as an illiberal/hybrid regime? Why or why not? Drawing from O’Neil (2010) what form(s) of political control do you think operate in Zimbabwe?’ It is clear however that not all students will be able to successfully answer a complex question without some guidance. Thus I also believe in teaching to proximal zones of development. 

I attempt to apply ZPD in several ways. First I set as many assignments as is feasible for students to complete and for myself and tutors to mark in the weeks allocated. I prefer to set five to seven assignments over 14 weeks (many of a different nature) instead of one or two as this I feel allows and facilitates the growth of students. They have to practice different analytical skills over time, hopefully honing these as they progress. In the post-graduate course students have to write five essays, each one becoming progressively more challenging. For the majority of students it compels them to read widely, rather than pick and choose areas of interested, but more importantly it gets them into the practice of writing, consistently over a long period of time. In the first semester of first year, a course I will teach in 2016, we deliberately scaffold our assignments to allow students to gradually build their skills. They will start with a note-taking assignment, followed by a summary of an article and then only write a short essay. It is not feasible with hundreds of students to teach to each one’s PZD, however, my thinking is that a wide range of assignments that scaffold up in difficulty will allow some to be stretched, while ensuring others don’t fall behind. 

I also apply ZPD by providing, for some essay questions, a set of guiding sub questions. For example the question may ask: ‘Are legislatures influenced by the executive branch of government, and if so, what effect does this have on the role they play?’ I will then provide sub points to guide students, such as: ‘Choose two case studies (Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland and/or Zimbabwe)’; ‘Discuss the extent to which you think the legislatures in each country are influenced by executive power’; ‘Does this affect their ability to fulfil their core roles?’ Those students who need further guidance can use the sub points, while other students can apply their own analysis and framework. Importantly, for any major essay question, and in exams (which require essays or long paragraph answers) I always provide a choice of questions. This allows students who want to be stretched to tackle the more difficult questions, while those who need more assistance can choose a question with guiding sub-questions. 

Finally, I think it is important to provide a range of different assessment types for each module. It is expected that students be able to develop a range of skills from writing to speaking to team work. In second year, for example, I set group assignments and the tutors and I allocate the groups. A key intention being that different students will have to engage with each other, learn to work together and produce a coherent output. For the same assignment the groups have to present their work, ensuring each student has a chance to speak. They can present in any format they like. I also like to use assessment tools such as debates, paragraph writing in tests, short essay tutorials, long essays, where appropriate online tests and for post-graduate students peer assessment. 

Evaluation of Teaching and Learning

 No teacher can be a good teacher unless they understand how students receive and engage with a module. Thus, in my view, evaluating your teaching practice is an essential task. This task, in my experience however, is a fairly complicated one. There are also two main aspects of evaluation from the point of view of the lecturer. The first is to evaluate whether you are communicating effectively with the students, in other words are you lecturing well in lectures. Do students clearly understand you, are you motivating them and allowing time for questions etc. I primarily tackle this aspect of evaluation through the 2 minute, anonymous, paper discussed above. I verbally ask students to add any comments on the teaching of the lecture, (or the structure of the course) if they wish to give feedback. I find students are very happy to do this and it gives me an indication of whether I need to slow down, speak louder, repeat key concepts and so on. It is also good to get positive feedback, and students do often say they enjoyed the lecture, which can be motivational. The second important aspect of evaluation is to understand whether the course as a whole is meeting the required outcomes. This involves questions such as whether the teaching strategies, readings, tutorials and assessments are creating an effective learning framework for the students. Based on this evaluation it is important to see where you can redesign the course. 

Intuitively I think there are also two perspectives one has to be aware of in terms of evaluation from the point of view of the student: a) did the student enjoy the course and feel motivated to engage with the content and - more importantly - b) did the student actually improve and develop their skills and knowledge through the course. It is relatively simply to evaluate a) through student questionnaires and the two minute paper, however b) is, in my experience, far trickier. Understanding whether students improved their skills and knowledge is obviously the same as understanding whether the course met its outcomes. The main way in which I focus this evaluation is through the end of term questionnaire. Depending on the class I will structure the questions to find the level of study and the structure of the course. For a post-graduate course I ask the students about the content of the course and whether they would have liked to cover additional material, whereas for an undergraduate course the evaluation focuses on teaching methods, tutorials, assignments, work loads etc. 

Where possible I also like to gather verbal feedback so I encourage students to come and see me during office hours, where we can discuss their work and I can gather feedback on how they are experiencing the course. We also have rigorous internal evaluation of courses within the department. The whole department sits down to plan courses before each semester. We go through course outlines, reading, assessment etc. very rigorously and the feedback is helpful and always incorporated to try to benchmark best practice. We also workshop exam papers twice a year. Several courses I have taught have also been evaluated through external moderators which I find very useful. A Professor from UCT has for example given excellent feedback over the two years I taught a third year Political Theory course, which I integrated into the course. His feedback was based on reading student’s exams in conjunction with the course outline and giving an unbiased reflection of where he felt the strengths and weaknesses were of the structure of the course. 

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