Pedagogic Precepts andLiterature Teaching in Cameroonian Secondary Schools: A Quantitative and Qualitative Approach

Abstract

The teaching of literature in secondary schools in Cameroon today is constantly being challenged by the need to implement the competency based approach to teaching as prescribed by the Ministry of Secondary Education. This approach, called the CBA, has run for the past eight years since 2012 in Cameroon. Despite the efforts put in place by stakeholders for the implementation, the professionalization of literature teaching in secondary schools in Cameroon is still a farce. The paper investigates how most literature teachers still face difficulties introducing strategic competences of the CBA in their lesson plans. The paper also aims to reveal how the exaggerated use of teacher-centred strategies in literature classrooms makes it difficult for teachers to be flexible in the practice of the CBA, which makes professionalization far-fetched in secondary education in Cameroon. Even though many conferences, workshops, and seminars hold every year, the experience, when student teachers are evaluated during teaching practice, clearly indicates that the CBA methodology and practicality is not fully understood. While secondary school teachers are still struggling to appropriate and develop productive competences in their teaching methods as outlined in the CBA approach, this paper suggests an interactive and participatory method that lays emphasis on the qualitative and quantitative approaches to literature teaching as one way through which the CBA can be illustrated and practised from Form One to Upper Sixth Arts. Illustrations are drawn from Carol Ann Duffy’s Poetry with suggested strategies recommended for the teachers.