Background:
The research reported on here is part of a larger study exploring the alignment of the intended, implemented and attained curriculum with regard to practical work in the Zimbabwean A-level Biology curriculum. In this paper we focus on the alignment between the intended and implemented A-Level Biology curriculum through the lens of teachers’ interpretation of the curriculum.

Material and methods:
This interpretive study sought to understand how teachers interpret a particular curriculum design. Participants were five teachers drawn from four High schools in Zimbabwe.

Results:
The findings show a misalignment between the intended and implemented curriculum caused by teachers’ misinterpretation of the intended curriculum. Teachers lacked knowledge of Science Process Skills and could not interpret them from the curriculum documents. They interpreted the curriculum through the examinations and were reluctant to engage with the curriculum in order to understand the objectives for practical work.

Conclusions:
The poor design of the curriculum contributed to this reluctance. This misalignment has implications for curriculum design and implementation.