Inclusive education as stated in the Revised National Curriculum Statement is learner centred and could be located within the framework of learning theory such as constructivism. Constructivism assumes that all knowledge is built up from scratch (Naicker, 2006:2).
Curriculum consists of intentionally undertaken activities that are planned so that certain objectives are reached to enable learners to know certain things and have habits and patterns of emotional response (Goldstein, 2006:39). In other words, curriculum is that which is taught at school. It is an approach that focuses on and connects teaching in a school. It gives meaning to what teachers do and makes teaching predictable. Curriculum is the cornerstone of the teaching- learning process. It consists of knowledge, skills and behaviours that lead to the attainment of the goals of education.
It is the responsibility of the ILSTs to ensure that curriculum caters for the needs of all learners. This calls for a flexible curriculum that should meet the needs of learners with diverse educational needs. A flexible curriculum is important because it allows a flexible inclusive educator to use different methods of teaching that can allow learners with different abilities to be involved (DoE, 2002:137). The ILSTs should also encourage educators to teach at a pace which would advantage both slow learners and learners with high levels of ability.
An inflexible curriculum is detrimental to the learners because sometimes people are trapped in the fallacy about gender where girls and boys are forced to choose certain subjects or type of sports not because they love or excel in them, but because someone believes they will be good for them (Mudau, 2004:55). What is taught through the curriculum may often be inappropriate to the learners’ life situation, making learning difficult. This could contribute to a breakdown in learning. All these fallacies cause barriers to learning as learners are obliged to follow educational streams which they are not comfortable with. It is the responsibility of the ILSTs to encourage educators to be flexible when it comes to choosing a subject or learning area. They
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should encourage educators to allow learners to do the subjects which they like and excel in (Wade, 2000:92).
According to Loreman, Deppler and Harvey (2005:7), issues surrounding curriculum provision to children with diverse educational needs in inclusive settings are central to successful inclusion. The idea that children with diverse abilities should be provided with individualised programming has been widely accepted as an appropriate tool for educating children with diverse abilities. It is the responsibility of the ILSTs to encourage educators to provide instruction in well-defined learning programmes related to the specific needs of children with diverse abilities, while also ensuring that they are included in the regular programme as much as possible. Under this system, children with diverse abilities may be viewed as being fundamentally different from their peers in how they learn and what they need to know.
The paradigm of modification of the regular curriculum is based on a number of assumptions about children with diverse abilities. These include the assumption that children with diverse learning abilities are able to perform the required assessment tasks and often require more practice and repetition to consolidate learning. Teachers of children with diverse abilities are seen as requiring specialised training and expert assistance to appropriately educate children with barriers to learning. Supporters of individualised education feel that inclusive education could be done through the effective use of individualised educational programmes (Kaff et al., 2007:35).
When teaching learners with diverse abilities, the curriculum can be divided into two broad areas, namely, core curriculum and elaborated curriculum. Core curriculum consists of areas judged to be basic and essential for all learners. It is regarded as basic in that it provides both a foundation on which subsequent learning may be built and also the conceptual and methodological tools to continue their learning. Educators are essential as their intention is to equip learners for satisfying and effective participation in social and cultural life. A vital aspect of the core curriculum is its affinity with democratic ideology. Its assumptions are that
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constructive and active participation is the right and responsibility of every person (Walther- Thomas et al., 2000:7).
Elaborative curriculum relates to all other aspects of the curriculum that could be considered non-core. The elaborative curriculum is important as it adds richness, depth, scope and variety to the core curriculum. What constitutes elaborative curriculum depends on the views, attitudes and values of everyone involved in the educational process. For some, school learning in subject areas such as fine arts or music could be seen as non-essential and, therefore, these subjects could be classified as part of the elaborative curriculum. For others with strong views on the importance of arts and music in society, learning in these subject areas might be seen as essential and these could be included as part of the core curriculum. Thus, it could be argued that elaborative curriculum varies from educator to educator (Skillbeck, 1996:212).