The CAPS Teacher

Is the Structure of the 2015 Curriculum Burning Out Our Educators?

The introduction of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) was hailed as a rescue mission. After the chaotic and ambiguous years of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE), it promised clarity, structure, and a "back to basics" focus. For many South African teachers, this promise was initially a relief. The endless, speculative curriculum planning of OBE was replaced by a detailed map of what to teach and when. Yet, a decade into its implementation, a new and insidious problem has emerged: a culture of intense workload pressure that is pushing educators to the brink of exhaustion and burnout. The very structure designed to save the system is now, for many, CAPSizing it.

From OBE's Administrative Burden to CAPS's Content Tsunami

To understand the present, we must glance at the past. The OBE era (C2005) was characterised by an administrative burden. The pressure was on evidence-gathering: creating and maintaining massive learner portfolios, documenting progress against hundreds of Learning Outcomes and Assessment Standards, and proving that facilitation was happening. Teachers were drowning in paper, their professional judgment often sidelined by the demand to prove compliance.

CAPS, in its reaction against this, did not eliminate the administrative load; it transformed it. The burden shifted from evidence-gathering for nebulous outcomes to content coverage and the management of scheduled high-stakes assessments. The CAPS document is not a guide; it is a mandate. Its "pacing" is a week-by-week, period-by-period prescription of content that must be "covered." The term "coverage" itself is instructive—it suggests a thin, spreading of knowledge over a surface, rather than a deep, engaged mastery.

This creates a "content tsunami." Teachers, particularly in content-heavy subjects like History, Life Sciences, and Languages, feel they are on a relentless treadmill. There is no time to pause, to delve deeper into a concept students find fascinating, to provide meaningful remediation for those who are falling behind, or to engage in creative, project-based work. Stopping means falling behind the pace, and falling behind means failing to prepare learners for the next Formal Assessment Task (FAT). The curriculum becomes a race, and the joy of learning—for both teacher and student—is often the first casualty.

The Anatomy of a CAPSized Workload: More Than Just Marking

The workload pressure under CAPS is multi-faceted, creating a perfect storm for burnout:

1. The Planning Paradox: While CAPS provides a pre-defined sequence, effective teaching still requires detailed daily lesson planning. This involves differentiating instruction for a diverse classroom, gathering resources (LTSMs), and designing activities—all within the tight constraints of the pacing. This is cognit demanding and time-consuming work that often happens after hours.

2. The Formal Assessment Task (FAT) Cycle: CAPS mandates a specific number of FATs per term. These are not minor quizzes; they are significant assessments that require setting, writing, administering, marking, and recording. The marking load is immense, especially for language teachers facing stacks of 150 essays or more. The pressure is cyclical: as one FAT is completed, the next one is already looming, creating a year-long wave of intense marking pressure with few respites.

3. Data Capturing and Reporting: The results of these FATs must be captured, analysed, and reported. This administrative layer adds hours of computer work, often on outdated systems, and generates reports that are frequently filed away without being used to inform actual teaching practice, making it feel like a hollow exercise.

4. The Psychological Load: "Pacing Paranoia": Beyond the physical hours, there is a constant, low-grade anxiety that Nick Spaull (2013) and other researchers have observed, which we can term "pacing paranoia." It is the gnawing fear that you are falling behind, that you won't finish the curriculum before the finals, that your students will be unprepared. This psychological burden is exhausting and contributes significantly to stress.

The Impact: When the Teacher is Pouring from an Empty Cup

The consequences of this unsustainable workload are stark and visible in schools across the country:

• Burnout and Attrition: Talented, passionate teachers are leaving the profession. They are physically and emotionally drained, feeling like they are on a hamster wheel with no exit. This brain drain has a devastating effect on school quality and stability.

• Superficial Teaching: The pressure to cover content leads to "teaching to the test." Pedagogy narrows to direct instruction and rote memorization, as these are the fastest ways to transmit information. The critical thinking and problem-solving skills that the economy demands are sacrificed at the altar of coverage.

• Erosion of Professional Autonomy: Teachers begin to feel like delivery mechanisms, not professionals. Their creativity, intuition, and ability to respond to their specific classroom context are stifled by the rigid curriculum. This “deprofessionalisation” is deeply demoralising.

• Compromised Well-being: The spill-over into personal life is inevitable. Late nights marking, weekends spent planning, and constant anxiety take a toll on health, family life, and overall well-being.

Reclaiming the Ship: Strategies for a Sustainable Practice

Preventing a total CAPSizing requires action at both the systemic and individual teacher level.

For School Leadership and Policy Makers:

• Audit and Rationalise Administrative Tasks: Departments must critically evaluate which administrative tasks are essential for improving learning and which are simply legacy practices. Can data capturing be simplified? Can reporting be streamlined?

• Support, Don't Just Police: Departmental officials should shift from being compliance officers to being support agents, helping teachers with strategies for managing the curriculum load effectively.

• Resource Provision: Ensure that every teacher and learner has the core LTSMs, especially textbooks. Scrambling for resources is a major time-waster.

For the Teacher:

• Collaborative Planning: Teachers in the same grade and subject must work together in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to share the planning load, develop high-quality resources, and create common assessments.

• Strategic Integration: Look for ways to integrate FATs with the learning process. Can a project be both a learning activity and a FAT? Can peer assessment be used to reduce the marking load for drafts?

• Quality over Quantity: It is better to teach 80% of the curriculum well than to race through 100% with little understanding. Identify the core, foundational concepts within a topic and ensure they are mastered, even if it means slightly adapting the pace.

• Set Boundaries: This is incredibly difficult, but essential. Designate specific times for marking and planning and protect personal time. A burned-out teacher is of no use to any learner.

The CAPS curriculum, for all its flaws, is the current reality. The challenge is not to be defeated by its demands but to develop a sophisticated professionalism that can navigate its structure without being crushed by it. It is about moving from being a CAPSized victim to becoming a master navigator, using the map provided by the policy while still steering the ship with professional expertise, care, and a focus on the human beings in the classroom. The sustainability of our education system depends on it.