Asegurar el nivel de actualización de competencias de los trabajadores

The delineation of the target population is a realisation for the need to zero in and clearly demarcate important boundaries where the research data would be collected. The population in this study was the target group from which I was interested in gaining information and drawing conclusions (Tuckman 2012) in relation to the issue of how members of the communities can be engaged in curriculum implementation in primary schools. The population, with its demographic meaning of an entire group of people, is usually defined in geographical terms. In selecting the population for the study, I used Banerjee and Chaudhury’s (2010:62) assertion that the research question or the purpose of the study suggests a suitable definition of the population to be studied in terms of location and restriction. It became incumbent upon me as a researcher to fully define the population and to clarify those that are included and those who are excluded. According to McMillan and Schumacher (2010), two types of populations exist, namely the target population and the accessible population.

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The general population was the school heads, the teachers and the community members in the Chivi district of Masvingo in Zimbabwe who are stakeholders in curriculum implementation at primary school level. The target population of this study comprised primary school heads, the teachers and community members namely parents, traditional and church leaders and business people from the selected four primary schools. The target population is a wider network of prospective and non prospective participants (McMillan & Schumacher 2010). In this study the accessible population was the four primary school heads, teachers teaching at these schools and community members within the vicinity of each of the primary schools. I obtained information from the heads of the selected primary schools about those teachers, parents, traditional leaders, business people and church leaders who could add valuable ideas on the relationship between schools and community members in curriculum implementation.

Four primary schools in the Chivi district and the respective heads were randomly chosen thus each school in the district theoretically having an equal chance of being selected (Cohen et al 2011: 153). This method involved selecting at random the four schools required for the study from which I gathered the data. School heads were quite valuable to this study for they were on the shopfloor of education and they were responsible for the actual implementation of the curriculum. Their contribution was thus, greatly valued in this study. The school heads are the managers, supervisors and gatekeepers of what goes on inside the classroom. Hence, they were seen as credible sources of data based on their leadership and administrative roles in curriculum implementation issues.

The primary school teachers were chosen because they are important classroom managers. They make crucial decisions about how to teach, who to involve and who not to engage during the teaching and learning process. The question of their level of understanding of the concept of community engagement in curriculum implementation became important in this research. The primary school teachers were selected mainly to solicit their understanding and level of preparedness to engage members of the communities in curriculum implementation issues. The success or failure to bring in members of the communities to participate in curriculum implementation heavily depended on them as the actual implementers of the curriculum. Therefore, targeting the teachers and the school heads provided collaborative data about how the schools can meaningfully involve the community members in curriculum implementation for successful teaching and learning to be realised.

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During my initial community mapping, I realised that the well-being of primary schools have been built around interactions they have created with members of the communities around them. I noted that these critical stakeholders (community members) had shared, contributed to schools, materially, financially and in knowledge form, thus breathing life in most of the activities at the schools. The schools have always counted on these community members when the need arises especially in terms of student discipline and infrastructural development. With the help of the school heads, the teachers as well as some community members, four categories of community members emerged, which had become primary schools’ ‘community well’ namely: parents, traditional leaders, business people and churches leaders. To school heads and teachers, these community members represented the different village life and activities.

The choice of parents to be part of the sample was motivated by two factors. Firstly, the information from school heads and teachers about their involvement and commitment to school activities. Secondly, how long they have been living near the primary schools and what contribution they have made to the schools. This information from heads and teachers allowed me to work with those parents who had knowledge of the primary schools thus providing historical antecedents and understanding of current school practices regarding their involvement in curriculum implementation. The choice of the parents was of those who had children at the schools.

The primary schools which formed part of the study are situated in villages. According to the local government structures, each village is run by a Headman (Sabhuku) who is the custodian of the cultural values and presides over the village matters. The recently added responsibility has been to liaise with the school heads to enforce payment of school fees and levies by parents/ guardians. Traditional leaders have become very powerful in their communities. Their orders are usually carried out. The schools were situated close to one another and they shared some of the traditional leaders. The traditional leaders’ knowledge about traditional values, the history of the primary schools and the authority vested in them by the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ), attracted my interest for their potential to add value and to contribute to curriculum implementation issues. In their responses in the questionnaires and the focus-group discussions the school heads and teachers respectively indicated that these traditional leaders are useful allies. They have become a common feature in most primary schools’activities (e.g enforcing payment of school fees by parents) hence the need for them to participate in this study.

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I also realised that church leaders command a lot of respect and have always been called to the schools to conduct devotions, or to talk about some important Biblical moral issues. The teachers and the pupils also belong to some denomination. The influence of these churches in the community and the school cannot be underestimated. It was upon this understanding that I noted that the church leaders’ ideas regarding community participation in curriculum implementation would add an important voice and dimension to this study.

There has always existed a relationship between the schools and the business community especially in some outside classroom activities when the business people forward donations to the schools. During my initial community mapping, the school heads and teachers talked glowingly about the valuable contribution of business people in developing the schools’ infrastructure, in the provision of teaching-learning materials and equipment for sporting activities. Besides these contributions, I regarded the business people as having a big stake in curriculum implementation. Given that they deal with issues of buying and selling which when introduced to the classroom e.g. in mathematics, would aid the pupils’ understanding of concepts, hence the need to have them participate in this study.

Therefore, all these community members were invited to give their views and perceptions on the different roles they can play in order to work together with teachers in the classroom for the benefit of the learners.