UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF SCHOOL CURRICULUM IN SHAPING MORAL DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR AMONG THE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM THE TEACHERS, PARENT AND STUDENT PERSPECTIVE IN SWAT VALLEY KP, PAKISTAN

Abstract

While it is well recognised that character development is a key function of schooling, there is uncertainty regarding the extent to which school curricula support students' moral development and behaviour across the day-to-day teaching and learning context (Brown et al., 2023). The present qualitative study aimed at exploring the perceptions of teachers, parents and middle school students about the part of the school curricula in the process of moral development and behaviours in middle schools in Swat Valley of KPK, Pakistan. The study was conducted with 18 participants who were selected through purposive sampling: six students, six parents, and six teachers and adopted an interpretivist paradigm and a multiple case study design. Information was gathered by conducting semi-structured interviews in Pashto and Urdu media, translated into English during transcription and analysed by applying Braun and Clarke (2021) reflexive thematic analysis; findings were interpreted using Bandura's (1977) Social Learning Theory and Kohlberg's (1984) theory of moral development.

The results indicated that teacher practices and school culture, in addition to the formal curriculum, had a strong impact on students' moral development in a way beyond what they perceived to be the impact of the formal curriculum, school environment had an important influence on students' values, attitudes and behaviour.

The study contributes context-specific evidence from Swat Valley KP and offers practical recommendations for strengthening curriculum execution, teacher professional development, and character education initiatives within Pakistan’s middle school education system.