LEADING CURRICULUM CHANGE IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN BOTSWANA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FOR ACADEMIC MIDDLE MANAGERS

This study examined issues and challenges in the leading of curriculum change by AMMs in higher education institutions HEIs. The purpose of the study was to both generate debate as well as provide insight into how leadership moderates AMMs role in curriculum change by answering the question: How do AMMs lead curriculum change in HEIs in Botswana? 162 AMMs were selected using the stratified random sampling procedure from a total of 280 AMMs from five HEIs. Purposive sampling procedure was used to select 10 AMMs for interviews. A mixed methods approach that employed a concurrent triangulation design was used. The study also used a structured questionnaire and a semi-structure interview for data collection. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics. Responses of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Neutral (N), Disagree (DA) and Strongly Disagree (SDA) were weighted as 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively. The sum of the weights were divided by 5 to get a criterion mean of 3 so that responses with mean scores of less than 3 were not accepted and those with mean scores of 3 and above represented marginal to very good performance in leading curriculum change. Thematic analysis was used for analysing qualitative data. Results showed that the use of participative leadership styles such as distributed leadership by AMMs is crucial to successful planning and implementation of curriculum change in HEIs. The significance and potential impact of this study are that it will contribute to improved AMMs role in curriculum change in HEIs.