**8. Conclusion**

In Geography, document analysis revealed that examination of EE/ESD topics in CAPS was **greater** than the coverage in the previous old NCS. In Geography, the analysis revealed a difference of about 4.6%, which showed a **slight misalignment** between the policy requirements and the examination of environmental impact topics. In sum, the researcher is of the view that the shift in the curriculum positively influenced the coverage, teaching and examination of environmental impact topics in South Africa's FET phase. This implies that in the CAPS curriculum, specifically where there was evidence of EE/ESD topics coverage in the subject policies, teachers were able to include the content in their teaching. The researcher believes that learners are **benefiting** more in CAPS than in old NCS in terms of learning about sustaining the biophysical, economic, political and social environment. This resulted in the emergence of a structural and cultural morphogenesis model in the teaching of environmental content in the FET phase. In my view, the increased coverage of ESD topics in the CAPS is one of the **positive impacts** of curriculum change in South Africa. In this subject, teachers will now be exposed to **more content** on environmental education. The researcher believes that this is a good indication that although some subjects did not infuse environmental impact topics coverage into the curriculum, other subjects do adhere to the policies. Significantly, the White Paper on Environmental Management Policy published in 1997, states that establishing good governance in South Africa can only be guaranteed if it is based on a sound socio-economic framework that is **environmentally sustainable** [8]. Payne [50] stated that;

*Limited progress in the ability of social theory, environmental philosophy, and geography to inform curriculum developers of how to bridge the dualisms of agency– structure, identity–spatiality, and local–global that, effectively, denied the possibility of plausible empirical insights into the nature of human-environment relations and, therefore, satisfactory explanations of socioecological life needed for the planning of meaningful curricula experiences.*

Again, [50] statement signifies the importance and role of curriculum developers to ensure that educational policies infusing EE/ESD into the curriculum are interpreted and applied correctly (put into practice) to enhance progress in the ability of social theory, environmental philosophy, and all subject to inform relevant stakeholders on how to bridge the agency-structure relationship that exists.

The shift from the old NCS to the CAPS curriculum was beneficial to teachers as they were able to engage in reflecting on and assessing their own efforts to **promote inquiry, reasoning, problem-solving** and **communication** in the classroom. An increase in the coverage of environmental impact topics was found in Geography. The researcher concurs with the findings of this study that integration of EE/ESD topics in the curriculum

*Effects of the Changes of Curriculum on the Coverage of Environmental Content in Geography DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104988*

documents as well as in practice should be encouraged and it is the responsibility of all structures involved in the education sector. In support of this finding, [51] pointed out that the inclusion of EE/ESD in the curriculum allows for the construction of transcultural spaces in which scholars from different localities collaborate in reframing and disseminating their own knowledge traditions. He further states that much needs to be done in terms of research as EE/ESD continues to evolve and transform.
