Understanding curriculum : a challenge to curriculum development in teacher education programmes

How we conceive what a curriculum is or not determines how we theorise, practice and define it. There are two conceptions of a curriculum: the narrow view and the broad view. This article sets out to demonstrate how these two views are developed. This demonstration is drawn from the recent reviews by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programme at the University of Limpopo. Data were constructed through semi-structured interviews with two lecturers from the PGCE committee, two heads of departments and the director of the school. These were corroborated through course outlines, learning guides, school policies, the HEQC's evaluation criteria and the school calendar. Although the review promotes the broad view of a curriculum in its design, the recommendations from HEQC borders the narrow view. This implies that if the broad view had been applied, the result would most likely be different.