CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Teaching is a challenging but very rewarding profession, with teachers playing an essential part in helping children and young people to acquire and develop the knowledge and skills they will need in later life. Teaching is the process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings and making specific interventions to help them learn particular things. The aim of education in basic education is to teach skills and knowledge that are important in life and to secure a foundation of equal education for everyone. Further aims are to support students’ humanistic growth and their growth as ethically responsible members of society and to promote education and equality in society. The work of basic education teachers demands a high level of theoretical training and sound methodological skills. In addition to pedagogical competence, knowledge of subject didactics is also highlighted in basic education. Teachers are responsible for ensuring that their students are taught in accordance with the curriculum.

Background of the study

Competence-based education (CBE) programs have spread in primary school education over the past several years and their trajectory continues to rise. Competence-based approaches have been integrated in education programs for half a century, since reforms of teacher training and vocational education first established the early contours of CBE in the 1960s and 1970s. Prior to that, several developments in education regarding outcomes-based learning set the stage for CBE implementation in postsecondary education. The current phase of CBE development is characterized by a wide range of colleges and universities planning or implementing CBE programs, many of which are taking advantage of online or hybrid models, advance in adaptive learning technology or direct assessment.

Background here will consist of the historical background;

Competence-based programs have spread briskly in higher education over the past several years and their trajectory continues to rise. In spring 2014, a review of the landscape of competence-based education (CDE; Kelchin, 2015) identified 52 colleges or universities with CBE programs underway (34) or in development. In winter 2015, Inside Higher Education reported that as many as 200 institutions were either planning or implementing CBE classes or programs (Fain,2015). By fall that year, the U.S. Department of Education reported that as many as 600 postsecondary institutions were “currently designing or implementing CBE programs” (Mitchell, 2015). These programs are in public, not-for-profit, and for-profit institutions, as well as in community colleges and 4-year colleges and universities. The total number of CBE programs, many of which are pilots, remain small in comparison with the vast landscape of American higher education. Nonetheless, other indicators also suggest that CBE planning and development is on the rise. Conferences, workshops, webinars and working groups have shared CBE implementations and introduced faculty, administrators and student services staff to competence based approaches. The history of competence-based programs in higher education is distinguished by three overall phases: (a) innovative teacher education programs in the 1960s and beyond; (b) vocational education programs in the 1970s and beyond; and (c) more recent programs over the last decade and a half, particularly those taking advantage of online or hybrid models, advances in adaptive learning technology or direct assessment.

We also have the Conceptual Background;

National indicators suggest that traditional methods of educating students are diminishing the quality of education accessed while also leaving large swaths of students behind.

Many students are not adequately prepared for college or careers; in fact, “four of every ten new college students, including half of those at two-year institution, take remedial courses and many employers comment on the inadequate preparation of high school graduates.” Additionally, assessments and grading in the k-12 system do not accurately reflect student performance, particularly with respect to non-academic skillssuch as collaboration, creativity, communication and critical thinking. Competence-based education could alleviate some of these concerns through content that is personalized, thereby challenging students based on their unique skills and needs. Also CBE encourages the use of authentic assessments, including project-based tasks. CBE could also lead to the expanded use of out-of-school opportunities, including work-based learning strategies that better prepare students for careers.

The theoretical background will consist of the following theories;

Achievement Theory of Motivation: PalisthaMaharjan (January 9, 2018), Piaget theory of cognitive development, B.F Skinner operational conditioning theory and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development.

Taking place in a context where national policy is concerned about Education for All (EFA), where the educational provision to satisfy political, economic and social demands for a changing world falls well below the minimal requirements and where international organizations demand signs of more significant progress, this article presents in an analytical manner the contribution made by the competence-based approach to EFA in Cameroon. In fact, the introduction of this approach in an effort to tackle primary school repetition led to remarkable results including not only an improvement in classroom practice with teaching/learning experiences that take into account the principles of the competence-based approach within the provision of remedial teaching, but also by the significant positive contribution towards the achievement of EFA in general and a more effective and equitable school in particular.

Statement of the Problem

Given that the Competence Based Curriculum is that curriculum that emphasizes the complex outcomes of a learning process, that is, knowledge, skill and attitude to be applied by learners. Pupils will be able to have positive academic achievements if this curriculum is effectively put in place. The researcher during her visit to some of these Government schools in Bamenda II noticed that  some poor academic achievements from pupils is due to the type of curriculum put in place. The researcher noticed that the traditional curriculum and the Pedagogic Based Curriculum which was highly teacher centered was the curriculum used that made learners not to be competent. The researcher now proposes some attempted solutions to remedy this problem such as; teachers should improve on their teaching methods, appropriate teaching/learning material should be used by the teachers, the assessment process and method should be improved upon and pupils should be able to apply knowledge, skills and attitudes, seminars should be organized for the teachers for them to be more used to the curriculum. From this, the researcher came up with this problem “Competence Based Curriculum and its effects on pupils’ academic achievement.”

Objective of the study:

 The objective of the study is at both levels; general and specific objectives.

General Objective

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the Competence Based Curriculum on pupils’ academic achievement.

Specific Objectives.

 The specific objective of the study is to find out the effect of;

-Competence Based Curriculum has an effect on academic achievement

– Teaching method has an effect on academic achievement

-Teaching/learning material has an effect on academic achievement

-Assessment process has an effect on academic achievement.

Research questions

 Research questions are at two levels; general and specific research questions

General research question:

-What is the effect of competence based curriculum affects academic achievement?

Specific research question:

– What is the effect of teaching methods on pupils’ academic achievement?

– What is the effect of teaching/learning materials on pupils’ academic achievement?

– What is the effect of assessment process on pupils’ academic achievement?