Dichotomy In the Foundation Phase: Are Departmental Heads Educators or Curriculum Leaders?

The curriculum leaders in the infancy phase of schooling are challenged. They engage in mammoth tasks that lead to confusion as to whether they are level one educators or curriculum heads in terms of their daily functions. Recent research studies demonstrate that many primary schools’ performance is questionable in the Foundation Phase in areas such as reading comprehension and numeracy. Such anomalies could be related to the inefficiency of departmental heads in the phase. This article investigated the underlying dichotomy that exists for Foundation Phase departmental heads. Using a qualitative approach, data was generated from selected primary schools in South Africa. The findings reveal that it is common among Foundation Phase departmental heads to concentrate much on classroom teaching and learning activities and lag on management functions because they lack effective assistance. The study recommends that workable remedies ranging from review of personnel administration management duties for departmental heads to the provision of education assistants (EA’s) can provide long-lasting solutions.