Article 2015

Teacher collaborative curriculum design in technical vocational colleges: a strategy for maintaining curriculum consistency?

Curriculum Journal
Journal · Vol. 26 · Issue 4 · pp. 601-624
Abstract

The Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) curriculum requires continuous renewal and constant involvement of stakeholders in the redesign process. Due to a lack of curriculum design expertise, TVET institutions in developing contexts encounter challenges maintaining and advancing the quality and relevance of their programmes to the needs of the labour market. The purpose of this multiple-case study is to describe the potential of teacher collaborative curriculum design (TCCD) in TVET colleges for improving the internal and external consistency of curricula. The study describes how four teams from different TVET college departments redesigned their programmes systematically and relationally to improve their internal and external consistency. The findings indicated that although the teams found the re-design task a challenge, they felt positive about the TCCD experience and its outcomes. The design teams also perceived the consistency of their programmes to have improved. The criticality of the support offered to the teams and the variety of the teams' design work were salient themes captured during the design process. It is concluded that supported TCCD teams, applying a systematic and relational approach, can be an efficient strategy for maintaining the consistency of the TVET curriculum. © 2015 British Educational Research Association.

Keywords

Author Keywords

TVET Curriculum renewal External consistency Internal consistency collaborative curriculum design

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Research Institute of Child Development and Education, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Measurement and Data Analysis, Universiteit Twente, Enschede, Overijssel, Netherlands
Universiteit Twente, Enschede, Overijssel, Netherlands
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
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