The Sunday Mail
Ityai Kurebwa & Thomas Gatsi Psychomor Revolution —
Just as Socrates had proposed those thousands of years ago, a sound curriculum is one that aims at an outcome rather than output at the end of it all.
If a student scores a maximum 15 points at A-Level, that is called an output. We, therefore, question what he can do or how he can use the learning he acquired in real life and that is called outcome.
Curriculum writers who have outcomes in mind will always be in tandem with the society that the education is supposed to serve.
The 21st century global environment calls for curriculum writers with a clear view of the 21st view of the demands of the times and thus match those demands.
The local environment and needs should be clearly understood lest curricula suitable for other environments be enforced to suit local conditions and may backfire with rejection from the recipients.
In the past two articles, problems associated with examination focused curriculum and objectives focused curriculum were highlighted and the big question may be where to from here?
The Holy Bible in the book of Ecclesiastes 1 verse 9 states that there is nothing new under the sun (on earth). The solution to the problem is in Socrates’ Praxis and Practice and this was further simplified by psychologist Benjamin Bloom in 1956, in his taxonomy of learning.
Praxis simply means applying acquired knowledge into practice and this is done through practice. Practice means structured repetition of praxis. The adage “practice makes perfect” could be wrong because it is only “correct practice that could lead to some degree of perfection”.
There is no way that human action or even computerised action could be perfect, otherwise one would only need to practice for a certain period of time, get perfect and then would stay perfect, never needing further practice.
The onus is thus on the teacher to ensure that the knowledge that is being interpreted is done correctly and the correct procedures are being followed.
This where Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy comes in as laid out below:
Benjamin Bloom in 1956 identified three domains in educational and training activities:
Cognitive: mental skills (knowledge)
Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas (attitude)
Psychomotor: manual or physical skills (skills)
According to Bloom, if one is to be an effective learner, one has to gain knowledge of the subject, from this knowledge one also derives feelings and emotions leading to attitudes and then apply the knowledge to practical skills.
Please note that we deliberately avoid using the blunt term “physical skills”.
In the 21st century, technology has brought in mechanisation through nanotechnology and thus pressing a button can do work that 10 men used to do in the 19th and 20th century. The essence of practical application brings in most, if not all, learning areas found in the curriculum and this means that our science, mathematics, languages and even commercial subjects should be done practically in our schools and institutions of higher learning.
When graduates from schools, colleges and universities seek employment they should be able to confidently state what they are skilled in doing. It is embarrassing to find a graduate from a high school or university asking for “any job” because the studies they pursued never prepared them for the world of work. It is even more frustrating for the graduates if they have to search newspapers for possible graduate training programmes.
One wonders why graduates have to undergo another two-year programme. Is this not a sign that there is a missing link between the knowledge and the praxis/practice? What then should the ideal curriculum for Zimbabwe encompass?
In our opinion and experience in psychomotor-related areas, there is need for all stakeholders in education to meet so as to create a wholesome curriculum that is seamless from Early Childhood Development to university.
Right now, a curriculum is on trial in primary and secondary schools without much input from the sectors that will implement this syllabus – the teacher training colleges and universities.
Input from the Department of Psychomotor
Activities was very minimal and hence some of the activities considered to be psychomotor are very peripheral. Most of the subjects are more content than before with very little and sometimes no praxis involved and this has been a disappointment to most parents and hence the resistance.
A psychomotor-based curriculum should follow these stages:
- Observation and understanding, teacher’s correct demonstration may be needed.
- Imitating, where the learner tries out on his or her own.
- Practice, where the teacher coaches so that the correct things only are mastered.
- Adaptation, where real situations are used to apply the skill. The accounting students may tackle the books of the school’s tuck-shop or dining hall.
A target of basic life skills learning should be set for the primary school, increasing in complexity into secondary school. Middle-level skills should be developed in the post-high school colleges where artisans should actually be tested for proficiency whilst still at college.
This cadre should man the industry and be conversant with the latest technology and machinery. The same cadre can also be empowered to teach in the schools.
Higher level skills should be set aside for universities where innovation is shaped and turned into entrepreneurship at some universities whilst others can also have production hubs for every field so as to create employable cadres as well as employment creators.
Such an education has worked wonders for post-Second World War Germany, South Korea and of late countries like India and Malaysia have come in, with Kenya adopting it since 2015.
The onus is now on Zimbabwe to brace and accept what the United Nations through the International Labour Organisation (ILO) considers to be the education for the 21st century.
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