A Reflective Analysis of the Selection and Production of Instructional Material for Curriculum Delivery at the Primary Level in Postcolonial Guyana

• Main Author: Lidon Lashley
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2019-06-01
• Series: SAGE Open
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019858445

This study gazed upon curriculum delivery in postcolonial Guyana. The key focus was on the impact of effective curricula instructional materials on curriculum delivery. A descriptive survey method was employed to gather data and a sequential transformative strategy which embraced a mixed method approach was utilized to analyze and interpret the data. One hundred mainstream teachers were asked to respond to five questions on a questionnaire. The sample represents 13% of the entire teacher population at the University of Guyana and 25% of the primary level teacher population of the Faculty of Education and Humanities. These teachers were randomly stopped and asked the questions as they made their way to class on the Turkeyen Campus. These teachers have all acquired initial qualified teachers’ status and at least 2 years of mainstream teaching experience. The teachers indicated that they are limited in their use of technology in mainstream schools, as many schools do not have Information and Communication Technology (ICT) support and physical space is limited. Teachers stated that they produced at least 90% of the curricula instructional material they use in mainstream classrooms. They indicated that they sometimes have to self-fund the raw materials needed to produce the instructional materials necessary for effective curriculum delivery in mainstream schools. Teachers are expected to do this without either allotted planning or preparation time. The production of instructional materials, done independently with little support from the senior leadership of the mainstream schools, is sometimes neither adequate nor cater to the diverse needs of all learners especially learners with Special Education Needs and Disabilities.