REFRAMING PRODUCTIVE PEDAGOGIES FOR EVALUATING CURRICULA IN AFRICAN CONTEXTS
Abstract
This study evaluated the implementation of Malawi’s Expressive Arts curriculum in six primary schools. Data were collected from twelve Standard 7 and 8 Expressive Arts teachers through curriculum document review, questionnaires, classroom observations, and post-observation interviews. Illuminative Evaluation was used as the conceptual framework, particularly its distinction between the instructional system and the learning milieu. While this distinction enabled the study to separate curriculum policy from classroom implementation, it did not provide sufficiently specific analytical criteria for examining teachers’ classroom practices. The study therefore adopted the four-dimensional Productive Pedagogies framework—intellectual quality, connectedness to the world beyond the classroom, engagement with difference, and supportive classroom environment—to guide data collection and analysis. However, difficulties in determining the forms of knowledge taught in lessons led to the addition of a fifth dimension: curriculum. The findings indicate that Productive Pedagogies can be useful for curriculum evaluation in African contexts, but the framework requires reframing to account more explicitly for intrinsic and instrumental forms of knowledge, local cultural contexts, and interactive forms of classroom participation. The article recommends a revised Productive Pedagogies framework that is more responsive to curriculum evaluation in Malawi and other African educational contexts.
Keywords
Expressive arts, illuminative evaluation, learning milieu, Malawi curriculum, productive pedagogies.
Supporting Institution
Ethical Statement
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