1.2 Rationale

The curriculum for teacher preparation is very complex. Findings from the MUSTER Project suggests it exists in many forms; in the printed documents, in the minds of the lecturers, as delivered in the lecture rooms and as experienced by the student teachers. In Lesotho the first - Curriculum as Documented - has already been studied (Lefoka and Stuart 2001), and lecturers have been interviewed (Stuart et al. 2000). The study of the documented curriculum revealed a significant disjunction between the overall programme goals as set out in the Preamble and the aims and objectives set out for the subject specific courses. It was found that the overall aims and objectives are

framed in terms of broad professional competences, and those for the subjects ... are much more narrowly conceived.... The two sets seem to come from different discourses or paradigms: the overall aims seem to propose the 'reflective practitioner' model of teacher preparation, while the subject aims point to the 'effective instructor' model. (Lefoka and Stuart 2001: 24)

The present sub-study, in venturing to explore the “curriculum in action”, builds on this earlier work in an attempt to see which paradigm predominates in the classroom. It has to be noted here that classroom observation studies are not a common feature in institutions of higher learning especially in the context of Lesotho. However, similar studies at the primary and high school levels have been undertaken in Lesotho before (Chabane et al 1989).