CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR CURRICULUM SPECIALISTS

IN EAST AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA

FINAL REPORT OF THE TRAINING SEMINARHOSTED BY THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION,

THAILAND Bangkok, Thailand, 12-16 December 2000

INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF EDUCATION (IBE)UNESCO PRINCIPAL REGIONAL OFFICE FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

With funding support from Japanese Funds-in-Trust

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CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR CURRICULUM

SPECIALISTS IN EAST AND

SOUTH-EAST ASIA

FINAL REPORT OF THE TRAINING SEMINARBANGKOK, THAILAND12-16 DECEMBER 2000

Edited by Lucille C. Gregorioand Isabel Byron

Hosted by the Thai Ministry of Education in collaboration with the

International Bureau of Education (IBE) and theUNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (PROAP)

With funding support from Japanese Funds-in-Trust

Contents

Foreword,by Cecilia Braslavsky, Director of the IBE, page 3

PART ONE: Rethinking the framework and the capacities needed for curriculum reform

● The education system of the nineteenth century: the direction, trends and tensions of curriculum reforms in the twenty-first century,by Cecilia Braslavsky, page 6

● A reflection on ‘learning to learn’: the four pillars of learning and their implications for curriculum reforms,by Zhou Nanzhao, page 11

● Capacity-building for curriculum reforms: a South-East Asian perspective,by Tan Khun,page 15

PART TWO: Strengthening capacities for curriculum reform

● Analyzing existing curriculum frameworks for change,by Lucille C. Gregorio, page 18

● The role of information and knowledge in curriculum development,by Isabel Byron, page 21

● Role of communication within the framework of curricular reform,by Liliana Jabif, page 26

● Networking for curriculum development and renewal,by Isabel Byron, page 32

PART THREE: Curriculum changes and reforms in East and South-East Asia

● The social context of curricular changes and reforms,by Virginia A. Miralao, page 36

● Synthesis of country reports and general trends and needs,by Virginia A. Miralao and Lucille C. Gregorio, page 38

ANNEXES

I. List of participants and resource persons,page 44

II. Information note,page 47

© 2001. International Bureau of Education, P.O. Box 199, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland. www.ibe.unesco.org

In December 2000, the International Bureau ofEducation (IBE), in partnership with the UNESCOPrincipal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific(PROAP) and the Thai Ministry of Education, organizeda seminar on Capacity-Building for CurriculumSpecialists from East and South-East Asia, in Bangkok.Participating countries included: Cambodia, China,Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia,Philippines, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam.This was the third meeting on curriculum developmentissues which the IBE has held in Asia, the first two tak-ing place respectively in New Delhi in March 1999 andBeijing in March 2000.1 These seminars are principalcomponents of the IBE’s programme of capacity-build-ing for curriculum development and renewal in allMember States. The Bangkok seminar was organized asa follow-up activity to the outcomes of the New Delhimeeting, at which the possibilities of developing anAsian Network for the Management of CurriculumChange had been discussed, and proposals put forwardfor such an eventual undertaking. While, to date, therehas been no official launching of such a network, theBangkok seminar was intended to build on some of theconcerns and suggestions coming out of the New Delhiseminar, while introducing the new training approach ofthe IBE which will focus on the strengthening of profes-sional competencies for more effective curriculumdevelopment. This approach was piloted through a com-ponent on communications skills for curriculum special-ists.

The objectives sought by the IBE were complement-ed by those of PROAP, which had just launched a proj-ect entitled: Curriculum Innovations in Basic Education:Preparing the Learners to meet the Challenges of theNew Millennium. This project, funded by Japanese-Funds-in-Trust, initially targeted six Asian countries,namely, China, Japan, Philippines, the Republic ofKorea, Thailand and Viet Nam. With the collaborationof the IBE, it was possible for the other participatingcountries to be included in some aspects of the project.The broad goal is to ‘provide some assessment of thequality of learning at the basic level and the effective-ness of this in preparing learners for the challenge of thetwenty-first century, with lifelong learning as the ulti-mate goal. Considerations would be based […] on the

Four Pillars of Learning advocated by the InternationalCommission on Education for the Twenty-FirstCentury’.2 The project has a number of objectives,which include a critical analysis of the curriculumdevelopment/reform process in the participant countriesusing prescribed guidelines, and the formulation of aregional framework for curriculum development andrenewal based on the four pillars of learning.

Thus, as part of on-going collaboration between IBEand UNESCO-PROAP, it was agreed to merge the twoinstitutions’ similar interests in capacity-building forcurriculum development, through jointly organizing thisseminar, assisted by the very generous hosting of theevent by the Ministry of Education of Thailand.

In preparation for the seminar, delegates were askedto prepare reports on their countries’ curriculum devel-opment processes and trends. A reading of these reportsshowed a number of similar concerns within the region,despite the great diversity in economic development,cultures and political systems. The search for improvedquality and relevance of school curricula is an overallpreoccupation, manifested by a range of reform efforts.Expressed needs include: a more integrated curriculumwith reduced content, improved teacher education forthe effective implementation of reform, greater involve-ment of parents and the wider community in the educa-tional process, and an improved balance between academic and practical elements of the curriculum.

As a key aspect of the proceedings, a specialist fromthe Asia Pacific Social Science Research Council (ASS-REC) presented criteria for a situation analysis of thenational curriculum for basic education and a proposednew framework for revising and updating the existingcurriculum. These were discussed, modified andapproved by the participants. As a follow-up to the sem-inar and continuation of the project, an in-depth study isbeing undertaken of the process of curriculum reform inthe countries of the region. It is also hoped that the pro-posed framework will serve to direct/inform future cur-riculum development and change in East and South-EastAsia.

The report is divided into three sections. Part One,entitled ‘Rethinking the framework and the capacitiesneeded for curriculum reform’, gives some perspectiveson trends and issues in curriculum change for the twen-

3

Foreword

Cecilia Braslavsky, Director of the IBE

ty-first century, both internationally and within South-East Asia. Cecilia Braslavsky, Director of the IBE,describes the inadequacy for contemporary societalneeds of the traditional education systems developed inthe nineteenth century, which are still largely followed inmuch of the world. She identifies key trends in contem-porary society and corresponding societal needs whichmake new, urgent demands on education, looking atsome of the risks and tensions these imply for the educa-tional process, and referring to some current efforts atreform. Zhou Nanzhao, Acting Director of the UNESCOPrincipal Office for Asia and the Pacific, outlines furtherthe challenges for education in today’s world, applyingthis both to the global and Asian contexts, recommend-ing the ‘Four pillars of learning’ described in the DelorsReport as the basis for curriculum reform and renewal.3

Tan Khun, Director of the Southeast Asian Ministers ofEducation Organization Regional Centre for Educationin Science and Mathematics (SEAMEO-RECSAM) pro-vides a brief overview of SEAMEO and of its role incurriculum reform in the sub-region.

Part Two, ‘Strengthening capacities for curriculumreform’, looks at some specific practical means ofimproving the curriculum development and reformprocess. Lucille Gregorio gives a summary of the recent-ly launched PROAP project, ‘Curriculum Innovations inBasic Education: Preparing the Learners to Meet theChallenges of the New Millennium’. This is followedwith chapters by Isabel Byron and Liliana Jabif on the

roles of information, communication skills and network-ing in improving the process of curriculum reform.

Part Three, ‘Curriculum changes and reform in Eastand Southeast Asia’, focuses directly on the region inquestion. Virginia Miralao looks briefly at the socio-eco-nomic and political issues which have implications forcurriculum change in Asia and the rest of the world, fol-lowed by a synthesis of the country reports presented tothe seminar on curriculum development processes,trends and needs in the participating countries.

Notes

1. See: (a) International Bureau of Education; India, Ministryof Human Resource Development,Globalization andliving together: the challenges for educational content inAsia, Geneva, IBE, 2000. (Final report of the sub-regionalcourse on curriculum development, New Delhi, March1999); (b) International Bureau of Education; The ChineseNational Commission for UNESCO,Science education forcontemporary society: problems, issues and dilemmas,Geneva, IBE, 2001. (Final Report of the InternationalWorkshop on the Reform in the Teaching of Science andTechnology at Primary and Secondary Level in Asia:Comparative References to Europe, Beijing, March 2000.)

2. UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and thePacific, Project proposal for extra-budgetary funding,Bangkok, 2000, p. 4.

3. Jacques Delors, et al.,Learning: the treasure within,Paris,UNESCO, 1996.

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PART ONE:

RETHINKING THE FRAMEWORK AND THE CAPACITIES NEEDED

FOR CURRICULUM REFORM

6

I. SOME MAJOR TRENDS OF SOCIALDEVELOPMENT AND THE NEED TO REVIEW EDUCATION

The need for curriculum change is based on the recogni-tion that there has been a consolidation of a number oftrends that began at least twenty years ago. These trendsrelate to the demand for education, to the componentsand resources of educational processes and to the currentprovision of educational services.

There are at least six noticeable trends in the demandfor education: (i) the changes in occupational profiles inthe context of a world of work that is increasingly hetero-geneous, in many cases shrinking, swiftly changing andever more globalized; (ii) the need to counteract deepen-ing social inequalities and increasing marginalization andviolence; (iii) the need to recognize that the diversitybetween individuals and communities is a valuableresource that is different from social inequality; (iv) theneed to educate individuals so that they are able to satisfytheir need for better forms of representation as citizens insociety; (v) the increasingly broader spectrum of issuesarising, for example, from advances in biotechnology onwhich individuals may take decisions; and (vi) the co-existence of advantages and disadvantages resulting fromthe impact of technical progress on the environment andthe quality of life of individuals and communities.

These trends bring different opportunities and newrisks for education and education systems. The existingeducation system was invented to cope with a societyorganized in classes but giving at the same time opportu-nities for the majority to be integrated. It was improvedto cope with an economy organized in sectors and seek-ing for specialization. In that economy, society expectedthat some people learned to think and to take decisionsand some others to act without thinking. Especially thenon-specialized working positions could be occupied byskilled trained workers having less general knowledgeand capacities for lifelong learning.

The current situation makes it necessary to learnboth: to act and to think. People who have not been edu-cated in this sense are probably not able to maintaingood jobs, or invent new ones, and even to have somepossibilities to direct their lives. The speed of economicand social changes makes it also necessary to learn to

tackle the stress of constant changes, for one to takeadvantage of the changes.

It is also necessary in this current situation to strengt-hen the teaching of values that could be understood andinternalized. The attempts to react against marginalizationusing violence would not solve the problems, and morethan that, the unequal and haphazard distribution ofopportunities are threats to the survival of humankind.

With regard to the components of the educationalprocesses, there are also at least four important trends tobe considered: (i) the constant restructuring and theacceleration of scientific and technological knowledge,and the emergence of an authentic scientific and techno-logical system that is rapidly making educational con-tents obsolete based on the provision of information; (ii)the growth of milieus outside the school for cultural cre-ation and consumption by children and young people;(iii) the ever-widening use of the new information andcommunication technologies; (iv) the decline in theeffectiveness of the teaching and school models devel-oped in the previous centuries.

Special attention has to be paid to the first of thosefour trends in the framework of the need to shift the educational paradigm in relation to one of the basic educa-tional principles. Education was supposed ‘to transmit theculture of adult generations to younger generations’.Behind this principle is a hypothesis of stability andhomogeneity that is not later acceptable. This hypothesisof stability involves generations—every generation andevery culture. During the past centuries it was assumedthat the young generation did not have a culture of its ownand would accept willingly what was imposed by adults,that young people form an homogeneous group, where theonly differences were biological or attributable to socialclass and that adult culture, and the way in which knowl-edge was produced and structured was stable over time.

The speed of current changes led to a rediscoverythat each generation possesses its own culture, thatthere is wide diversity within each generation and thatthe way in which knowledge is produced and structuredchanges in relation to changing times. These rediscov-eries and the evolution of educational psychology leadto the acceptance that children and young people haveto be active participants in the educational processesand that even the diversity has to be encouraged. The

The education system of the nineteenth century:the direction, trends and tensions of curriculumreforms in the twenty-first century

Cecilia Braslavsky

7

increasing evidences about the instability of knowledgeadded elements to face the challenges of ‘learning tolearn’.

As a result of the concurrent actions of these trends,there is a growing contradiction between progress inincorporating individuals into formal education and thedeficiencies in its quality, understood as its capacity torespond to new educational demands. Some of the abovementioned trends —for example, the demand for newprofiles for economic, social and political participation,greater recognition of diversity, and the new dynamics ofknowledge production —are posing renewed challengesto the meaning of education. In any case, this issue con-cerns the content of education, defined in the broadestsense of the term. The content of education is, in fact, allthat should be taught or which is effectively ‘contained’in educational practices: values, concepts and processesfor learning, being, doing and living together.

The contradictions between quantitative advancesand problems in the quality of education, the increasinguse of the new information and communication tech-nologies (ICTs), the growing demand from children andyoung people to learn actively and creatively, and adeeper understanding of the importance of links withcommunities so that education may be of better qualityand more effective, also present new challenges to theissue of teaching methods and school management.

Increasing interconnections and the globalization ofmany economic decisions and processes, intensifiedmigration, and the international scale of many communi-cation media provide populations with new standardsand parameters. There are attempts to counterbalancethese through local and national production, and theyalso provoke resistance. This context produces tensionsreflecting different attempts at achieving membershipand constructing identities. These tensions makedemands on education in terms of acquiring skills tofacilitate their peaceful, creative resolution.

The new scenario at the beginning of the twenty-firstcentury thus provides more opportunities and more risksfor each and every individual to have access to a livingwage, for the redistribution of the benefits of economicgrowth, for social cohesion, democracy and culturaldiversity. It also provides more opportunities and risksfor peace at the international, regional and local levels.

Education can be a powerful tool for exploiting theopportunities and avoiding the pitfalls of this new sce-nario. But not the same education as in the nineteenthcentury, which is still widespread today. This educationhas also just offered all that it could offer, to integrate tothe new social and age groups.

II. SOME CURRENT ATTEMPTS AT REFORMING EDUCATION

In the 1980s and 1990s many countries worldwide intro-duced educational reforms focused on the above-men-

tioned concerns. These countries have implemented theirreforms from national, provincial, to community levels.But there are still other countries that have not undertakeneducational reforms. In the current context, there is noguarantee that carrying out a number of unconnectednational, provincial or local reforms is a sufficient strategyfor social cohesion and world peace. For example, evencountries with a high degree of educational developmentand well supplied with resources are dissatisfied with thequality of education and the way the reforms are takingshape. Some prominent representatives of the efforts tointroduce reforms are going so far that they write aboutthe ‘impossible reforms’ (Meirieu, 2000).

It maybe possible to mention that these feelings donot arise because of the difficulties of finding the direc-tion of the changes, but rather due to the difficulties infinding ways of managing those changes.

There is in fact a general agreement that there is aneed to strengthen the competencies and identities inorder to empower the young and adult people to find bestsolutions to problems that are existing and known, and tonew and unknown problems that are going to emerge.There is also general agreement to the fact that to do it, itis necessary to count on old and new knowledge, to beable to learn today unknown knowledge and acquire theawareness of the consequences of actions in the short,medium and long terms. In other words, there is a gener-al agreement with the needs of learning to do, to be, tolive together, and to learn.

The ongoing reforms to tackle the challenges refer tothe educational structure, curriculum and system, andschool governance.

Concerning the educational structures many coun-tries are trying to move from what can be called a ‘pyra-mid for the pyramid’ invented in the nineteenth century,to a more flexible one, structured according to the stagesof life and admitting different ways of using the educa-tional opportunities. They are also trying to move fromstreams for the different sectors of the economy in amodern industrial society (primary, secondary and high-er), to a diversity that accepts and caters to differentidentities without aggravating social inequalities. Theyare trying to preserve spaces for lifelong basic educationand to offer supplementary training for skills, that can berapidly outdated.

But from day to day it seems clear that curriculumreform is becoming the axis of the next reform period.Many countries are trying to move from rigid pro-grammes to flexible frameworks. In fact, after years ofbeing obsessed about updated information, the educa-tional community realises that a continuously updatedcurriculum is impossible, and that to improve the qualityof education, it is much more important to reform thecurriculum concept and structure.

It is quite impossible to explain in a short presenta-tion all the aspects involved in this new approach. Thereis not enough information to do it. But it is possible toanticipate at least four trends of the new curricula: (i) it

8

should really try to orient the selection of contents tomake possible the promotion of the competencies ‘to do,to learn, to live together, and to be’; (ii) it should try tochange the logic of integration at the primary level anddifferentiation by ‘academic disciplines’ at the second-ary level, going into a logic of a tension between integra-tion and differentiation throughout childhood and ado-lescence, allowing schools to combine the disciplines,workshops, projects, etc.; (iii) it should suggest replac-ing methods oriented towards transmission, by methodstowards the ‘construction’ of skills and the use of knowl-edge in context as a way to learn; and (iv) it shouldinclude proposals to evaluate procedures and competen-cies instead of measuring the amount of informationlearned.

There are mainly two changes that are being intro-duced between system and school governance. The firstone concerns internal processes. This consists of a shiftfrom the top-down control of well-established processesto the promotion of the institutional capacity to learnthrough networking. The second one concerns externalprocesses. This consists in a shift from an isolated wayof doing to a partner-oriented action.

III. TENSIONS IN THE PROCESS OFEDUCATIONAL CHANGE

In talking about comprehensive reforms and, especially,about curriculum reforms, there is a general tendency toover emphasize or interpret results and products. Thegovernment representatives reinforce the perceived suc-cesses. Frequently, university representatives and unionsprefer to emphasize criticism. But in fact those productsand impacts are the results of very complex processesthat suffer from a number of tensions. For the purpose of

an orderly presentation, these tensions can be classifiedas political, conceptual and institutional ones, althoughin practice the political, the conceptual and the institu-tional tensions are rather closely interwoven aspects ordimensions of the same process.

The acceleration and focus of the education reformand especially of the curricular transformation processeswere made possible by the pressures when knowledgebecame a core item on the public agenda. This shows thatthere is a new consensus regarding the role of knowledgein the future development of societies and individuals.However, apart from the highly abstract question, thedegree of consensus with regard to what, how, and whenteaching should take place can be relatively limited.

Consequently, when reforms begin, it is necessary todeal simultaneously with at least two needs that tend toimpose two different speeds on the processes. On the onehand, it is known that all consensus-building processesrequire a great deal of time. On the other, the possibilityof legitimizing government teams depends on the speedwith which they can provide responses to the felt needsof different social groups and segments, in the case ofcurriculum reforms, the need to have available frames ofreferences and appropriate tools to improve the qualityof education. In short, in all reform processes, it is neces-sary to resolve adequately the tension between achievingconsensus and being efficient, to mediate between differ-ent positions and quickly provide appropriate products.

Furthermore, this has to be done frequently, in a con-text of dissociation between criticism and action. In fact,in many countries a factor which on occasion restrictsthe spectrum of participants in the processes seekingconsensus and efficiency is the way in which some aca-demic and intellectual sectors in the one hand, and polit-ical sectors on the other, interpret the role of criticism.Numerous academics and intellectuals consider the criti-

TABLE 1. An overview of the reforms mentioned in the text

Horizontal structure Countries of Northern Europe, ‘Comprehensive school’Brazil, San Pablo School for children for young people

Vertical structure Australia Secondary – ‘Taffies’.

Curriculum Argentina ‘Basic content’ (CBC), by level and not by year.

Content Canada Concepts, procedures

Methodologies Australia Primary school class with 100 children

Evaluation Baccalaureate, Abutter, Maturity PISA

Links Portugal Secondary schools in partnership withbusiness teacher training institutionwith Danish NGO.

Mozambique

Management UK (Scotland) School projectsUruguay Flexibility of time

9

cal role that can be played within the framework ofrepublican democracy to be the same as under militaryauthoritarianism and attempt to monopolize this role.The paradoxical results of these attitudes are the absten-tion from the relevant decision-making processes relat-ing to specifically professional aspects. Some politi-cians, for their part, reject all criticism of theiradministration, discrediting it as press manipulation,products of the opposition parties, or something of thatnature. The result of this attitude is paradoxical, becausethey deprive themselves of external views which couldprovide them with interesting suggestions for animproved monitoring of their transformation. In fact, inboth cases there is a lack of recognition of many person-al and institutional efforts.

The tension between guaranteed national unity, fed-eral power and local empowerment is also always pres-ent in reforms, and especially in the curriculum.Frequently, the professional teams tend to loose themwhen deciding percentage of contents, whoever has thepower. But…, is it possible to establish a percentage oflocal mathematics contents? Most working teams aremoving towards a recognition that in each content is aglobal, a national, a provincial or regional and a localdimension and that decisions have to be taken differentlyin each dimension.

In the constellation of situations, there are on occa-sions certain pressures from some decision-makers torestrict and accelerate the processes of consultation andparticipation to the minimum required to validate theactivities, alternatives and proposals generated by thenearest available technical teams. This led to a loss ofopportunities for improving quality and directing collec-tive actions that can be provided by, for instance, curric-ular materials produced by genuine processes of consul-tation and participation.

Political tensions are not dissociated from ideologicaland conceptual tensions. Some requirements for politicalmonitoring arise from conceptual decisions, such as howto manage the tension between discipline-centred or child-centred curricula. In fact, one of the most difficult deci-sions in curriculum reforms is whether or not to reproducethe discipline-based structure of academic and universityresearch areas as a curricular structure. The result of thisdecision involves many teachers and pupils. Sometimes itis not easy for them to understand why some disciplineshave to disappear, be merged or split.

There are also at least four other ideological or con-ceptual tensions to be managed in curriculum reforms.The first, refers to the interests of religious, ethnic andcultural groups; the second, refers to the interests of pro-fessional groups having different languages and alsointerests; the third, refers to promoting skills or knowl-edge; and the fourth, refers to indicating information thathas to be communicated and focuses on values and pro-cedures to be learned—both of which are linked to oneof the most important institutional tensions, betweendecisions makers at governmental and school levels.

In fact, one of the most relevant tensions that takesplace during reforms, and specially during the currentcurriculum reforms, relates to what should be laid downby the authorities to educational institutions which—conceptually—everyone accepts should be increasinglyautonomous.

Educational institutions and teachers go through veryimportant experiences, but experiences are not necessari-ly synonymous with competency to create the educationneeded in the twenty-first century. Therefore, anothertwo tensions that emerge during reform periods are thosebetween experience and competency on the one handand experience and capacity for innovation on the other.

It is also necessary to mention at least some of themany other institutional tensions. In all complex reformprocesses, it is necessary to manage different timings,which can be described as political, technical, bureau-cratic and pedagogical. In poor countries, it is necessaryto count upon the existence of career functionaries hav-ing stability but low salaries on one side, and the hiringof highly paid consultants but with unstable positions,following the demands of the donors.

To go through all of these tensions, reform leadershave to be very clear that if the timing, needs, languagesand interests of each actor are considered separately,everything will lead to conserving the nineteenth centuryeducation. Only a new vision of educational reform canhelp the reformers go through these complexities.

IV. FOUR PILLARS FOR A NEW VISION OFEDUCATIONAL REFORM:IDEAS, INFORMATION, CAPACITIES AND RESOURCES

Expanding education, and especially improving thequality of educational processes throughout curriculumreform on the one side and innovation on the other side,needs a new vision for action.

This new vision assumes the centrality of empower-ment, politics and policy. It promotes the access to fourpillars: ideas, information, capacities and resources.

The available resources for education are not alwaysenough and have to be increased. Whatever resources areavailable should be efficiently used.

Oftentimes, it is amazing how the same ideas arerepeated in very different contexts. It is also amazing tosee very interesting ideas, which could be useful in onespecial context, are not known or recognized elsewhere.The strengthening of dialogue and, as far as possible, ofcertain basic political and social consensus on education-al contents and methods, can really help to both find newideas and also utilise the old ones better.

Nowadays, an enormous amount of informationexists, however, it is not always available. In order todirect reforms, the different teams need swift andsmooth availability of relevant information on contents,methods, as well as on processes of consensus building,

which may also be systematically articulated with quan-titative, structural and qualitative information.

Lastly, it is said that there are not enough skilled peo-ple for undertaking the reforms. It is for this reason thatthe most important pillars to improve the capacities seemto be the strengthening of the collective and individualcapacity of the actors at all levels of educational man-agement and in the day-to-day activities of schools. Thiswill allow the education personnel to participate in theprocesses of educational dialogue and consensus, to pro-duce and use relevant information and to promote coher-ent reforms, especially curriculum reforms.

In other words, it is a question of promoting a virtu-ous circle between policy dialogue, availability, analysisand constant improvement of key information and thestrengthening of the skills to manage the tensions. Butthere are two possibilities of managing the tensions. Thefirst one, is to avoid complaints — letting things go on.

The second one, is conducting the reforms in the decideddirection, bearing in mind that reforms and especiallycurriculum reforms involve political, social and profes-sional commitments.

The IBE intends to contribute in the construction ofthis virtuous circle, organizing opportunities for method-ologies of exchange, information sharing and capacity-building through the promotion of networking in all theregions of the world. Networking could be in the form ofideas, information and capacities, which are availablebut unequally distributed. It is just a question of mobiliz-ing them.

Reference

Meirieu, P. 2000. L’école des parents: la grande explica-tion. Paris, Plon.

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11

I. INTRODUCTION

The IBE-PROAP Capacity-Building Seminar forCurriculum Specialists is part of UNESCO’s endeavour,in close co-operation with its Member States, to developa broadened vision of educational contents and methodsin emerging knowledge-based society and to facilitate aholistic approach to curricular reform/renewal in light ofthe guiding principle of learning throughout life.

In an information-intensive age, education is mandat-ed to respond to demands in two directions: on the onehand, it has to transmit an increasing amount of con-stantly evolving knowledge and know-how adapted to aknowledge-driven civilization; on the other hand, it hasto enable learners not to be overwhelmed by the flows ofinformation, while keeping personal and social develop-ment as its end in view. To quote from the Delors Report,Learning: the treasure within,‘Education must …simultaneously provide maps of a complex world in con-stant turmoil and the compass that will enable people tofind their way in it’ (p. 85).

The reform of curriculum content has becomeincreasingly important, inasmuch as it is essential thatwhat students learn is relevant to them as individuals andcitizens, in their present and future context, as well as tocommunity and societal development. It is not so muchbased on the delivery of ‘facts’ and knowledge, butrather on the skills of learning that can be consistentlyapplied in an ongoing manner, long after leaving the for-mal education setting.

This presentation focuses on the changes in educa-tion emerging over the very recent past, which havemandated fundamental rethinking on roles of educationand fundamental changes in the content of education. Itis intended to contribute an alternative to the world-wideefforts in the reorganization of education. It is argued, asin the Delors Report, that if education is to succeed in itstasks, curriculum as its core should and could be restruc-tured and re-built upon the four pillars of learning:learn-ing to knowfor acquiring the instruments of understand-ing, learning to do for acting on one’s environment,learning to live togetherfor co-operation with others inall human activities, and learning to befor the full flow-ering of human potential and multi-dimensional devel-opment of the ‘complete person’.

II. THE CONTEXT FOR ‘CAPACITY BUILDING’

With all the current rhetoric around the region relating tothe reform of educational content, delivery and systems,it is essential to understand the context of and need for‘capacity building’, as it has become known. In order tocomplete the process of educational reform, the follow-ing contextual factors articulate important pre-requisitesfor building the capacity of our education systems todeliver high quality and relevant curriculum to learnersof all ages.

● Important new policy perspectives are emerging, andrequired, in the light of the changing nature andtrends of development around the region.

● At the same time, these changes have led to a needfor revision and improvement of the educationalcontent provided to learners, so that what they learnis relevant to their lives and contexts.

● A broad understanding of the structures and theoriesof knowledge by those responsible for building thecapacity of our education systems is fundamental, sothat sound decisions are made.

● Similarly, specialized knowledge of the specificcontent and contexts of the various disciplines andsubject areas is essential before changes can be pro-perly made.

● No one can safely make changes to build the capacityof education without understanding the psychologicalcharacteristics and learning needs of the target groups.

● Finally, education policy makers must have a tho-rough understanding of the pedagogical principles oforganized teaching and learning.

III. THE NEED FOR CURRICULUM REFORM

In essence, there is now a need for the fundamental re-organization and re-packaging of the educational contentmade available to learners.

School curriculum in most Asian education systemshas been much over-loaded, and yet many educatorshave continued to attempt to include new content in thecurriculum in order to reflect changes and new needs.Therefore, there is now widespread overcrowding of the

A reflection on ‘learning to learn’:the four pillars of learning and their implicationsfor curriculum reforms

Zhou Nanzhao

12

total curriculum in most systems. Too much material iscompeting for a finite time available for delivery, withthe result that some material is of necessity ignored orbrushed over.

Further, education has traditionally not so muchinvolved imparting the skills of learning, but rather thecramming of information and facts, often unrelated tothe learners’ needs, and largely due to the overcrowdedcurriculum. The content has also suffered from beingnarrow in focus and single-discipline oriented, withoutthe benefits of establishing and building on links withother disciplines in an integrated approach for a broadeducation. Traditionally, there has been a bias against theaffective, ethical and values dimension of curriculumcontent, now seen as vital for a balanced education.

The design and organization of education systemshas usually been centralized, with the head officesdirecting in a top-down, one-way flow of educationdelivery in a unified and single-style approach.Tragically, the product delivered is all too often alsoirrelevant to the contemporary needs of learners.

The teaching of life skills and social skills has notpreviously been recognized as important, nor indeeddefined. Life is infinitely more complex in the world ofthe twenty-first century, and it is important to ensure thatlearners are adequately equipped to deal with them.

It is also widely observed that the school systemtends to cram a narrow range of information into stu-dents that specifically prepares them to gain admissioninto some tertiary course with its restricted entry criteria.This limited approach does not adequately prepare stu-dents for life after students leave the security of the for-mal learning centres and systems.`

IV. CHANGED/CHANGING CONTEXTS INCURRICULUM REFORM

A wide and very significant range of contextual changescombine to emphasize the importance of curriculum andeducation renewal. Several major factors can be identi-fied:

● With the explosion of information and communica-tion technologies around the world, we are witnes-sing the emergence and consolidation of a know-ledge-based economy and society. Such a majorchange requires important and expanded roles foreducation.

● The rift between the rich and the poor around theregion is not decreasing, but widening. The Asia-Pacific region has approximately 1.3 billion of itspeople living below the poverty line, living on lessthan US$1 per day, and increasingly helpless to alle-viate this gap. Policy makers now see education forpoverty alleviation as one way of making someinroad into this dilemma.

● As an extension to this last scenario, we now have anew phenomenon described commonly as the ‘digital

divide’, whereby the huge gap between those whohave access to information and communication tech-nology and those who do not is exacerbated.Strategic educational policies and planning can gosome way to reducing that gap.

● As signaled in the Delors Report, several tensions areemerging. One key example is the threat to the pre-servation of cultural identity and traditional indige-nous knowledge in many communities, due to theoverpowering globalization impacts of the know-ledge society. There is a growing need for inter-cultural learning and international understanding, inorder to redress this impact.

● Despite the many obvious progressive developmentsaround the region, there are still many people whosuffer from what can best be described as socialexclusion, due to economic inequity. For instance,800 million people are under-nourished, 1.3 billionare living without safe water, 880 million adults arefunctionally illiterate, and around 113 million chil-dren still have no access to primary education.Therefore, the absolute priority that UNESCO placeson social equity and education for all (EFA) to reachthe unreached is very soundly based.

● As a direct consequence of the emphasis around theregion on economic growth at any cost, severe envi-ronmental and ecological degradation has occurredin many countries. The importance, therefore, ofenvironmental education programmes that articulatesustainable growth and development cannot be over-emphasized.

● The processes of material progress and technicalchange have in many instances led to the alienationand de-humanization of many people. Introducingeducation programmes that focus on humanisticvalues can lessen these tragic effects.

● The increasing AIDS epidemic (18.8 million peoplein the region have died since 1983) shows the clearneed for preventive education and culturally-basedapproaches to prevention and teacher training for‘life-skills’ programmes.

V. A NEW EDUCATIONAL VISION FOR ACTION

These changing contexts demand a new vision for educa-tion, a vision that accepts the inalienable right for all peo-ple to have access to a relevant education, and that manyproblems and issues can successfully be addressedthrough appropriate educational policies and programmes.

In a broadening vision for education, it is increasing-ly accepted that education has expanded roles:

● as a fundamental human right;● as an investment, for economic, social and political

advantages;● as a tool of empowerment for disadvantaged groups;● as a principal means for the full development of

human potential and individual talents;

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● as a cornerstone for a culture of peace;● as a major avenue towards the sound development of

learning societies.

VI.MAJOR SHIFTS IN EDUCATION

Over the past few years, several major directional shiftsin education have become apparent, which will havemajor implications for curricular changes:

● From ‘schooling’ (with the expectation that peopleonly learn during their relatively brief time in the for-mal school system) to continuous lifelong education.

● From teaching as the delivery of curriculum content,to learning as an active role by the learner.

● From inequality of access to equality of education, orin other words, from ‘the best education for the best’(most privileged students) to ‘the best education forall’.

● From a focus on financial/material inputs, onto thelearning process and the resultant outcomes.

● From a narrow, discipline-based curriculum and tea-cher-centred education, to a learner-centred, integra-ted, inter-disciplinary learning.

● From purely quantitative evaluation of cognitive lear-ning achievements in terms of test scores, to qualita-tive as well as quantitative evaluation of all dimen-sions of learning outcomes.

● From rigid assessment of individual students/teachers, to a broader assessment that includesschool and system performance indicators.

VI.THE FOUR ‘PILLARS OF EDUCATION’ASFUNDAMENTALS

In order that educators and policy makers understand therelevance of the four pillars, a brief snapshot follows ofwhat each relates to in terms of educational context.

1. Learning to know

This pillar focuses on combining sufficiently broad gen-eral knowledge and basic education, such as might beexperienced in elementary schooling, with the opportu-nity to work in depth on a small number of subjects, inthe light of rapid changes brought about by scientificprogress and new forms of economic and social activity.Specific aims include:

● to master the instrument of knowledge;● to learn how to learn and to discover, so as to benefit

from ongoing educational opportunities continuouslyarising (formally and non-formally) throughout life;

● to develop the faculties of memory, imagination, rea-soning and problem-solving;

● to understand about his/her environment;● to think in a coherent and critical way;● to communicate with others;

● to acquire a knowledge of the scientific method andinstruments;

● to develop a scientific spirit and an inquiring mind;● to acquire independence of judgement.

2. Learning to do

Emphasis is on the learning of skills necessary to prac-tise a profession or trade, including all schemes in whicheducation and training interact with work. People alsoneed to develop the ability to face a variety of situations,often unforeseeable, and to work in a team approach.Partnerships between education, business and industryare encouraged. Key aims are:● to apply in practice what has been learned;● to develop vocational/occupational and technical

skills;● to develop social skills in building meaningful inter-

personal relations;● to transform knowledge into innovations and job-

creation;● to develop competence, a mix of higher skills, of

social behaviour, of an aptitude for team work, andinitiative/readiness to take risks;

● to develop personal commitment to work;● to enhance the ability to communicate and to work

with others;● to manage and resolve conflicts.

3. Learning to be

The development of human potential to the fullest is themajor priority of this pillar. As we go forward in thetwenty-first century, everyone will need to exercisegreater independence and judgement, combined with astronger sense of personal responsibility.

An underpinning principle could be said to be ‘theaim of development is the complement of man, in all therichness of his personality’, with education contributingto the all-round development of each individual, in theface of the ‘dehumanization and personality-alienation’that comes as a result of technical change. Education isabove all an inner journey, the stages of which corre-spond to those of the continuous maturing of the person-ality. Education as a means to an end of a successfulworking life is thus a very individualized process. At thesame time, it represents a process of constructing socialinteraction. Fundamental aims of learning to be include:● cultivating qualities of imagination and creativity;● developing diversified talents and dimensions of per-

sonalities —aesthetic, artistic, literary, sporting,scientific, cultural and social;

● developing critical thinking and exercising indepen-dent judgment;

● developing personal commitment and responsibilityfor the public good;

● tapping fully the talents (treasure) hidden within eachindividual.

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4. Learning to live together

In the current context of globalization, the Delors Reportplaces particular emphasis on this pillar. We must cometo understand others, their history, traditions and cul-tures, living and interacting peacefully together. Aims ofthis pillar include:

● to discover others;● to appreciate the diversity of the human race;● to know oneself;● to be receptive to others and to encounter others

through dialogue and debate;● to care about others;● to work toward common objectives in co-operative

undertakings;● to manage and resolve conflicts.

VIII. APPROACHES TO CURRICULAR RENEWALAND REFORM

Given that we have now entered the twenty-first century,it is absolutely essential that educators and policy mak-ers use the broad framework of the four pillars of educa-tion and learning to develop a relevant education thatwill effectively meet the needs of the region’s people. Insummary, it is advocated that:● the four pillars of education be used as guiding prin-

ciples for educational content and practice, in linewith the principle of lifelong learning;

● the four pillars of education be used as integratedcomponents of teaching units in individual sub-jects;

● the four pillars of education be used as themes forinter-disciplinary studies and programmes on majorsocietal or scientific/technological themes, such as inthe International Baccalaureate Organisation’sApproaches to learning; theories of knowledge(modules as ‘building-blocks’ of learning);

● diversification of curricular and extra-curricular acti-vities be developed;

● decentralization of curriculum planning be imple-mented, taking into account the various needs oflocal learning communities;

● utilizing educational resources in virtual learningenvironments, in addition to traditional settings.

IX.CONCLUSION

The four pillars of education, as articulated in theDelors Report, provide an excellent basis for the reformand renewal of the basic education curriculum in theAsia-Pacific region. If applied appropriately within thecontextual settings around the region, these pillars willadd great value to the relevance of curriculum contentand the delivery of a quality education that is designedto meet the lifelong needs of learners in their communi-ties.

I. INTRODUCTION

The new millennium has brought with it a heightenedsense of urgency for a greater regional co-operation in virtually all spheres of human activities. Thisurgency is a gift of ‘globalization’, which began to gain momentum towards the end of the twentiethcentury to become the gospel of the twenty-first century. It also carries with it, its own share of novelties, problems, opportunities and complexitiesthat call for responses and resolutions which transcend national boundaries. Education is one area of activity that has been among the earliest to recognize the value of and need for regional co-operation. Some thirty years before the term ‘globalization’ came into vogue, the countries of the Southeast Asian region formed SEAMEO(Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Orga-nization, established on 30 November 1965, with theSecretariat based in Bangkok, Thailand). The objec-tives were to work towards ‘strengthening regionalunderstanding and co-operation in education, scienceand culture for a better quality of life.’

In keeping with its mission statement, SEAMEO isgeared towards:

● The establishment of networks and partnerships;

● The provision of an intellectual forum for policymakers and experts; and

● The development of regional ‘centres of excellence’for the promotion of sustainable human resourcedevelopment.

Since its establishment thirty-five years ago,SEAMEO has achieved remarkable progress in humanresource development among its member countries inthe areas of education, science and culture. This hasbeen made possible by the close links and spirit of co-operation that has prevailed over the years among themember and associate member countries. This spirit ofco-operation can provide the foundation on which cur-ricular reform in education could be built to enable theregion’s education systems to meet the challenges ofglobalization.

II. CURRENT STATUS OF CURRICULARREFORMS IN THE REGION

The term ‘curriculum’ as used here, refers to ‘school’ cur-riculum, or curriculum that constitutes a child’s first elevenor twelve years of basic formal education—in the primaryas well as secondary school environment. Within this set-ting, a comparative overview of the region’s diverse schoolcurricula becomes possible and meaningful.

A study of the region’s new or ‘about-to-be-adopted’national school curricula will reveal some commontrends in the curricular reforms expected to be imple-mented by the respective countries. The following aresome of the common trends:

1. Increased democratization of educational opportuni-ties

In all countries of the SEAMEO region, serious effortshave been made towards providing free and/or compul-sory education up to the ninth or even the twelfth year ofschool education. This augurs well to increase literacyrates and usher in an era where an educated population isreceptive to concepts such as lifelong learning, continu-ing education and self-improvement.

2. Raised profile of selected components of the curricula

This is especially true in science and mathematics, infor-mation technology usage and application, and the acqui-sition of an international language — especially English.Serious efforts have been made towards a balanced cur-riculum in each country, such as, integrating elements ofvarious components across the curriculum. However, itis quite apparent that the above three components standout in all the reformed curricula or ‘about-to-be-reformed’ curricula. The rationale behind these compo-nents’ prominence is in line with global trends as thelooming dominance of the k-economy would invariablyrequire that the human resources of any region be scien-tifically literate, and IT-functional.

3. Pedagogical shift towards child-centered, activity-based methodology

Increasingly, the curricula of the countries in the regionadvocate a shift from the traditional teacher-centred

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Capacity-building for curriculum reforms:a South-East Asian perspective

Tan Khun

methodology towards one that is child-centred and activity-based. This move is not entirely a new one but itdoes differ from the previous ones in that it goes beyondmere child-centred activities (such as lists of proceduresin science practical) towards involving students in prob-lem-solving and investigative work. Such a trend wouldentail the employment of a wide selection of teachingstrategies, such as co-operative learning, higher-order ofthinking skills and active learning.

4. Assessment, move towards alternatives

While the traditional paper-and-pencil tests still prevailin the regional curricula, such traditional notions of aca-demic assessment through a single valid way are increas-ingly giving way to the application of alternative instru-ments of assessment. These alternatives, designed informs such as portfolios, projects, self-assessment, etc.,would provide a more holistic representation of the stu-dents’ knowledge and progress. Thus, this move repre-sents a shift from the traditionally upheld instrumentsbased on verbal-linguistics and logical-mathematicalskills towards assessments that include a greater range ofhuman capacities and intelligences, in tune with prevail-ing global trends on school assessment.

III. SEAMEO’S ROLE IN CURRICULAR REFORMIN THE REGION

‘Curriculum’, whether taken in its narrow sense orviewed in a broader perspective, has to in any case beeffectively implemented to produce the desired out-come. Effective implementation entails aspects of: plan-ning, teaching, learning and assessing. All these aspectsconstitute major domains of teacher education and train-ing programmes — for the professional development ofteachers. Successful implementation of a curriculumwould require efficient and well-equipped imple-menters — the professional teachers. In the same vein,any curricular reform depends greatly on the imple-menters at the school level: the quality of the schoolmanagers and teachers. In this respect, the emergingscenario in some member countries of the SEAMEOregion is cause for major concerns. In the countries ofthe Indo-China region for example, there are shortagesof teaching staff— the untrained teachers and the under-trained teachers implement the curriculum without suf-ficient understanding, thus compromising the curricularreform.

SEAMEO, as a regional organization committed topromoting regional co-operation in matters related toeducation and human resource development, plays a pos-itive role in helping the member countries to overcomedifficulties faced in implementing their curriculum sothat they may maximally benefit from these reforms.SEAMEO has currently fourteen centres of specialized

institutions hosted by member countries. Each centre’sprimary focus is on training educational personnel,besides engaging in research, consultancy and trainingcapacity that go beyond its ‘core’ mandate. These centresare structured in three groupings, namely: (a) learning,(b) health, (c) agriculture, natural resources, environ-ment. Of the three groupings, three centres appropriatelysupport curricular implementation and reforms in basiceducation. These three centres have a direct impact onand contribute to capacity-building towards curricularreform. These are: (i) Regional Centre for Education inScience and Mathematics (SEAMEO-RECSAM); (ii)Regional Language Centre (SEAMEO-RELC); and (iii)Regional Centre for Educational Innovation andTechnology (SEAMEO-INNOTECH).

The above-mentioned centres have, over the pastthree decades, built up a wealth of experience andexpertise in training and professional activities aimed atenhancing the skills of teachers, educators and schoolmanagers in their respective fields. Their specializationscorrespond to the core concerns of the member coun-tries’ curricular reforms in science and mathematics,English language, educational leadership and innova-tions for development.

Building the capacities of teachers and school man-agers is essential to fully realize the potential of any cur-riculum implementation and reform. The threeSEAMEO centres that have been singled out to be in theforefront of the organization’s involvement in theregion’s curricular reform have been making tirelessefforts at enhancing the skills of the grassroots workersat school level for the past three decades or so. Theseworkers are none other than the teachers and managersof the countless schools in the region. As the region pro-gresses, societal demands and expectations on theschools become greater, making their tasks more com-plex and multifarious. These three centres with their spe-cializations are by no means adequate to successfullymeet the targets set in relation to curricular reforms byeach country. However, as their specialized expertise isdirectly relevant to the core-elements of the reforms, it ishoped that their efforts and contributions in basic capaci-ty-building towards effective curricular reform in theregion’s education systems would be significant.SEAMEO, as a whole, is sensitive to the need to contin-uously re-orient and adapt itself to new situations inorder to stay abreast of new developments and changesin the new age. The centres’ activities reflect this philos-ophy, and their training programmes are continuouslyupgraded to meet new requirements. Presently, all of thethree centres have sufficient room and training capacityto accommodate an increase in the number of trainees.The good news is that a certain momentum has alreadybeen generated and no longer are prohibitive externalinputs required to take the great strides necessary to keeppace with the ceaseless changes that characterize ourtimes.

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PART TWO:

STRENGTHENING CAPACITIESFOR CURRICULUM REFORM

I. BACKGROUND

A project—‘Curriculum Innovations in Basic Education:Preparing the Learners to Meet the Challenges of theNew Millenium’— has received extra-budgetary supportfrom the Japanese Funds-in-Trust grant to UNESCO. Theimplementation of the project was initiated in September2000, with the preparation of a concept paper for jointprogramming between the International Bureau ofEducation (IBE) and the UNESCO Principal RegionalOffice for Asia and the Pacific (PROAP). The partnershipwith IBE took concrete steps during the Seminar on‘Capacity-building for Curriculum Specialists in the Eastand South-East Asian Region,’ held in Bangkok Thailandin December 2000. This was hosted by the Ministry ofEducation, Thailand, with eleven countries and oneSEAMEO Regional Centre participating. These were:Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia,Mongolia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Thailand,Viet Nam, and SEAMEO RECSAM. The seminar wasaimed at building capacities in the areas of curriculumreform and innovation at primary and secondary levels,and also to prepare the participating countries in under-taking the ‘Situation Analysis of the ExistingCurriculum,’ as a basis for pursuing curriculum reforms.

II. RATIONALE OF THE PROJECT

The South-East and East Asian region is faced with a dif-ficult situation as a result of the economic downturnleading to a new economic and social order. The regionis also challenged to cope with the scientific and techno-logical progress and the advances in information andcommunication technology, which are mostly happeningin the developed world. Despite continuous efforts toimprove the science education programmes, societybelieves that the reforms taking place are still slow.Curriculum structure and content and the teachers’ skillsbecome increasingly out-dated. Even in cases where for-mal educational institutions succeed in keeping up-datedwith the advances in knowledge, information learned inschool soon becomes obsolete in a short period of time.Furthermore, educational reforms are not implementedeffectively.

Both regionally and internationally, there have beentrends toward curricular reforms and innovations tointroduce learner-centred educational content and sys-temic changes responding to national/regional develop-ment needs. However, a large gap needs to be filled tobuild national capacities for curriculum reform throughintellectual guidance and advisory services. UNESCOintends to fill this gap.

In August 1999,Asiaweekmentioned twenty trendsfor the new millenium that are expected to shape devel-opments in the Asian region and the world, and the livesof people in the years ahead — both positively and nega-tively. Most of these are attributed to science and tech-nology advances, and the introduction of new forms oftechnology, i.e. ‘the power of the microchips.’

We are wondering, however, how the advances in sci-ence and technology will affect a region characterized by awide range of diversity—economically, politically, geo-graphically, culturally, etc. In 1995, the Asian region had60% of the world’s population, 625 million out of the 885million adult illiterates of the world, 74 million children,comprising 50% of the world’s unschooled children. Some64% of the illiterates are women, and 66% of children notenrolled in schools are girls. Of course, most of these are inSouthern Asia. Many countries are predominantly ruraland agricultural with low per capita income and high popu-lation growth rate; high unemployment; and with a highincidence of HIV/AIDS, and generally live below thepoverty level. The World Forum on Education for All(Dakar, 2000) showed some improvements in the abovefigures, but these are not significant enough. Besides, the‘quality of education’has not been given enough emphasis.

In 1993, Project 2000+: Scientific and TechnologicalLiteracy for All was launched at the UNESCOHeadquarters in Paris, within the framework of‘Education for All’. The provision for providing basiclearning needs of youth and adults recognizes the needfor a scientifically and technologically literate society.Scientific and Technological Literacy will provide learn-ers with an understanding of the positive use of scienceand technology for the social good, provide opportuni-ties for rational decisions to prevent destruction of thephysical environment, to preserve and ensure the sur-vival of the future generation, and allow cultures torenew cultural traditions with scientific wisdom.

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Analyzing existing curriculum frameworks for change

Lucille C. Gregorio

The 30C/5 (UNESCO’s Draft Programme andBudget, 2000–2001), stresses the need for ‘renewal ofcurricula, focusing on integration of various curricularelements,’ and the need to intensify science and technol-ogy education (STE), with emphasis on scientific knowl-edge and technical skills necessary for meaningful par-ticipation in the knowledge society of the future. Theactivities envisioned in this project would closely link toUNESCO’s regular programme and would be includedin the ‘monitoring and evaluation plan.’

The World Conference on Science organized byUNESCO and the International Council for Science,held in Hungary in June 1999, recommended that genderand cultural diversity, and response to educational andsocietal needs be considered in curriculum development.The conference also recognized that science educationreforms will not solve problems without ‘social change’,and therefore, the participation of social science andhumanities was well applauded. It was during theConference that the World Social Science Report waslaunched.

The Delors Report, the main source of inspiration oneducation for the twenty-first century, proposed reorien-tation and reorganization of education systems based onthe guiding principle of ‘learning throughout life,’ build-ing on the ‘four pillars of learning’ (learning to know,learning to do, learning to be, learning to live together)through curricular innovations/reforms.

The 6 September 1999 issue of Asiaweekpoints outthat ‘Asians have always been proud of how well theyeducate their children’. The Third Science andMathematics Study has shown that Japan, Korea andSingapore scored highest in science and mathematicscompared to the rest of the countries participating in thestudy. However, governments are realizing that theyoung learners are not at all prepared to meet the newmillenium—‘where thinking and creativity’ would bethe most important attributes.

There are also questions being raised today, as towhether the present teaching/learning in school and outof school provide learners with opportunities to createtheir own abilities to develop skills and competencies inacquiring and processing information, in risk taking, anddevelop self-confidence in solving problems and deci-sions-making.

This project, therefore, seeks to look into thestrengths and weaknesses of the curriculum for basiceducation of the eleven participating countries in Eastand South-East Asia, moving towards a sub-regionalstrategy for developing a curriculum framework for thelearners of the twenty-first century.

II. THE PROJECT GOAL AND OUTCOMES

The project will provide some assessment of the qualityof learning at the basic level, and the effectiveness inpreparing the learners for the challenge of the new mille-

nium, with ‘lifelong learning’ as the ultimate goal.Considerations would be based not only on the recom-mendations of the world conferences held from 1990,but more so in the ‘Four Pillars of Learning,’ advocatedby the International Commission on Education for theTwenty-First Century.

To attain this goal, a regional framework and guide-lines were agreed upon by the participants of the capaci-ty-building seminar.

III. THE SITUATION ANALYSIS GUIDELINES ANDFRAMEWORK

Part I: A situation analysis of the National Curriculumfor Basic Education

I.1. Brief introduction/background on the nationalcurriculum:I.1.a Pertinent laws and policies bearing on the

national curriculum for basic education;I.1.b The underlying philosophy and rationale

of the national curriculum;I.1.c Major goals and objectives of basic educa-

tion;I.1.d Vision of a student completing primary-

level, elementary-level, and secondary-level education (as expressed in terms ofspecific knowledge and competencieslearned and acquired by the student).

I.2 Curriculum development and design:I.2.a Description of the prevailing organization-

al structures and mechanisms and consul-tation processes involved in curriculum;

I.2.b Development (the role of ministries/departments of education, other nationalbodies, regional agencies, and localschools and communities in curriculumdevelopment; balancing the demands of the prescribed core curriculum withlocal needs and circumstances or theautonomy of schools in translating thecore curriculum into a school-based curriculum);

I.2.c An overview of the existing curriculumdesign for basic education describing thesubject matter or topical coverage bygrade level or year and the number ofhours/minutes devoted to each subject ortopic at the primary, elementary and sec-ondary grades.

I.3 The implementation of the national curriculum:I.3.a The adoption of the national curriculum in

the formal school system (or by public andprivate schools);

I.3.b Existing infrastructure support for thenational curriculum (i.e. the adequacy ofclassrooms and physical facilities, and of

19

equipment, laboratories and libraries inschools and learning centers);

I.3.c The state of textbooks and instructionalmaterials;

I.3.d The training of teachers in subjectmatter/topical content, pedagogy updates,and the use of textbooks and other instruc-tional materials.

I.4 Feedback (monitoring, reporting and evaluation)mechanisms on the implementation of the nation-al curriculum:I.4.a Institutional supervision and reporting

systems adopted by schools, regional bod-ies and national ministries/departments ofeducation;

I.4.b Achievement indicators (enrolment ratesand drop-out rates by grade/year level; percent passing of national achievement testsor qualifying examinations at primary, ele-mentary and secondary levels);

I.4.c External or commissioned reviews regu-larly or periodically undertaken by specialcommittees or task forces on the curricu-lum or the education sector;

I.4.d Research-based studies on the state andeffectiveness of various aspects of thenational curriculum and its implementa-tion, i.e., as research on the effectivenessof curriculum content, existing pedagogiesand instructional approaches, teachertraining, and of textbooks and instruction-al materials).

I.5 A discussion on the specific strengths and weak-nesses of the national curriculum and its imple-mentation:I.5.a Its strengths;I.5.b Its weaknesses;I.5.c Summary of the major recommendations

for improving the national curriculum.

I.6 Recent and ongoing curricular reform initiatives:I.6.a Status of implementation;I.6.b Factors facilitating and/or constraining the

implementation of curricular reform initia-tives.

I.7 Summary and conclusions: assessment of theNational Curriculum for Basic Education.

Part II: Proposing a new framework for revising andupdating the curriculum in basic education

II.1 Revisiting the goals and objectives of basic edu-cation against the background of current-daydemands and realities.

II.2 Visioning or imaging the growth and developmentof students in the new millennium as they gothrough the various levels of basic education.

II.3 Integrating the principle of learning/educationthroughout life (as against simply education forhigher learning or education for work, cf. theDelors Report) into the underlying rationale andphilosophy of basic education.

II.4 Integrating/incorporating the four pillars of learn-ing expounded in the Delors Report (learning to livetogether, learning to know, learning to do and learn-ing to be) into the learning outcomes of the basiceducation curriculum along with the following:II.4.a The knowledge and concepts to be

learned/acquired by students (learning toknow);

II.4.b The mental (thinking, reasoning, etc.) fac-ulties, emotional skills and qualities, thecreative/aesthetic sense, the spiritual well-being, or the self-knowledge, discoveryand development to be encouraged amongstudents (learning to be);

II.4.c The attitudes and values to be imparted tostudents with some emphasis placed onthose supportive of tolerance and peace,respect for others and social cohesion andharmony (learning to live together); and

II.4.d The practical application skills and work-related experiences and competencies tobe similarly developed among students(learning to do).

II.5 Promoting interdisciplinarity in the basic educa-tion curriculum:II.5.a Reconceptualizing subject-matter contents

into interrelated themes or topics (asagainst dividing these into separate sub-jects or fields of studies) and highlightingtheir coherence and connectedness;

II.5.b Reorienting instructional methods andpedagogies towards interdisciplinary andmore holistic approaches.

II.6 Proposals (for workshops, training seminars,development of new teaching modules and materi-als and other activities) for further advancing thenew framework for a basic education curriculum.

IV. FUTURE PLANS

The participants from the eleven countries went back toundertake a ‘Situation Analysis of the ExistingCurriculum,’ in their respective countries. By the middleof 2001 we expect to publish the eleven country situationanalyses and a regional synthesis.

Based on the outcome of the country situation analy-sis, a sub-regional strategy for developing a curriculumframework for the learners of the twenty-first centurywill be formulated. This will be later utilized for the‘Training of Curriculum Developers and TeacherTrainers for Curriculum Change.’

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I. THE NEW DEMANDS FOR EDUCATION

Curriculum development is a complex on-going process,which must constantly change to reflect changes inbroader society and to take into account evolving knowl-edge about learning and developmental processes.Effective curriculum development for adequately meet-ing learner needs should involve constant reflection,debate and decision-making about what is to be learnedand why, how it is to be learned, the roles of teacher andlearner in the educational process, the roles of otherstakeholders, and the relationship between the schooland the community.

Regular curriculum renewal is considered increasing-ly necessary in education systems around the world dueto the rapid changes taking place in contemporary socie-ty. According to Skilbeck (1998), curriculum renewalmay be defined as ‘the gearing of educational contentsand procedures to a changing and uncertain world’. Thisworld is characterized, among other things, by ever-more-rapid technological and scientific development; agrowing dependence on information and knowledge asthe most important resources for economic advance-ment; an increasingly globalized economy leading togrowing inequality between rich and poor countries; anever greater intermingling of peoples and cultures;severe ethnic, cultural and political conflicts in manycountries; and an erosion of traditional value systems innearly all societies.

The issues listed here-along with a number of othersdiscussed in other chapters of this report¯indicate thegreat challenges posed to the process of curriculumdevelopment and reform in today’s society. The rapidpace of change, and the central role played by informa-tion and knowledge in development, have led to an on-going debate about the nature and purpose of learning inschool and in society, with the meaning of educationbeing re-examined and redefined. Traditional educationhas proved to be inadequate for the needs of the ‘post-modern’ society. As discussed elsewhere in this report,acquiring the four pillars of knowledge—learning toknow, learning to do, learning to be, and learning to livetogether—is advocated as the desired objective of theeducational process, equipping individuals with theknowledge and skills needed to learn throughout life, to

be productive and active citizens, enabling continuedpersonal growth, enhanced economic and social devel-opment, and fostering social cohesion (Delors et al.,1996). The concept of ‘learning to learn’ has come todominate educational discourse, being seen as the ulti-mate outcome of learning.1

To equip young people in this way requires a hugeshift in the traditional contents and methods of educationas they continue to exist in the majority of schoolsaround the world. The concept and meaning of knowl-edge has altered. It is no longer considered finite andunchanging, but is seen instead to be continuously evolv-ing. New discoveries are constantly being made and newways of interpreting and doing things are being found,with some knowledge rapidly becoming obsolete.Knowledge is also no longer seen as compartmentalizedin rigid disciplinary fields, but rather the relationshipsand interrelationships between different fields are recog-nized. The learner is acknowledged to play an active rolein constructing knowledge as he/she interprets and inter-acts with the surrounding world.

Furthermore, the learning of a range of skills, attitudesand behaviours needed for living in contemporary societyis considered as important as the acquiring of knowledgeitself, and they are, in fact, seen as an integral part ofknowledge. Many of these skills and behaviours focus onpreparation for the needs of the labour market.2 Others areconcerned more generally with fostering personal andsocial well-being. These changes have great implicationswhen deciding what and how to teach in schools.

To respond to these new concepts of education, muchemphasis is being placed on interdisciplinary learningand integrated curricula, as well as on student-centred,activity-based approaches.

In light of the new demands on the curriculum devel-opment process, it is increasingly agreed that it shouldinvolve a wide range of actors or stakeholders, not justeducational policy-makers, researchers and curriculumspecialists, but community leaders, representatives fromeconomic sectors, future employers, parents, studentsand, most importantly, the teachers themselves. In thisoverview of the role of information in curriculum devel-opment, the target group being considered is those pri-marily responsible for curriculum design. This wouldinclude directors of curriculum development units and

21

The role of information and knowledge in curriculum development

Isabel Byron

curriculum/subject specialists working in such institu-tions or in schools, as well as academic faculty workingdirectly with education departments and schools in thisfield, teacher educators, school principals and someteachers.

Curriculum developers have the task of translatingeducational policy decisions into detailed curriculumplans for individual subject areas, specific grades andlevels of education. The level of freedom or autonomygiven to them in this task varies from country to country,as does the degree to which the curriculum developmentprocess is a truly participatory one. Whatever the situa-tion, the main actors in the process should be equippedto make suitably informed decisions about what and howchildren learn in schools.

II. WHAT TYPE OF INFORMATION IS NEEDED?

Decision-making for curriculum developers is often dic-tated by external forces and pressures: political deci-sions, world economic trends, the increasing urge to becompetitive and to respond to the international drive forchange. Often, there is insufficient time for reflectionand considered use of research findings and other docu-mented knowledge. Nevertheless, systematic use ofinformation is felt to be essential to quality educationalprovision (Reimers and McGinn, 1995, 1998).

Curriculum developers need access to informationwhich is up-to-date, reliable, relevant, and expressed inlanguage which is easily understood. Educational pro-fessionals ideally need orientation towards quality infor-mation suitable for their specific needs. They will wantinformation packaged in a way which concisely presentssolutions or practical approaches to specific issues. In aninformation age, skilled management of information andknowledge is considered vital to the success of any sec-tor, including education. In order for knowledge to bemanaged effectively, educational professionals them-selves need to understand the processes of knowledgecreation, dissemination and application (OECD, 2000).

Reimers and McGinn define information as ‘knowl-edge that reduces uncertainty’ (1995, p. 20). The OECDdistinguishes between information and knowledge,establishing the latter as ‘a stock of experience’, ratherthan a mere product (2000, p. 57). Knowledge is classi-fied into four categories, namely, ‘know what’ (facts orinformation); ‘know why’ (principles that explain phe-nomena); ‘know how’ (competence and skills); ‘knowwho’ (who knows what and who knows what to do)(ibid., p. 14–17). Curriculum professionals need all ofthese types of knowledge, which will come from differ-ent sources and may be more or less easily obtained. Asthe OECD publication explains, while ‘know what’ and‘know why’ may be recorded in databases and variouspublished media, ‘know how’ and ‘know who’ dependnot only on recorded data, but also on human interactionand social relationships. To obtain access to these typesof knowledge, training, interaction with a range of actorsand effective professional networking are vital.

There is a wide range of educational informationarising from a multitude of sources. Listed below are anumber of types of information felt to be necessary oruseful for effective curriculum development, althoughthe list is not intended to be exhaustive:

● Major political, social, economic, cultural trends atnational and international levels;

● Specific information about the labour market, predic-tions of future training needs;

● Educational policies at national, regional and interna-tional levels;

● Curriculum development and reform processes andtrends in other countries (in the same region, in coun-tries at similar levels of development, in more deve-loped countries);

● Recent research findings on learning and development,curriculum development and student achievement;

● Recent research in fields central to curriculum deve-lopment: philosophy of education, psychology ofeducation, sociology of education;

● Comparative research and studies;● Curricular approaches within specific subject fields;● Innovative teaching/learning methods;● Information on students’ needs and interests;● Information on existing classroom practices, teacher

attitudes and behaviour;● Information on community needs and interests; ● Approaches to avoid in curriculum development;

what hasn’t worked nationally or in other contexts—and why;

● Information on the nature of knowledge and its effec-tive management;

● Information on the process and management of inno-vation and change.

In addition to information for making decisions, curricu-lum specialists need to know how to communicate theirown decisions to others, to teachers in particular, but alsoto parents and other key stakeholders in the educationalprocess. At the same time, it should be recognized thatcurriculum developers are also producers of informationand knowledge themselves. They may be researchers intheir own right and may have been teachers in the past.Their professional experience has given them very sig-nificant knowledge, but they also need the skills to putthis to effective use by passing it on to others.

Curriculum specialists need to understand theprocess of change in order to implement innovation.Successful curricular innovation can only come aboutthrough carefully planned collaborative efforts involvingall key partners in the educational process. Anderson(1992) observes that effective curriculum reformrequires systemic change, that the various elements ofthe education system are dynamically interconnectedand are also linked to other social systems. Curriculumchange will have impacts throughout the system and allthose involved in reform should be made aware of and beprepared for their role in the process. Anderson furtherstresses that, in today’s context, curricular change is like-

22

ly to be on-going and long term, while those involved inthe process need to understand the dynamics of this situ-ation.

III. SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

1. Electronic sources

The information technology revolution has transformedthe possibilities for disseminating and accessing infor-mation. Key sources of information of potential use tocurriculum developers, to be found through electronicmeans include: databases and databanks; and on-linejournals and websites of numerous institutions workingin education. The Internet also provides access to foraand discussion groups¯a new medium which is potential-ly very useful for sharing information, views and expert-ise among curriculum professionals on an internationallevel.

2. Networking

Interacting with others, both within and outside one’sprofession, is a very important means of obtaining infor-mation and increasing one’s knowledge. Networks, nowrevolutionized by the new information technologies, arestrongly recommended as means of creating, disseminat-ing and applying knowledge. Ideally, they provideopportunities not merely for exchange of information,but for collaborative efforts which allow the learning andpractical application of new knowledge (OECD, 2000,p. 74–76). Interaction with sectors and professionals out-side the education sector can bring in new ideas andapproaches which can enhance the quality and acceleratethe pace of the change process.

3. Training

Training opportunities provide an ideal means ofobtaining new knowledge, and making new contacts.Training tends, however, to be expensive and time-con-suming. The type of continuous training which wouldbe available to curriculum professionals would normal-ly be short-term intensive seminars or workshops.Often opportunities for follow-up are limited or non-existent. In this regard, networking is all the more rec-ommended.

IV. IMPEDIMENTS TO THE USE OF INFORMATION

The extent to and ways by which information and newknowledge are used by curriculum specialists in the reg-ular course of their profession is an area which needs tobe studied in detail, in order to improve the managementof information and knowledge. There are a number ofchallenges relating to the effective provision of informa-tion to meet the new demands for curriculum develop-ment and reform.

1. In most developing countries, those involved in cur-riculum development find it hard to obtain adequateup-to-date quality information to carry out their work.Educational documentation centres in ministries andcurriculum development centres, if they exist, may bepoorly stocked and badly run. Libraries in universitiesand research centres may have limited resources.Access to the Internet is often still difficult, irregularand requires considerable investment. Pertinent publi-cations listed on the Web are likely not to be availablein local libraries, or exist only in English, the principallanguage for the reporting of research.

2. Even where Internet technology is readily available,it does not yet provide unlimited access to knowl-edge. Furthermore, even in contexts where informa-tion is readily available, there is no guarantee that itwill be adequately exploited. Studies into informa-tion utilization by educational policy/decision-mak-ers and practitioners cite a number of reasons forthis, one being the limited time these professionalshave to access, read and assimilate information. Theytypically have very busy schedules, which means thatopportunities for regular, in-depth reading on educa-tional issues, and in particular research findings, arevery limited (Anderson, 1992).

3. It is argued that education as a field of academicstudy is not properly grounded in scientific princi-ples, and has depended on social science disciplines,such as sociology, psychology and philosophy, for itsacademic base, a practice that has led to the neglectof the study of actual educational phenomena.Despite advances in cognitive psychology, it is feltthat much is still not known and misunderstood aboutthe learning process¯essential knowledge if studentsare to be taught to learn how to learn and becomelifelong learners (OECD, 2000).

4. Research-based information is felt to be indispensa-ble to improving educational provision. (Reimers,McGinn & Wild, 1995; OECD, 2000). However,educational research has had limited impact on eithereducational policy making or practice in systemsaround the world. There are a number of reasonsoffered to explain this:(a) Irrelevance: educational research tends to belargely restricted to academic institutions, with limit-ed involvement on the part of decision-makers orpractitioners. Much research is not undertaken withthe decision-maker or practitioner in mind, but pri-marily to serve the interests of the researcher and theinstitution where he/she works. Reimers and McGinn(1998, p. 20) observe that, ‘in many countries, muchof the educational research is produced in universi-ties and is conceived, funded and carried out in waysthat have limited links to potential users, and whichdo not take into account the perspectives of users indrawing the implications of findings.’ The findingsoften have little direct relevance to curriculum designor classroom practice.

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(b) Inaccessibility:research findings tend to be pub-lished in academic journals and presented in recon-dite, technical language (Reimers, McGinn & Wild,1995). According to one writer, ‘researchers oftenhave greater interest and experience in the generationof new knowledge than in its communication to oth-ers’(Anderson, 1992, p. 1).

(c) Lack of sufficient authority/persuasiveness (OECD,2000). The findings of much educational research areinconclusive and do not answer the practical ques-tions being sought by those making decisions aboutwhat to teach and how.

(d) The inadequacy of the education system itself,whichmay make it resistant to or incapable of change(ibid.). This last point is a fundamental issue in thewhole process of reform, and not merely related toissues of research use.

5. A further challenge to the accessibility of knowledgeabout the educational process is that a lot of it tendsto be what is termed ‘tacit’ knowledge. This meansthat it is not explicit and clearly recorded or codified,allowing for easy transfer, dissemination and integra-tion into professional practice. Much tacit knowledgeis of the ‘know how’ variety. Teachers’ knowledge, inparticular, is felt to be largely tacit. While some ofthis knowledge is tacit by nature, some is so becauseno efforts have been made to document it (OECD,2000). This has implications for curriculum develop-ers, who need to work closely with teachers in pro-ducing and disseminating knowledge about goodinstructional practice.

IV. RESPONDING TO THE CHALLENGES

It is clearly necessary not simply to improve access toinformation, but to increase opportunities to use andreflect on this information, as well as to create newknowledge, and apply it to the curriculum developmentprocess.

1. Improving the quality and relevance of research

Hargreaves argues for more systematic research and doc-umenting of good practice in schools, in order toimprove the knowledge base available to teachers. Thisresearch should be collaborative and rooted in practice,jointly carried out by practitioners and academics (ibid.).Participatory approaches in the production of knowledgethrough research will promote dialogue, reflection andnegotiation, and lead to the growth of organizationallearning (Reimers & McGinn, 1998). They will alsoresult in a better understanding of the process of changein various contexts of educational practice (Hargreaves,1999).

Such a knowledge base would clearly be of greatvalue to curriculum developers, who need to know whatworks in schools in order to design appropriate pro-grammes. They should be key partners in such researchinitiatives, which would enable the sharing of human and

technical resources in the research process. Moreover,with school-based curriculum development increasinglyadvocated as possibly the most effective means of cur-riculum design, teachers as curriculum designers willneed to possess such a source of well-documentedknowledge (Kelly, 1999). All parties would have to betrained in how to develop and maintain such collabora-tion so as to make it genuinely fruitful, with an adequatesupport structure established.

2. Improving the dissemination of information

The issue of dissemination must be central to efforts toimprove the use of information in curriculum develop-ment. Information needs to be better packaged and mar-keted, with appropriate exploitation of ICTs. Reimersand McGinn (1995, p. 28) state that, for effective report-ing, research information should be relevant to realproblems, practical, useful, credible, understandableand provided in a timely fashion. State-of-the-art reviewsand digests of selected research and outcomes, such asthose produced by the ERIC database, are potentiallyuseful ways of selecting and synthesizing research.

Anderson (1992) recommends that a prototype com-munications strategy be designed by researchers to com-municate the results of research and innovation effec-tively in relation to curriculum reform. She recommendsthat research teams have a staff member responsible forcommunicating and also that they should hire a profes-sional writer familiar with educational issues and withthe various audiences to prepare reports and brochuresdisseminating research results. She suggests that, for dis-semination to be effective, it should seek to use commu-nication channels that are already familiar to/popularwith users, and she advocates use of a constructivistapproach to information dissemination, i.e. providingopportunities by potential users for interaction with andapplication of the knowledge.

Dissemination cannot be effective in itself.Knowledge has to be internalized, reflected on and usedin professional practice, as is appropriate. Relevant train-ing and networking structures will assist this process ofknowledge transfer (OECD, 2000).

3. Managing information and knowledge

OECD argues for a clearly defined knowledge manage-ment policy within educational institutions. From theperspective of this paper, this may include curriculumdevelopment centres and ministries of education.Knowledge management is defined as ‘management ofthe intellectual capital’ of an institution (OECD, 2000,p. 70). Some of the elements considered necessary formanaging knowledge include: (a) effective use of net-working and of ICTs; (b) defining and establishing anew relationship between educational research and prac-tice that would involve joint production and dissemina-tion of knowledge; and (c) designing an infrastructure tosupport the process at national, regional and local levels.

24

Such an infrastructure should provide resources for net-working, training, information services and other aspectsof the process, and decentralize responsibility to regionaland local levels (ibid.).

4. The information broker’s role

In order to facilitate access to and use of quality informa-tion for educational development, the concept of ‘infor-mation broker’ or ‘knowledge broker’ has emerged. Thisrole could be assumed by individuals working withineducation or research institutions, or operating as free-lance experts, who would assist in bridging the gapbetween research, decision-making and practice. Theywould identify and select relevant research,summarize/synthesize the findings in an easily readablestyle to the targeted users, and make it regularly avail-able to them. They would be able to provide comparativestate-of-the-art reviews and analyses of relevantresearch, and inform and report on the progress of on-going studies. They should have the ability to assess thevalidity of research findings and present alternative find-ings on particular issues.

Information brokers should have the capacity toanticipate information needs. Those working with cur-riculum developers would need to be well informedabout existing curriculum practice and knowledgeableabout international as well as local educational trends.One of their functions could be to co-ordinate trainingseminars to discuss and analyse leading new trends andresearch findings of relevance to educational practice.

In some cases, the profile of knowledge broker hasbeen seen as that of a policy analyst, a researcher trainedto communicate research-based information to the public(Reimers & McGinn, 1998). The report of theInternational Meeting on Educational Reform andEducational Research (1995), on the other hand, identi-fied the need for such a profile to be developed withinthe profession of documentation/information workers.

The role of information broker is being increasinglyplayed by national and international institutions. Thesemay be research and development institutions, nationalor regional information networks, such as ERIC in theUnited States or the Asian Pacific Programme ofEducational Innovation for Development (APEID), orinternational organizations, such as the IBE.

Notes

1. The various requirements for learning to learn include:

● being motivated to learn throughout life;● being skilled at identifying one’s own learning needs

or knowing how to get help with this task;

● being able to identify the kind of education and trai-ning to meet those needs and how it is assessed;

● being able to acquire a range of meta-cognitiveskills—thinking about ones own thinking, learninghow to be flexible with learning styles and strategies;

● being able to think independently and in a range ofcontexts (work, leisure, home) other than formaleducational organizations;

● learning how to access information and knowledgefrom the new world of the information and commu-nication technologies (OECD, 2000, p. 74).

2. An important observation of Reimers and McGinn (1998)is that, while the current educational discourse relating topreparation for the job market originated in the developedworld to reflect changes in economic production, it is alsothe driving force for educational reform in the developingworld often without research having been carried out toshow that such change is really necessary or viable forthese countries.

References

Anderson, B. 1992. Successful curriculum reform: sharing theknowledge with policymakers and practitioners inways that influence practice.Boulder, CO, ColoradoUniversity.

Delors, J., et al. 1996. Learning: the treasure within.Paris,UNESCO. (Report to UNESCO of the InternationalCommission on Education for the Twenty-firstCentury.)

Hargreaves, D. 1999. The knowledge-creating school. Britishjournal of educational studies(Oxford, UK), vol. 47,no. 2. p. 122–44.

Husén, T., et al. 1998. Education: the completeencyclopaedia—CD-ROM (version 1.1). ElsevierScience.

International Bureau of Education; National Institute forEducational Research of Japan. 1995. InternationalMeeting on Educational Reform and EducationalResearch: new challenges in linking research, informa-tion and decision-making: final report.Geneva,Switzerland, IBE.

Kelly, A.V. 1999.The curriculum: theory and practice,4th ed.London, Paul Chapman Publishing.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.2000. Knowledge management in the learning society.Paris, OECD.

Reimers, F.; McGinn, N.; Wild, K. 1995. Confronting futurechallenges: educational information, research anddecision-making.Paris, UNESCO.

Reimers, F.; McGinn, N. 1998. Informed dialogue: usingresearch to shape education policy around the world.Westport, CT, Praeger.

Skilbeck, M. 1998. Curriculum renewal. In: Husén, T., et al.Education: the complete encyclopaedia—CD-ROM.Elsevier Science.

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I. INTRODUCTION

Globalization and its implications, as observed in theDelors Report,1 has not only consequences for the eco-nomic dimension of human activity but also for thesocio-cultural and ethical dimensions with regard to thegrowing inter-dependence and inter-relationshipsbetween peoples and cultures. The need for humanbeings to strive towards a deeper understanding amongstthemselves has never been greater. The augmentationand reform of school curricula has hence become an evermore relevant preoccupation.

In this context, the training seminar organized bythe International Bureau of Education (IBE) and theUNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and thePacific (PROAP) in Bangkok, Thailand, from 12 to 15 December 2000, focused on capacity building infundamental skills for effective curriculum develop-ment.

One of the seminar’s objectives was to develop wide-ranging competencies related to a systematic process ofcurriculum reform, within the perspective of ‘learning tolearn.’ In this framework, a workshop on relevant com-munication skills to the curriculum development processwas organized. The main goal was to discuss, reflect anddraw guidelines related to some of these questions: Whatdo we need to communicate? To whom? In which way?The process of the workshop design and implementationwill be discussed in this paper.

II. THE DESIGN STAGE

1. The demand

Within the broad framework of the seminar, the concretedemand was for the design of a workshop that wouldprovide an opportunity for discussion and analysis ofproblems linked to the strategies for communicatingeducational policies in the process of curriculum change.

2. The first step

To start with, information on shared experiences in simi-lar contexts was collected. In this regard, documents2

were studied and interviews carried out with key inform-

ants3 with the aim of understanding the context betterand obtaining a deeper appreciation of the details ofsome of the experiences that had been carried out byIIEP4 in the framework of the development of communi-cations skills for educational policy-makers.

This preliminary exploration led to a decision to gobeyond the case study, which would already provide theparticipants with a concrete experience, and to make theworkshop methodology even more experiential, usingthe activity to unify the heterogeneous group of partici-pants.

3. The questions

The process of selecting an appropriate case suitable foradaptation to the didactic objectives of the seminar wasindeed a challenging one. It was deemed that the follow-ing criteria be taken into account: that the context be sochosen as to make the case readily comprehensible to thetarget audience and thus fully serve the pedagogical endsof the seminar; that the presentation be concise and clear,presenting critical elements of vital aspects of the cur-riculum reform.

It was therefore decided to construct a case studyfrom a variety of experiences garnered from differentcountries. A review of newspaper articles was carried outand interviews with key informants undertaken. Fromthis emerged a scenario wherein the development andimplementation processes of curriculum reform werecharacterized by conflicts and tensions. The communica-tion strategy used within and outside of the educationsystem was empirically causing and contributing to thesetensions.

4. The definition of thematic areas and methodology

The thematic areas of the workshop were developed outof the problem situation that in this case represented the‘lessons to be learned’. Once the thematic areas weredefined from the empirical evidence, the next step was todesign the methodological sequence and the learningactivities.

This phase involved taking a number of decisionsgiven the existing relationship between the theme of theworkshop and the recipients of the training. Since thereis a strong link between communication and culture, the

26

Role of communicationwithin the framework of curricular reform

Liliana Jabif

dilemma was: what activities should be chosen? Whatlevel of acceptance would games have with this audi-ence? Would the objective of learning be affected? It wasdecided to combine the practical exercises with didacticgames. These would serve as triggers for generating dis-cussion, while the analysis would take place jointly withthe theoretical presentation of those aspects found to callfor further development.

5. The expected results

It was hoped that the workshop would generate a pre-meditated space for reflection and analysis in order to:

● visualize the complex network of variables whichaffect the processes of change;

● get to know in greater detail the communication stra-tegies which are used in the reform processes in thecountries concerned;

● learn if these had generated conflicts and tensionsand at what levels, magnitude and range;

● elaborate some general guidelines on communicationstrategies which should be taken into account in theprocess of curriculum reform;

● apply this knowledge to develop competence in com-munication.

III. CARRYING OUT THE WORKSHOP

The following are the presentation of the sequence ofworkshop activities:

1. Objectives were presented to participants, who wereinformed that by the end of the workshop they wouldhave:

● reflected upon the importance of communicatingpolicy in curriculum development processes;

● applied and developed the necessary skills for com-municating educational processes within a context ofchange.

2. Participants’ expectations were requested in order toalign objectives with their own expectations and to verifyif they had been achieved at the end of the session. Theirexpectations were related to two main problems:

● the need to discuss and analyze the focal points of thecurricular reforms with the teachers before imple-menting the changes, so as to increase understanding,clear doubts and allow for a sense of ownership ofthe changes that were being envisaged;

● the need to discuss how to disseminate informationon reforms to teachers, politicians, parents and thewider society.

3. With the objective of introducing the theme and initi-ating a discussion in relation to problematic issues at theworkshop, the work groups were asked to answer two

questions in a word or a phrase. The first question,‘What does the expression “communicating educationalreforms”, suggest to you?’ evoked the following phrases:

● ‘Deliver ideas of changes through participation andco-operation with stakeholders.’

● ‘Understanding change.’● ‘Interactive way of bringing about changes in educa-

tion.’● ‘Sharing experiences.’● ‘Multiplier effects.’

The second question, ‘Do we need to build a strategy forcommunicating educational reforms? Why, for what pur-pose? To whom, to what audience? If not, why not?’brought forth the following responses:● ‘We need a strategy because it is difficult to commu-

nicate reforms, they are wide ranging and we need totransmit and discuss ideas with large audiences. Wewant to be efficient in communicating change.’

● ‘Educational reforms are complex and all actors needto understand the change. We cannot proceed withoutthem. The audiences are parents, teachers, students,administrators, supervisors, communities, massmedia, industries, employers.’

● ‘We need to communicate reforms because we needa wider acceptance and enhancement of participationof varied stakeholders.’

● ‘We need effectiveness in understanding concepts,ideas, rationale, problems and issues as well as effec-tiveness in the implementation process.’

● ‘We need a strategy to ensure that the public willshare a common understanding of changes andencourage their co-operation in reform.’

● ‘We need to communicate in order to make the direc-tion clear, to help people understand, to get feedback,to mobilize all stakeholders to take an active part andcontribute to reforms. To whom? To policy makers,practitioners, each and every one in society.’

4. The context of the particular secondary educationreform and its principal aspects were then explained:

The reform of secondary education involved certainchanges in administration, teacher training and curricu-lum development, in three main areas, namely,content,strategy,andimplementation. With reference to the con-tent of change, the main aspects were that: secondaryeducation was divided into two stages, a basic (first,second, third grade) and a further stage (fourth, fifth,and sixth); instructional hours increased from 3.5 to 5.5hours a day; number of subjects was decreased, beingmerged into integrated areas of knowledge. Thus forexample, as a result of integrating biology, physics andchemistry into natural science, teachers with knowledgein chemistry had to also teach biology; English becamecompulsory as a foreign language instead of French andmany teachers feared losing their jobs; computer studieswas added as a new subject. With reference to the strate-gy and the implementation of change, expert teams,

27

from outside the system, were specially hired throughthe National Board of Education to help plan thereform.

5. Once the reform and its context were explained, theinformation obtained from the research was distributedto the work groups. Participants were asked to analyzethe texts and respond to the question: ‘From the evidence

you have, which are the problems that appear to be most

relevant?’

The principal problems cited by the participants were thefollowing:

● lack of information;● poor communication;● rumours distorting the communication process.

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Quotations from press articles and interviews with members of teachers’ unions

● ‘This National Board of Education never developed communication strategies with teachers, inspectors and direc-tors (....); the president of the National Board of Education met with Teachers Union only on one occasion, but notto listen to us.’

● ‘We see it as extremely difficult to establish a dialogue on the educational reform with the authorities, we speakdifferent languages.’

● ‘We demand the educational reform to be stopped at the end of the year and at the same time to have a nationaldebate with the participation of everyone involved.’

● ‘It is not possible that teachers learn what is going to happen with the reform only through the media. If there is areform plan, there has to be at least a written document or a video...’

Quotations from press articles and tv interviews with teachers

● ‘Teachers discontent is not due to “resistance to change” as the authorities say.... The problem is that we are notclearly informed about the content of changes.... We see it as a threat to our work security.’

● ‘The new curriculum decreases the number of subjects, merging them into integrated areas of knowledge and as aconsequence of that, many teachers were left without hours to teach...we are worried about our jobs....,

● ‘Even though they say that this is a transitory situation, too many teachers were left without hours of teaching.’● ‘The communication strategy was achieved through informal channels, we must eliminate the rumours and begin

a dialogue where all parties can express their opinions’● ‘Authorities take relevant decisions in curriculum development which are communicated through memos’...● ‘In this reform we are not the actors, everything happens without previous agreements...communication works in

one direction.’

Quotations from press articles and interviews with students

● ‘The National Board of Education stated that they are not willing to continue with the dialogue until we leave theoccupied schools... but we want to start debates and workshops in order to know the content of the reform and thecounter proposals of the teachers.’

● ‘Government officials are the ones who have to take the first step in creating an atmosphere of participation andcommunication.’

● ‘This reform is imposed by international organizations and it is not a result of a national debate with all the partiesinvolved.’

● ‘Because we did not receive the whole document, the reform is a kind of Pandora’s box: every day we find outsomething new.’

● ‘We are not against the reform, because we do not know what it is about. This is against not having information,against the authoritarian style used to put the reform into practice.’

Quotations from press articles and interviews with teachers on TV programmes

● ‘The most serious problem with this reform is the lack of an institutionalized dialogue with the different hierar-chies. There cannot be an educational reform without the actors being convinced of what they are doing.’

● ‘It is obvious that there are different visions. It is essential to have an organized framework of discussion so thateveryone can give his or her opinion. I do not believe this would stop the functioning of the system; on the contra-ry, it could prevent the conflicts that endanger the effectiveness of the process of change.’

6. The next step was to present the problems that theinvestigation had revealed and relate them to the problemsdetected by the participants, identifying the similarities:

● a directive leadership style that could not preventconflict;

● failure of internal communication process; ● no social marketing programmes were developed ‘to

sell’ the reform;● leaders did not adapt communication styles accor-

ding to situations.

7. To begin with, the problem—‘a directive leadershipstyle that could not prevent conflict’— was explai-nedand this was related to three simple communicationmodels. Figure 1 was used to introduce the conceptualframework and to relate the three elements available: theempirical material, the theoretical explanation, and theactual experience of the participants.

8. Participants were asked to engage in an activity inorder to relate the case to their personal experiences byasking them to think about an innovation they have tocommunicate. Which of these models would they use? Inwhat sorts of situations? Keeping what purpose in mind?To what kind of audiences? And why?

The participants presented in plenary the results ofthese experiences. There were many cases where the dif-ferent countries had experienced problems of communi-cation related to educational policies. Although Laos andIndonesia are working in this area and showed explana-tory leaflets on distinct aspects of their curricularreforms, they indicated that much more still needed to bedone and the efforts had to be continued in order toinform all sectors of the society.

9. In order to initiate analysis of the problem:‘of fail-ure of internal communication processes’a communica-

tion game was played to demonstrate the distortions andbarriers to communication.

With a view to relating the problem to the experiences ofthe participants, they were asked to carry out the follow-ing exercises:

● to think about situations in which they experienced‘distortions’ in communication;

● what was the situation? How did it appear? What wasthe impact? To think about their future work in thecurriculum development process. Which are the mostimportant elements they must take into considerationin order to avoid ‘distortions’?

The teams related anecdotes of similar situations. Theycited problems of distortion due to lack of written com-munication and those caused by poor interpersonal com-munication

In this regard, they offered some advice as to somemeasures that could be taken in such situations: to listenempathetically, give and request feedback and use lan-guage that is clear to the interlocutor. This last aspectwas considered very important. The importance of thecareful use of technical language for communicatingwith non-specialized audiences was also stressed.

10.In the presentation of the problem ‘no social market-ing programmes were developed “to sell” the reform’,participants were asked to do an exercise, responding tothe following situation:

They are in a meeting with their team. They are plan-ning the strategies for communicating the new curricu-lum’s main guidelines inside the organization (ministry,district, university, etc.) and outside the organization.What are their recommendations?

The groups chose different cases, objectives andaudiences and for each of them presented a ‘marketingplan’. It was interesting to note that the media or chan-nels of information that they proposed using depended

29

FIGURE 1: Three important communication elements

LISTENTHE ATTITUDE EMPATHIZE

CO-OPERATE

WORDSTHE MESSAGE GESTURES

‘NOISES’

THE STRATEGY CHANNELS AUDIENCE

on the characteristics of the country, the region and theresources. Thus, in addition to conventional means ofcommunication, methods such as songs and slogans, tak-ing advantage of sporting and cultural events for dissem-ination of information, designing of posters, etc., wereproposed. From the presentation of cases, a series of rec-ommendations that were deliberated upon are summa-rized below:● ‘Try to persuade: If you use persuasion, conflicts

with teachers, parents and students can be dimini-shed. People who understand the way others thinkare better persuaders. They try to keep actors infor-med.’

● ‘Consider the characteristics of the audience beforesending the message.’

● ‘Consider the following aspects, before implemen-ting an innovation: who is our target audience, andwhat are their needs? What are we trying to accom-plish? Is the project we propose clear and compre-hensible? Has the target audience clearly understoodthe explicit benefits?’

11.To illustrate the problem of leaders not adaptingtheir communication styles to the needs of the situa-tion: participants were trained in applying the fourstyles of leadership according to the situational lead-ership model, which uses the interaction of two vari-ables, relationship and task. Participants were askedto identify different situations in which they had toapply different styles, depending on the circum-stances.

12. They were presented with three important communi-cation elements while working on curriculum develop-ment processes:

● attitudes––listening, empathizing, co-operating;● message––words, gestures and distortions; ● strategy––audience, channels.

13.To summarize the main points discussed in the work-shop, they were asked to generate a communications pol-icy by doing an activity in which they had to communi-cate the main guidelines of new curricula to differentaudiences by planning a strategy in which they had toanswer the following questions:

● Why do we need to communicate?● To whom?● How will the message be communicated?● What would the channel be?

The results of the working groups summarize the mainconcepts that were arrived at during the workshop:

● ‘Educational reforms imply a great number of actors:teachers, pupils, unions, community, parents, admi-nistrative and technical staff.’

● ‘To establish communicational forms and channelsfor these audiences is important in order to managethe new policy.’

● ‘This transformation implies, among other things:Making the policy explicit, informing very clearlyabout the purpose of the project, generating consen-sus, leading and organizing activities, promotingcompromises, following, and ensuring others followthe new legal framework.’

● ‘The communication process has to be executed in“stages”:’

First stage: the announcement––the policy is publiclyannounced. It is transmitted from the educationauthority. It is informative, generic and strategic.It is given through mass media channels. It is ‘aone direction message’.

Second stage: the internal communication––the messageis presented to those actors involved in imple-menting the policy. The objectives are to inform,to obtain understanding, to orient and guide, todetect needs, to get commitment.

Third stage: the social communication––the message istransmitted through mass media (radio, TV, writ-ten press, posters), meetings, congresses, etc. tothe community. The objective is to inform, con-sult, get consensus, introduce demands.

Fourth stage: the moment of feedback––the objective isto get information about the impact of the mes-sage on those who received the information inorder to make the necessary adjustments.

IV. MAIN CONCLUSIONS

The examination of problems related to communicationin a seminar organized for the discussion of relevantaspects of curriculum reform was an interesting innova-tion that showed the limited analysis and importance thateducational managers give to this variable, at the stage ofthe elaboration of the design and implementation ofchange.

The case presented, the research undertaken tocarry it out and the reaction of the representatives ofthe countries present at the seminar is a significantexample. Although it would be naïve and nearly absurdto suggest that the communication aspect is the deter-minant factor in the success or failure of a reform,empirical data indicate that poor communication canobstruct, slow down and distort the progress of a proj-ect. Nevertheless, it is important to point out that thereforms studied in the process of the elaboration of thecase study were successful, that is that in spite of the problems posed, the changes were finally imple-mented.

Although the ‘costs’ that had to be paid were high:many actors were excluded from the process and theteams which supported the reform had to invest muchtime and effort repairing the damages caused by poorcommunication, the reforms went ahead and today rep-resent an important milestone for those educational sys-tems.

30

The factors that made this development possible canbe linked to specific variables, that is to say those thatdefine each context. The reforms studied took place in acontext of administrative and functional transparency,with a total absence of corruption. While the manage-ment style of the reform was that of directive leadership,it received great academic approval and strong supportfrom the Prime Minister, as well as additional financialresources.

All things considered, it is important to point out thatthe success and failure of the reforms and the role thatthe communication variable plays in them, depends to agreat extent on economic, political and socio-culturalaspects which are the factors that in the final analysis,determine the course of events.

It should also be noted that both the expectations ofthe participants, as well as the objectives of the activitywere achieved, as indicated by the presentations and rec-ommendations from the working groups.

The most interesting conclusion can be summed upin the sentence of a participant at the end of the work-

shop: ‘we must all be conscious that poor communica-tion can cause a curricular reform to fail. We have theobligation to contribute to making communication clear,to ensure it targets all actors and that appropriate meth-ods and strategies are used which lead to understandingand bring about support and co-operation’.

Notes

1. Delors, J., et al. Learning: the treasure within. Paris,UNESCO, 1996, p. 22. (Report to UNESCO of theInternational Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century.)

2. UNESCO:IBE; India. Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment; Central Board of Secondary Education.Globalization and living together: the challenges for edu-cational content in Asia.Geneva, 2000.

3. Director and personnel from IBE.4. International Institute for Educational Planning.

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I. IBE AND PROAP: BUILDING ON NETWORKSFOR DEVELOPMENT

The International Bureau of Education (IBE) and theUNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and thePacific (PROAP) see the promotion of networking asessential to their role and functioning¯mutually benefi-cial to themselves and to the countries which they serve.Without direct active links with experts and institutions,they cannot adequately respond to the needs of MemberStates. In order to fulfil its role as an international centrefor capacity building for curriculum change, the IBEneeds to benefit from the ideas and expertise of educa-tion professionals in the different regions of the worldand to have access to the technical resources of theirinstitutions. PROAP must maintain similarly close work-ing ties with individuals and institutions in the countriesof the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, both theIBE and PROAP desire to make their resources availableto relevant institutions in Member States. Networking isarguably the most satisfactory way to achieve this.

Both the IBE and PROAP have considerable experi-ence with the mechanisms and modalities of networking:the IBE, through its International Network forEducational Information (INED),1 and its close involve-ment with the establishment of other international net-works of educational innovation for development(APEID, CARNEID, NEIDA, EIPDAS);2 PROAP as theheadquarters of APEID, its close links with the South-East Asian Ministers of Education Organization(SEAMEO) Network,3 and similarly with networks inEast Asia. Both institutions see it as essential that theirfuture networking activities in curriculum developmentin the large and diverse region of Asia learn from andbuild on the experiences of existing networking struc-tures working in this field, seeking to collaborate withand strengthen them, rather than compete with them.

II. DEFINING NETWORKS

The New Oxford Shorter English Dictionary defines net-works as ‘a chain or system of interconnected or inter-communicating things, points or people’ (Browne, 1993,p. 1909). Dubbeldam (1996, p. 11) quotes Hanks, 1979,in describing networks as ‘a large number of people,groups or institutions, etc., that have a connection witheach other and work together as a system’. He later

describes a network as ‘the pattern of social contacts ofan individual through which she or he can achieve infor-mation, support, credits, power and other essentials need-ed for survival or for improvement of one’s position’,stressing that ‘individual’ may be replaced by ‘institu-tion’ (ibid.). While this short paper is principally con-cerned with the development of institutional networks, itrecognizes the importance of networks which function ina more ad hocmanner, comprised of individuals withcommon interests. A useful definition of an educationalnetwork is that given at the World Conference onEducation for All (Jomtien, Thailand, 1990): ‘An educa-tional network is essentially the interactions among indi-viduals and groups of individuals to share information,and thereby increase the potential for utilization of thisinformation to improve the quality of education’.However, the IBE’s and PROAP’s vision of networkinggoes beyond the simple sharing of information.

Networks should ideally develop as systems for sup-port and mutual assistance. Dubbeldam (1996, p. 12)writes: ‘Essential to the proper functioning of a networkis the participants’ belief that they have something worthsharing and that they may call upon the others in the net-work when a need arises.’ Networks provide wonderfulopportunities for the sharing of resources: knowledge,ideas, opinions, expertise, technical and sometimesfinancial capacities. They can reduce problems of isola-tion of professionals and their institutions, by puttingthem in contact with persons of like-minded interestsand concerns. One writer thus describes networking as‘catalytic to development as it provides for cross-fertil-ization of ideas for better productivity’ (Nyati-Ramahobo, 1996, p. 80). However, their successful func-tioning depends on the commitment of the members andeffective means of, and strategies for, communication.

As Reimers and McGinn, state ‘networks are as old ashuman civilization’ (1998, p. 77). In today’s world, capac-ities for networking over long distances and across bordershave been revolutionized by the development of increas-ingly sophisticated communications technologies. In anage of globalization, networking has become an integralaspect of the process of development, essential to the func-tioning of modern societies. Ideally, collaboration andsharing through networks will permit developing countriesto advance by providing them access to the resources ofother countries/institutions and enabling them to have a

32

Networking for curriculum development and renewal

Isabel Byron

better understanding of the main trends and developmentsin specific fields, thus facilitating their adaptation, wheredesirable and appropriate, to local needs.

However, the relative success and capacities for long-term survival of networks varies considerably. In additionto institutional constraints, the life of networks dependson the motivation and commitment of the individualscomprising their membership. There must be a felt needfor starting a network and reasons for keeping it going.

III. THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING OF NETWORKS

Networks may be loose and informal or structured andformal. The form they take will depend upon politicaland cultural factors related to the geographical regionsand types of institutions in which they develop. The lev-els of autonomy of the individuals making up a networkwill depend on whether they are representing an institu-tion and the degree of freedom they have within it, orwhether they are operating independently. Reimers andMcGinn (1998) observe that it is easier for individuals toparticipate autonomously in networks in societies wereindividualism is a common feature of life, while in soci-eties and organizations dominated by community or col-lective values, networking is likely to be institution-based. Similarly, Cheng (1996) points out that insocieties which are traditionally hierarchical, such as inEast Asia, networking, especially autonomous individualnetworking, is far more uncommon, as the custom is towork within established roles and to remain within one’sinstitutional framework. In such societies, networks, ifthey develop, are likely to be structured along formalinstitutional lines, which can hinder their effectiveness.

The way a network operates will depend on whetherit is formal or informal and based on individual or insti-tutionalized relations. Dubbeldam (1996) observes thatnetworks of institutions normally define clear objectivesand activities, while ones comprised of autonomousindividuals may function in an ad hoc manner, beingkept alive by the interests of the members in being partof a group of like-minded individuals. However, hestresses that even formal networks are heavily dependenton ‘informal relations between the individuals in the par-ticipating institutions’ (p. 15). Komba (1996) suggeststhat overformalizing of networks may diminish theireffectiveness, as it will tend to restrict or suppress indi-vidual autonomy and creativity.

In addition to political and cultural influences, eco-nomic constraints may make the free flow and sharing ofinformation among individuals and institutions difficultor undesirable. Institutions or individuals wishing to par-ticipate in networking may lack the technological andother resources needed to support their active involve-ment. Possibilities for cross-national networking poselinguistic challenges in a region such as Asia, whereEnglish normally has to be used as the lingua franca.This requires competence in a foreign language and ade-quate resources for translation of written information.

International institutions, such as UNESCO, need tobe aware of and understand the factors influencing how

networks develop in different countries and regions, inorder to work constructively with them and facilitategreater dissemination and exchange of information andexpertise on a truly international scale.

IV. ISSUES IN NETWORKING FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

As indicated in the first section of this article, educationnetworks already exist in the region and their fields ofinterest touch on many areas relating to curriculumdevelopment and change. IBE and PROAP are interestedin networking as a means of strengthening capacitiesamong curriculum professionals and the institutions theyform a part of. It is for the regions and Member States todecide what form they wish future networking to take —whether they should expand the curriculum developmentactivities of existing networks, or establish a new morespecialized structure. Dubbeldam (1996) observes outthat any institution or individual can be part of more thanone network. Areas of interest and objectives of net-works may overlap, creating possibilities for inter-rela-tionships¯networking among networks. To respond to thedemands for improved educational provision, it is nowconsidered essential for institutions involved in educa-tion to network both with others in their sector and withsectors outside the education system (OECD, 2000).

Professional networks combine the intellectual andtechnical resources of member institutions, allowing thesharing of the knowledge, skills and experience of theindividuals that work in them. Where they work in part-nership with international institutions, such as UNESCO,they allow these organizations to be better informedabout and understand national or local concerns, needsand ideas in the network’s specific field of competence.

Meetings, conferences and seminars provide theopportunity for establishing interpersonal and institution-al contacts, which may become fruitful, long-term rela-tionships. However, curriculum professionals are typical-ly very busy, dealing with challenging situations in theirdaily working lives, to which they have to return once thebrief interlude of a meeting is over. Maintaining profes-sional contacts on a regular basis requires commitmentand reciprocity. It is nevertheless to be hoped that throughrelations formed or strengthened during national, region-al or international encounters, the foundations may belaid for developing on-going collaboration through net-working. Some of the possibilities this may offer are pro-posed below. It is equally important that curriculum spe-cialists from the region engage in reflection on the issue,and develop their own ideas and suggestions.

1. Networking provides opportunities for the exchangeof a range of types of relevant information, such as:● new discoveries about the teaching and learning

processes;● trends in curriculum development in other coun-

tries of the region and in other parts of the world;● research findings from local/sub-regional studies

which could be of benefit to the rest of the regionand the world;

33

● findings from comparative studies;● innovative approaches from the region or outside it;● essential statistical data, socio-cultural data and

information on teachers, students, parents, com-munity which have implications for curriculumdevelopment, etc.;

As international institutions, the IBE and PROAP mayplay leading roles in collecting, processing and dissemi-nating information of this type to Member States, but willrely considerably on curriculum professionals in the insti-tutions with which they collaborate to assist them in iden-tifying, obtaining and translating such information.

2. Essentially through e-mail, participants in a networkmay communicate ideas and information, requestassistance, propose contacts, suggest new members,etc. E-mail is also the easiest and cheapest way forthe IBE and PROAP to stay in close touch with mem-bers. Through e-mail technology, a ‘list-serv’ can beestablished leading to the setting up of net fora todebate and reflect on specific themes in curriculumdevelopment and reform.

3. In addition to information sharing, networking shouldfoster and generate knowledge production by curricu-lum specialists from the region. It should create aspace for reflection and debate on ways for improvingthe quality of the curriculum development process,focusing on opportunities for professional develop-ment. Relevant areas for research should be proposedby members, and joint and comparative studies atsub-regional or regional level undertaken. In conjunc-tion with IBE and PROAP and national and regionalinstitutions, strategies for the effective disseminationof relevant research should be developed.

4. Networking should permit and encourage the sharingof resources and their more equal distribution withina region comprised of countries of very varied levelsof economic development. The IBE and PROAP willput their technological and institutional capacity atthe disposal of participants through the developmentof their websites, databases, documentation collec-tions and overall knowledge bases on the curriculumdevelopment process. As international institutions,they can provide valuable links and opportunities forcollaboration with curriculum-related institutionsand networks in other regions of the world.

V. CONCLUSION

Networking provides an alternative to the traditionallydefined ‘top-down’ or ‘bottom-up’ models of educationaldecision-making. In a networking paradigm, all actorsmay be seen as collaborators. The challenge is to findways of enabling all actors to intervene in a clearly artic-ulated and productive manner in the decision-makingprocess. Co-ordinating institutions, such as IBE andPROAP, must assist the member institutions of networksto achieve the means to do this through the provision oftechnical support and training, through fostering oppor-tunities for exchange and dialogue, and providing guide-lines and frameworks for action.

IBE and PROAP can serve as co-ordinators or cata-lysts in networking, providing an international perspectiveand possibilities for interaction on an international scale.The IBE ultimately sees its role as the hub of a network ofnetworks, using its international position to link and pro-vide support to national and regional institutions workingin the area of curriculum development and reform.

Notes

1. The INED network was created as a follow-up to the thirty-sixth session of the International Conference on Education(1977) which had as one of its themes: ‘The problem ofinformation at the national and international level which isposed by the improvement of educational systems’. It ceasedoperation in the early 1990s.

2. Asia Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation forDevelopment; Caribbean Network of EducationalInnovation for Development; Network of EducationalInnovation for Development in Africa; EducationalInnovation Programme for Development in Arab States.

3. This comprises a number of regional centres, includingINNOTECH (Regional Centre for Educational Innovationand Technology), RECSAM (Regional Centre for Educationin Science and Mathematics), RELC (Regional LanguageCentre), RETRAC (Regional Training Centre), RIHED(Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development),SEAMOLEC (Regional Open Learning Centre), VOCTECH(Regional Centre for Vocational and Technical Education).

References

Browne, L., ed. 1993. The new shorter Oxford English diction-ary. Oxford, UK, Clarendon Press.

Cheng, K. 1996. Appreciating cultures: educational research andnetworking in East Asia. In: McGinn, N., ed. Crossinglines: research and policy networks for developingcountry education,p. 119–23. Westport, CT, Praeger.

Dubbeldam, L. 1996. Networks and institution building. In:McGinn, N., ed. Crossing lines: research and policy net-works for developing country education,p. 11–18.Westport, CT, Praeger.

Komba, D. 1996. Problems of networking: the ERNESA experi-ence. In: McGinn, N., ed. Crossing lines: research andpolicy networks for developing country education,p. 87–89. Westport, CT, Praeger.

Nyati-Ramahobo, L. 1996. The culture of networking in educa-tional research in Eastern and Southern Africa. In:McGinn, N., ed. Crossing lines: research and policy net-works for developing country education,p. 79–86.Westport, CT, Praeger.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.2000. Knowledge management in the learning society.Paris, OECD.

Reimers, F.; McGinn, N. 1998 Informed dialogue: usingresearch to shape education policy around the world.Westport, CT, Praeger.

Educational Research Network for Eastern and Southern Africa(ERNESA); Northern and European Research Reviewand Advisory Group (NORRAG); Information Networkon Education for Latin America and the Caribbean(REDUC); Southeast Asian Research Review andAdvisory Group (SEARRAG). 1990. From research toaction in basic education: the potential of networkingand North-South partnership. p. 4. (Prepared forWCEFA Thematic Round-Table 14. Available from IBEon microfiche: SIRE/02474.)

34

PART THREE:

CURRICULUM CHANGES AND REFORMS IN EAST AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA

I came to be involved in work relating to curriculumchanges and reforms because some colleagues at thePhilippine Social Science Council and the Social andHuman Sciences Committee of the UNESCO NationalCommission of the Philippines and myself formed ateam to review the social sciences framework and con-tent of textbooks that are currently being used inPhilippine elementary and secondary schools. Weembarked on this project mainly in response to growingcriticisms and complaints about the state of our localtextbooks. True enough, our review findings supportedmany of the complaints.

Among other findings, we found that pedagogically,many textbooks are written in a language and presenttheir material in a manner not appropriate to theages/development stages of students at various gradelevels. Content-wise too, textbooks appear overloadedwith facts, data and a variety of information which areneither systematically analyzed nor pooled together topresent a coherent view of the topics or lessons at hand.In addition, our textbooks have not been rid of long-standing (class-, urban-, gender- and ethnic-) biases andstereotypes that perpetuate falsehoods and exclusionaryor discriminatory practices. These are in addition tosome other factual and typographical errors found in thetextbooks and to their poor visual designs and layouts.

Since Philippine textbooks are developed followingthe guidelines and lists of learning competencies pre-pared by our national education department based onthe existing curriculum, the poor state of our textbooksis a reflection of problems in the curriculum itself andthe national education system as a whole. One notes thatvarious sectoral reports on the state of Philippine educa-tion over the years have called attention to its deteriorat-ing quality. We have many indicators of this, the moretelling of which is the poor performance of Filipino stu-dents in standardized international and national achieve-ment tests. Other available data further indicate that thecountry’s impressive educational achievements in litera-cy (over 90%) and school enrolment rates have not beenmatched by commensurate improvements in the coun-try’s state of economic and human development. Thissituation has brought into question the quality and/orstandards of Philippine education and has promptedsome analysts to ask the rather embarrassing question:

why, if Filipinos are so smart, is the Philippines sopoor?

Problems of educational quality and relevance mani-fest themselves in different ways in the countries of ourregion, but in general, there is increasing agreement thatsuch problems are best addressed by changes in the cur-riculum and its delivery than by simple increases in pub-lic investments/expenditures on education. For curricularchanges and reforms to effectively address problems ofeducational quality however, it is important that these arenot undertaken piecemeal. As pointed out by ZhouNanzhao, effective curricular reforms require ‘radical,fundamental and comprehensive’ changes in our educa-tional views and orientations, as well as in curricularcontent and in teaching approaches and pedagogies, inaddition to still other necessary changes in curriculumplanning and implementation processes and in educa-tional management and administration. It is quite clearthat the task of pursuing meaningful curriculum reformis a complex undertaking which has been made evenmore so by today’s rapidly changing environment.Available knowledge from the work of education expertsand researchers (e.g. as those presented in the 1996Delors Report on education) now tell us that if we are toimprove, update and change our existing curriculum, wecannot rely on the same models/theories that informedour earlier work in education planning and curriculumdevelopment and design. From a social scientific stand-point in fact, the need for a fundamental shift in our edu-cational perspectives and policies may constitute thebiggest challenge in curriculum change and reform.

Earlier educational/curriculum planning, for exam-ple, was heavily oriented towards using education toservice the economy and to prepare students for produc-tive and secure employment. In recent decades however,it has become evident that there is no one-to-one corre-spondence between educational qualifications andtoday’s labour markets. Economic conditions in this newcentury are expected to become more changeable anduncertain, with many countries likely exhibiting higherrates of un- and underemployment than previously. Theincreasing reliance of firms and companies on the out-sourcing of goods and services, moreover, is encourag-ing short-term employment contracts rather than perma-nent ones and which, in turn, is changing the ‘working

36

The social context of curricular changes and reforms

Virginia A. Miralao

life’ and the meaning of ‘career paths’ among the youth.Today’s labour markets too have become observablyglobalized, thus complicating the task of using educationas a means for improving national economies.

Additionally, it should be pointed out that while ear-lier educational planning models tended to emphasizeeducation’s role in contributing to the economy, educa-tion systems themselves are as much the products of pre-vailing economies. Consequently, in the case of manyThird World countries, their poor economies and lack ofresources to improve their education system (e.g. to pro-duce textbooks, upgrade teachers’ salaries, build moreschools, etc.) already reduce the likelihood that they canuse education as a mechanism to make their economiesgrow and become globally competitive. These weakness-es in the education/economy linkage are prompting areorientation in educational perspectives away from theheavily economic rationale of education in earlier peri-ods. Today, regardless of the state of the economy, theprovision of (basic) education is increasingly seen as afundamental human right to be guaranteed by the stateand extended to all. This shift in perspective calls for are-examination of the educational goals and objectives.

As with the education/economy linkage, there is alsoa need to rethink the nation-building role of education inthe face of globalization and the changing role of thestate. In the Philippines for example, the nationalisticfervour and anti-colonial and anti-foreign bent of thecurriculum content forged in the 1970s and 1980s nowsound increasingly anachronistic, considering that largenumbers of Filipino families even among the lowerclasses and rural communities have members workingand/or living abroad. There is thus a need to reconstructour notions of national identity and pride away from the‘old guard nationalism’ that may have been appropriatein the years following Independence.

It is also well to remember that notions about the‘nation-building’ role of education may predispose gov-ernments to use the education system and the curriculumas instruments of government propaganda to foster obe-dience, curtail dissent and enlist popular support for thestate’s own political and socio-economic programmes.And here I am not referring only to so-called authoritari-an and communist states, but even to freer democraticstates who are not beyond similarly using the curriculumand the education system to promote certain politicalagendas and interests. Again, we should note that theuncritical acceptance of the nation/state-building func-tion of education is likely to run counter to the humanrights and social democracy movements that are expect-ed to gain more acceptance in the twenty-first century.

New data and research on the lives of today’s youthoffer yet other reasons for re-examining current perspec-tives and assumptions behind educational planning andcurriculum development. In the last two to threedecades, various researches show no neat patterns in‘youth to adult transitions’ as in the past when such tran-sitions typically involved a sequence of going to school

and finishing some basic schooling, followed by gettinga job and then by getting married and beginning one’sown family. At present, many of the youth are stayinglonger in school (with not a few seeking different kindsof training after the compulsory level), although manytoo are combining part-time study with part-time work.It is also no longer uncommon for the youth to drop outof school for various reasons and to resume schooling oreducational training at a later point or at other periods intheir lives. On-going changes in youth cultures andlifestyles suggest that it is unrealistic to plan school pro-grammes and curricula around the same youth-to-adulttransition patterns of earlier generations. There is in facta need to diversify our educational programmes and cur-ricula if these are to remain relevant to the needs andaspirations of the youth and if we are to adapt the educa-tion system to today’s changed socio-cultural conditions.

Finally, there are several other changes occurring invarious fronts—unprecedented advances in science andtechnology, new studies on learning processes andhuman capacities, new pedagogies and so forth—whichsimilarly call for changes in our educational/curriculummodels and perspectives. These changes and develop-ments invite us to be innovative and to go beyond thecontent-heavy and skills-based framework that guidedearlier curriculum planning and development. We are, Ithink, most fortunate at this point to have in the DelorsReport, with its exposition on ‘education for life’ and itsfour pillars of learning (to know, to be, to do and to livewith others), a most useful guide for charting new direc-tions in education and in our school curriculum.

The Delors Report invites us to refocus our educa-tional efforts towards enhancing personal growth anddevelopment (and away from an overemphasis on pro-ducing a trained/skilled labour force and nationalists forthe country) and providing learners with a sense of root-edness or mooring so that they can ‘soar above thestorm’ so to speak and not be caught by the flurry ofchanges, even as they are able to seize the new opportu-nities presented by unfolding social and technologicaldevelopments. These kinds of ‘life-skills’ that allowlearners to be anchored while adapting flexibly tochanges in their wider environments do not conformneatly with the usual categorization of learning skills andcompetencies (e.g. cognitive, affective, psychomotor,etc.) but require new ways of conceptualizing learningbehaviours, processes and outcomes.

But although many of us recognize and appreciatethe need for changes in our educational perspectives, weare also keenly aware of the many barriers to shifting ourparadigms in educational planning and in pursuing need-ed curricular reforms. Among the problems and barriersthat we face are a shortage of resources for systematical-ly undertaking educational and curricular reforms, andother political and bureaucratic tensions and resistancesthat usually accompany the introduction of change. Leteach of us dare to innovate and exhibit the will tochange.

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I. INTRODUCTION

A Training Seminar on Capacity-Building forCurriculum Specialists from East and South-East Asiawas organized in Bangkok, as a collaborative activitybetween the International Bureau of Education (IBE)and UNESCO-PROAP. This was hosted by the Ministryof Education Thailand, from 12 to 16 December 2000.The seminar was focused on capacity-building in funda-mental skills for effective curriculum development andreform, with participants from eleven countries and oneSEAMEO Centre.

To allow for informed exchange within the regionalcontext, participants were requested to prepare writtenreports on their country’s recent curriculum reforms,identifying the main elements and stages in the reformprocess. The participants were provided with guidelinesfor the preparation of their country presentations.

II. STRUCTURE OF THE COUNTRY REPORTS

The participants were requested to structure theirreports, according to the following points:

1. Present the main organizations and mechanismsinvolved in the process of adapting curricula in therespective countries.

2. Indicate the particular philosophy(ies) or principlesof education/curriculum development which informthe curriculum design and reform process in therespective countries. Outline the principal new con-tent areas and teaching/learning methodologies intro-duced in recent reforms. Indicate whether any of theprincipal concepts of learning outlines in the DelorsReport were used in the design and formulation ofrecent reforms.

3. Discuss the main problems faced by curriculum spe-cialists in the country during the following threesteps of curriculum reform: (i) design, (ii) implemen-tation, and (iii) follow-up of the process. At the sametime indicate the strengths and successful aspects ofthe reform process.

Based on the above guidelines, participants preparedtheir written country reports and presented the highlights

to the seminar. These are presented here based on sub-regional groupings: East Asia sub-region; South-EastAsia sub-region; and the Mekong sub-region.

III. SYNTHESIS OF COUNTRY REPORTS

1. East Asia sub-region

ChinaCurriculum reform in China is based on the policy ofquality improvement at all levels derived from two poli-cy documents ‘The Action Scheme for InvigoratingEducation towards the Twenty-First Century’ and‘Decision on the Deepening of Education, Reform andthe Full Promotion of Quality Education’. The focus ismodernization, the world and the future with the aim ofpreparing the younger generation with appropriatemorality, intellectual accomplishments, awareness ofone’s responsibility towards oneself and the nation, inde-pendent personalities and lifelong learning. Guidelinesfor the curricular reform provide the direction, princi-ples, objectives, policies and strategies of the curriculumwhile the National Curriculum Standards set the mini-mum requirement for the curricular content. These twodocuments provide the basis of material developmentthat follows.

The management of the reform is a shared responsibil-ity by the Ministry of Education and the local educationauthority. The development of textbooks is given to vari-ous professional institutions. Between 2000 and 2005, thecurriculum reform will be experimented and modifiedbefore full implementation – between 2005 and 2010.

JapanJapan’s curriculum reform is centred around settingNational Curriculum Standards based on the concept ofequal educational opportunities for all. The basic philos-ophy of the standard is the balanced development of thechild, who can think wisely and creatively and contributeto societies, equipping them to cope with change, andincreased awareness as a member of the internationalcommunity, as well as encourage each school to developits own personality. Major changes brought by the newcurriculum standards are: (i) The introduction of ‘Life

Synthesis of country reportsand general trends and needs

Virginia A. Miralao and Lucille C. Gregorio

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Environment Studies’ which combines social studies andscience at the first two levels of primary schooling; (ii)periods for integrated study; (iii) reduction of teachinghours in line with the policy of five-day school week sys-tem. The new standard will be implemented in 2002allowing three years for the preparation of teachers anddevelopment of materials. Implementation of the newstandards will be followed by nationwide survey on stu-dent achievement in certain subjects, as practised withprevious national curriculum standards.

One problem faced by curriculum specialists at thedesign stage is determining the scope of each subject dueto the reduction of time allotted.

MongoliaMongolia undertook its curriculum reform in 1998, fol-lowing a directive from the Ministry of Education,Culture and Science. The curriculum, outlined in the‘Curriculum Plan for General Secondary School’, hastwo components, i.e. ‘core’ and ‘optional’. The core cur-riculum is the national standard to be followed by allschools and accouns for 80 % of total time. The ‘option-al’ component provides an organizational standard and isintended to meet the needs of the schools. The Center ofAcademic Curriculum and Teaching at the School ofEducational Development plays a significant role indefining teaching methods.

The main aim of the curriculum is to provide knowl-edge, skills, cultural values to students as well as todevelop individuals as responsible citizens. The develop-ment of the Mongolian curriculum is based on the spiralmodel, increasing in intensity as one moves up thegrades. A big percentage of time is allocated toHumanistic Science at all levels. Computer education isintegrated into mathematics.

Republic of KoreaKorea is undertaking its seventh curriculum reformbased on the framework provided by ‘The PresidentialCommission of the Educational Reform’ affecting alllevels of schooling. It has a national curriculum, central-ly prepared, providing the general framework, subjectcurricula, materials as well as guidelines for implemen-tation. It is mandatory for all schools to use. A salientfeature of the new curriculum is the differentiated cur-riculum with different learning content for differentgroups of students based on academic ability. Anotherfeature is the 30% reduction in curriculum content and the introduction of Information and Communica-tion Technology (ICT) at the secondary level. Super-intendents at municipal and provincial levels oversee thecurriculum implementation at the local level to ensurelocal needs are met. Schools prepare their own imple-mentation plan in accordance with the guidelines of thenational curriculum and that of the metropolitan andprovincial education authorities. There are problems atboth the design and implementation stages. Those at thedesign stage include the inability of a centralized

curriculum to cater to differing local educational needs,the lack of time to undertake research resulting in lowlevel relevance to school needs and strong pressure ofinterest groups over subject curriculum. Problems at theimplementation stage include resistance to changeamong teachers, lack of teachers’ ability to teach the newcurricula and lack of financial resources and facilities.

2. South-East Asia sub-region

IndonesiaCurriculum development and reform in Indonesia areguided by the 1999 State Guidelines which emphasizethe importance of a diversified curriculum to serve adiverse range of pupil abilities, available learning facili-ties and regional cultures. The 1999 State Guidelines laydown the ‘general principles’ for curriculum reformwhile the Ministry of National Education assumesresponsibility for education policy. The Indonesian edu-cation system used to be highly centralized but this isnow being decentralized with the increasing transfer ofauthority and responsibilities from central- to district-level bodies. Under the decentralized system, the cen-tral-level Ministry of National Education maintains theimportant role of ensuring the functioning of publicservices and the consistency of standards on curriculumdesign and implementation.

The major challenges of curriculum reform in thenew millenium include those posed by the ongoingdecentralization process; the impact of the Asian eco-nomic crisis; other changes in labour market, skills, andknowledge demands as a result of advances in informa-tion and communication technology and globalizationprocesses; and other public/political considerationsaimed at addressing the uneven development of thecountry’s regions, and popular clamour for increasedchoices in educational programmes and for parental /student freedom in choosing schools and educationalprogrammes.

Curriculum reforms thus are directed to the forego-ing challenges and aim to contribute to the goals of mak-ing the national economy more efficient and competitive,and Indonesian society more open and democratic andmore responsive to regional cultural differences andlocal needs.

Indonesia’s curriculum framework for the new mille-nium envisions the development of pupils who arehealthy, independent and culturally aware, with goodmoral conduct and work ethics, are knowledgeable andcan master technology, and show a love of their country.Curriculum development in the foreseeable future there-fore is expected to become more diversified to accom-modate student, environment, cultural and local differ-ences; provide the national standards for academic andskills achievements as well as for the formation ofsocial /personal values and morals; be flexible and rele-vant to current changes and future developments; inte-grate the four pillars of learning as proposed by theDelors Report; and enhance the participation of

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communities and schools in educational programmesand policy decisions.

PhilippinesThe Philippines is in the midst of undertaking curricularreforms for secondary education. The reform initiative iscontained in the development plan for the ‘Twenty-firstCentury Secondary Education Curriculum’ (T-SEC)launched in 1999.

The reform focuses on a review of the PhilippineSecondary Schools Learning Competencies (PSSLC)and hopes to address issues pertaining to the overloadingof curriculum content, and the need to, among others,integrate the disciplines, achieve a better balancebetween general and specialized education, and rational-ize elective offerings.

Core study groups have been formed to work on theplanned curricular reforms following the conduct ofmulti-sectional consultations and discussions. Resultsand recommendations are expected to be presented inplenary sessions with the Secretary and concerned officesof the Department of Education, Culture and Sports(DECS) which will formulate the new vision and mis-sion, and the subjects and programme objectives of thecurriculum plan. These activities are to be followed byvarious ‘writeshops’ to refine learning competencies, cur-riculum guides and the development of instructionalmaterials. Several types of trainers’ and teachers’ trainingare also being planned in support of the new curriculum.Finally, a system of monitoring and evaluation is beingset up to ensure ways of assessing both the processes andoutcomes of the planned curriculum reforms.

Malaysia The Education Act of 1996 defines the philosophy, goalsand objectives of Malaysia’s national curriculum. Thenational curriculum is developed centrally within theMinistry of Education which maintains three main depart-ments (the Curriculum Development Centre, theDepartment of Technical and Vocational Education and theDepartment of Religious and Moral Education) responsi-ble for curriculum design and development, and a numberof other units/divisions (Textbooks Division, TeacherEducation, etc.), the directors of which comprise theCentral Curriculum Committee headed by the Director-General of Education. Curricular programmes which areapproved by this central committee are then discussed bythe Curriculum Implementation Committee, comprised ofthe directors of education of Malaysia’s fourteen states andEducation Ministry representatives who discuss the finalpoints bearing on the implementation of the curriculum.

Curriculum development, reform and revisions followa cyclical model beginning with a needs analysis, followedby planning, implementation, evaluation and then back toneeds assessment. Changes in the curriculum may beginwith a policy directive from policy makers, or derive fromweaknesses found in the existing curriculum or fromobservations in world trends or from public opinion.

A curricular revision was undertaken in 1996 toallow Malaysia to incorporate new elements in its cur-riculum design framework. The new elements draw fromemerging knowledge and insights derived from the con-cepts of multiple intelligences and emotional intelli-gence, the Four Pillars of Learning in the Delors Report,developments in ICT and the country’s move towardsdeveloping a K- (knowledge) economy. These new ele-ments are reflected both in curriculum content and inteaching and learning approaches.

The process of curriculum formulation and reform isnot without its issues and problems. Among other chal-lenges, curriculum developers in Malaysia have to bal-ance breadth and depth in determining the scope of thecurriculum, and they also have to contend with differingschool environments, teachers’ and other forms of resist-ance to change, and other weaknesses and inconsisten-cies in the education system and structures. Nonetheless,the participation of different groups and stakeholders inthe planning and implementation of curriculum changesensures some level of co-ordination in the conduct ofcurriculum reforms.

3. The Mekong sub-region

CambodiaThe educational reforms being implemented inCambodia are all geared towards complementing itssocio-economic rehabilitation plans. The Ministry ofEducation, Youth and Sports (MOEYS) has drawn upnineteen programmes and seventy-two priority actionplans which includes prioritizing the reforms on curricu-lum, textbook development and the general education.These would be implemented through the education sys-tem development committees which were formed prima-rily for this purpose.

Values such as co-operation, environmental concern,love of country, independence, respect for human rightsand diversity, etc., are being taught to and developed inthe students to make them responsive to the needs of thecountry in terms of its social, political and economicaspects. General education goals provide the develop-ment of necessary knowledge, skills, and experiences forCambodians to gain the tools that would enable them tofunction as responsible and thinking citizens. Theapproach taken in designing the curriculum iscontent/topic-based and competency-based.

The new curriculum took effect in 1996, yet thewhole education system is still reeling from old prob-lems and issues, such as poor qualifications of currentteachers or the lack of capable teachers, classroom short-ages that have caused student overcrowding in class-rooms, and the passive and non-creative attitude ofteachers and students.

People’s Democratic Republic of Lao

The Ministry of Education established the NationalResearch Institute for Educational Sciences (NRIES) to

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be responsible for the development of the general educa-tion curriculum, compilation of textbooks and teacher’smanuals, design of prototype of teaching and learningmaterials for general education, and the provision ofteacher training. The general education goal is to equipLao citizens with the knowledge and skills that wouldensure their active participation in family, economic,social and cultural life. It also aims to inculcate a moraland patriotic sense in the students and to foster a well-rounded education system that would seek to be at parwith internation standards through educational innova-tions and the use of technology.

The present curriculum, a product of the educationalreforms adopted in 1991, came in the light of the socio-economic transformation which the country underwentfrom having a centrally planned economy to assuming aliberal market system. So aside from the goals statedabove, this curriculum also encourages internationalism,combination of theoretical study with practical activities,integration of political awareness and juridical aware-ness, and the combination of modern world educationwith the best of the country’s traditional culture. It iden-tifies five educational pillars: moral, intellectual, labour,physical and aesthetic.

In terms of teaching methodologies, various methodsand techniques are encouraged, such as use of brainstorm-ing, role playing, games, panel discussion, debates, casestudy, etc. The employment of language encounter tech-niques has improved and sped up the acquisition of lan-guage skills by children from ethnic minority backgroundswho speak other languages than Lao. Teacher-training con-tinues to be carried out and monitored. Through the use ofdifferent evaluation tools in assessing the quality of educa-tion—both in terms of the teachers and the students—theeffectiveness of textbooks and teacher’s manuals beingused and the teacher-training workshops being held, theNRIES tries to gauge the effectiveness of their programmesand recent evaluation findings show satisfactory achieve-ments with regard to the curriculum’s relevance and itscontribution to the improvement of learning performanceand quality of education. According to this recent educa-tional evaluation, the current curriculum reflects the nation-al identity of the Lao people, their cultural diversity, moder-nity, and openness to the international community.

Yet some problems remain in the design, implementa-tion and follow-up on the curriculum. Regarding thedesign, the curriculum is insufficient in adapting to thespecific needs of students from various ethnic, linguisticand cultural backgrounds. Relatedly, the teaching aids andinstructional materials and other classroom and schoolfacilities to support these needs are lacking and have notbeen adequately addressed. Despite the introduction ofnew teaching/learning methods, teachers continue to teachobsolete conceptual structure using old methods.

Thailand

Thailand’s National Education Act of 1999 prescribesthat curriculum development be guided by the

‘Conceptual Framework for Basic EducationCurriculum’ which contains information on the rationalefor curriculum development, the characteristics of thebasic education curriculum, its contents, and guidelineson education curriculum management.

Ongoing socio-economic and global changes requirethat the basic education curriculum be continuouslyrevised and updated. Other than changes in the globaleconomy and the advances in science and technology,Thai society itself has undergone dramatic changes in itsdemographic, socio-cultural, economic, environmentaland political characteristics which also now require newadjustments in the national curriculum and educationalsystem. Recent assessments indicate that the curriculumoffered little flexibility in content to meet the varyingneeds and conditions of localities. It also provided inade-quate learning time for necessary basic courses (e.g. asfor science and math, language, etc.), and did not allowfor the satisfactory integration of teaching and learningprocesses. In general, Thai students were assessed aslacking the kinds of knowledge and abilities necessaryfor seeking further knowledge and future living.

The foregoing limitations of Thai education weresome of the considerations that went into the formula-tion of the 1999 National Education Act and theConceptual Framework for Basic Education Curriculum.Current reforms guided by these policy documentstherefore aim to improve Thai education by, among oth-ers, making the curriculum more flexible to suit specificcircumstances at local levels; more diversified in termsof its contents and programmes to reach and meet theneeds of different groups of learners and develop theirpotentials; and more decentralized in terms of adminis-tration and management to allow the participation ofschools, parents, local communities and various sectorsand stakeholders in curriculum development and theeducation system. Current reforms are also taking intoaccount the new knowledge and information that havearisen in the areas of curriculum standards, subject mat-ters and contents, learning approaches and pedagogy andthe basic learning principles advocated in the DelorsReport.

Viet Nam

In 1998, the Education Law was approved by theNational Assembly which clearly defined the objectives,contents and methods of general education and institu-tionalization of curriculum and textbooks in the newdevelopment period of the country. This is the fourthcurriculum reform following those carried out in 1950,1956 and 1981. It set a vision for the development of thecountry’s human resources until 2020 and is orientedtowards striking a balance and complementation in theformulation of the curriculum contents for the primaryand secondary education, as well as vocational educationto equip the citizens with the necessary skills and com-petences for Viet Nam’s industrialization and moderniza-tion. It sought to have a rationalized textbook and cur-

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riculum contents that would promote learning absorptionat a pace adapted to the student’s capacity.

Already expected to happen between 2000 to 2005 isthe wrapping up of the pilot testing of the proposed text-books and curriculum contents and even teachers’ train-ing curriculum so as to finalize suggestions. A phasedand gradual implementation of this new curriculum willbe done accordingly in the primary and secondary edu-cation from 2002 to 2007. Several activities to ensureachievement of these goals have also been outlined.

IV. REGIONAL TRENDS AND NEEDS

The regional trends and needs identified from the coun-try reports synthesized above are presented by sub-region, because of the vast diversity of the Asian region,in terms of culture, language, geography, socio-politicalconditions, economic dimensions, etc.

1. East Asia sub-region

Trends● All four countries of the region—China, Republic of

Korea, Japan and Mongolia—are at the stage of curri-culum reforms, which began in the late nineties (1997–95) and planned for implementation beginning 2000(Korea), 2001 (Mongolia) and 2002 (China/Japan).

● All countries have a national curriculum, centrallyprepared, but allowing for adaptation at the schoollevel. The curriculum consists of core subjects to bestudied by all and electives at the secondary level.

● The curricular reforms focus on quality improve-ment, emphasizing the overall development of chil-dren, who are able to learn and think, are creative,who can play as effective members of society and beproud of their national culture. In terms of curricularcontent, Japan and Korea have made moves to re-duce curriculum content by about 30%. However,there are also moves to introduce new subjects.Japan, for example, has introduced ‘periods of inte-gration’ whereby children are allowed to study thingsof their choice, as an attempt to reduce academicpressure. All countries are at the stage of introducingICT in the classroom.

● Although there is no explicit statement on the FourPillars of Education as a principle in their curricularreform, elements of the four pillars are manifested inthe countries as single subjects as well as integratedacross the curriculum.

NeedsThe needs expressed by countries of the region pertain tothe following:● Ways of designing an integrated curriculum;● Addressing the issue of relevance;● Balancing an academic with a pragmatic curriculum;● Teaching techniques in the application of IT/ICT in

the classroom;

● Ways of involving the community in the develop-ment of the curriculum;

● Ways of effectively communicating with stake-holders so that the curriculum is well understood;

● Ways of convincing parents of the intrinsic value ofeducation and the benefits of the new curriculum andreduce the pressure from examinations.

2. South-East Asia sub-region

Trends● The three countries in the region (Indonesia,

Malaysia and the Philippines) are all in the process ofintroducing ICT in the school curriculum.

● The countries are placing renewed emphasis on theprinciple of ‘learning to live together’ in their values-moral education programmes in response to conti-nuing challenges and threats to social cohesion,peace and national unity.

● All countries have moved to decentralize certainaspects or processes of curriculum development,implementation and administration. Central or national level authorities continue to be responsiblefor general policies and basic guidelines on the curri-culum and for setting national standards for educa-tional quality; while school units, parents, teachersand local communities are encouraged to participateactively in the operationalization and implementationof the curriculum.

● To ensure effective curriculum delivery, increasinglymore consultations are being held between andamong curriculum developers and implementers.

Needs● The countries report a common need for teacher

training on their new curriculum and curriculumreforms in order to translate these effectively intopractice.

● They also need to reform their existing pre-servicetraining programmes in light of the new changes andelements introduced in the curriculum.

● There is also a need to reform or revise existingnational education laws and policies to make theseconsistent with the new changes in the curriculum.

● More work needs to be done to customize educa-tional programmes in different schools and at diffe-rent levels to meet varying learners’ needs.

3. Mekong sub-region

Trends● Curricular reforms in the four countries of the

Mekong sub-region (Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodiaand Laos) follow closely the elements and spirit ofthe Delors Report.

● The school curricula in all countries are centrallyplanned but allow for flexibility to accommodatelocal conditions.

● All countries are conscious of improving the qualityof their education systems and programmes and are

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setting up new standards and benchmarks to noteimprovements in educational quality and perfor-mance.

● Education for employment and contributing to theimprovement of the national economy constitute abasic educational thrust/goal in the countries of thesub-region.

● There is also a serious move to democratize access toeducation in the sub-region. Viet Nam and Laos planto increase their years of free and compulsory educa-tion from 5 to 8 years; whereas in Thailand andCambodia, free and compulsory education stand at 9years.

● The curricula in all four countries also emphasize thepropagation of a national identity.

● All countries are active in generating popular supportfor education and ongoing curricular reforms.

Needs

● Ways of designing an integrated curriculum incorpo-rating the ‘Four Pillars of Learning’.

● Addressing the issue of quality and relevance.● Ways of involving the community in the develop-

ment of the curriculum.● Continuous teacher training on their new curriculum

and curriculum reforms in order to translate theseeffectively into practice.

● Reform their existing pre-service training pro-grammes in light of the new changes and elementsintroduced in the curriculum.

V. CONCLUSION

With the information above, the participating countrieswill be undertaking a detailed ‘Situation Analysis of theBasic Education Curriculum’ utilizing the frameworkand guidelines agreed upon. A documentation of elevencountry studies and one regional report will be publishedat a later date.

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Cambodia

Ms. Ton Sa ImDirector Pedagogical Research DepartmentMinistry of Education, Youth and SportPhnom PenhTel: (855) 23 211409, (855) 12 869458E-mail: prd@camnet.com.kh

China

Mr. Qiao YuquanBasic Education Department Ministry of EducationC/o Chinese National Commission for UNESCO37 Damucang Hutong, XidanBeijing, 100816Tel/Fax: (86) 10 66096779E-mail: yuquanq66@sohu.com

Indonesia

Ms. Ella YulaelawatiHead Curriculum Division of Primary SchoolOffice of Research and DevelopmentMinistry of National EducationJalan Jenderal Sudirman – SenayanJakarta 10270Tel: (62 21) 51725031 Fax: (62 21) 5721245, 34834862E-mail: yulaela@cbn.net.id

Japan

Mr. Shigeo YoshikawaSenior Curriculum Specialist (Arithmetic)Elementary School DivisionElementary and Secondary Education BureauMinistry of Education, Science, Sports and CultureTokyo, JapanTel: (81 3) 35814009 Fax: (81 3) 35921194E-mail: shigeo@monbu.go.jp

Lao PDR

Mr. Khampay SisavanhDirector National Research Institute for Education SciencesMinistry of EducationMahosot Street, VientianeTel./Fax: (856 21) 212026E-mail: nries@laotel.com

Malaysia

Ms. Sharifah MaimunahDirector, Curriculum Development CentreMinistry of Education Persiaran Duta Off Jalan Duta50604 Kuala LumpurTel: (03)62011522, 62010126 Fax: (03)62010186, 62031614E-mail: sharifahmsz@ppk.moe.gov.my

Mongolia

Mr. Dashjamts TuvshintugsCurriculum Specialist Non-Formal Education Centre, MOSTECC/o Mongolian National Commission for UNESCOMinistry of External RelationsUlaanbaatarTel: (976 11) 311022 Fax: (976 11) 329344E-mail: nfec@magicnet.mn

Philippines

Ms. Eugenia MoraledaDirector, Curriculum Development CentreDepartment of Education, Culture and SportsUL Complex, Meralco AvenuePasig CityTel: (63 2) 6337242 Fax: (63 2) 6365175/6365172

Republic of Korea

Ms. Nan-Sim ChoDirector General, Textbook Research CentreKorea Institute of Curriculum & Evaluation25-1 Samchung-dong Jongro-guSeoul 110-230Tel: (82 2) 37043541 Fax: (82 2) 37043580E-mail: nscho@kice.re.kr

Viet Nam

Mr. Do Dinh HoanDirector Centre of Content and Method of Teaching for GeneralEducationNational Institute for Education and Science101 Tran Hung Dao Street, HanoiTel: (84 4) 9423491 Fax: (84 4) 8221521E-mail: hoan_ccd@hn.vnn.vn

ANNEX I:

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS AND RESOURCE PERSONS

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Thailand

Mr. Chaub LeechorDirector, Office of Education Assessment and TestingServiceDepartment of Curriculum and Instruction DevelopmentMinistry of Education,Bangkok

Mrs. Mallika NitayaphornDirector, Guidance CentreDepartment of Curriculum and Instruction DevelopmentMinistry of Education, BangkokTel: (66 2) 3902330 Fax: (66 2) 3915013E-mail: mallinit@emisc.moe.go.th

Ms. Parinya RitcharoenEducational Officer Book Development CentreDepartment of Curriculum and Instruction DevelopmentMinistry of Education Bangkok

Mr. Sophon SomdeeCurriculum DeveloperDepartment of Curriculum and Instruction DevelopmentMinistry of Education Bangkok

Ms. Chantra TantipongCurriculum DeveloperDepartment of Curriculum and Instruction DevelopmentMinistry of Education,BangkokTel: (662) 3910055, ext 402, 403E-mail: chantrat83@hotmail.com

Ms. Watanaporn RangubtookSupervisor, Department of General EducationMinistry of Education Bangkok

Mrs. Patcharee SawangsupSupervisor Department of Vocational EducationMinistry of Education BangkokTel: (66 2) 2815555 Fax: (66 2) 2817166

Ms. Aksara PrasitsilpSupervisor Office of the Private Education CommissionMinistry of Education BangkokTel: (66 2) 2823184, 6285067 Fax: (66 2) 2823783

Mr. Pirach SusansukSupervisor Office of the National Primary Education CommissionMinistry of Education Bangkok

Mrs. Yawarat TusgateSupervisor, Bureau of Educational StandardOffice of Rajabhat Institutes CouncilMinistry of Education BangkokTel/Fax: (66 2) 2813905, 2816643

Mrs. Pornnipha LimpaphayomSecretary-GeneralThai National Commission for UNESCOMinistry of EducationBangkok Tel: (66 2) 6285612

Ms. Suchitra ChitranukrohDeputy Secretary-GeneralThai National Commission for UNESCOMinistry of EducationBangkok Tel: (66 2) 6285646-8 Fax: (66 2) 2810953

Ms. Duriya AmatavivatThai National Commission for UNESCOMinistry of EducationBangkok Tel: (662) 6285646-8 Fax: (662) 2810953

RECSAM

Mr. Tan KhunDirectorSEAMEO Regional Centre for Education in Science and MathematicsGlugor,PenangMalaysiaTel: (60 4) 6583266-7 Fax: (60 4) 6572541E-mail: director@recsam.edu.my

Resource persons

Ms. Liliana JabifInternational Bureau of EducationCase postale 1991211 Geneva 20SwitzerlandTel: (41 22) 9177800 Fax: (41 22) 9177801

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Ms. Virginia MiralaoSecretary General Association of Asian Social Science Councils (ASSREC)P.O. Box 205, UP Post OfficeDiliman, Quezon City PhilippinesTel: (63 2) 9229621 Fax: (63 2) 9244178E-mail: pssc@skyinet.net

Ms. Cecilia BraslavskyDirectorInternational Bureau of EducationCase postale 1991211 Geneva 20 SwitzerlandTel: (41 22) 9177800 Fax: (41 22) 9177801E-mail: c.braslavsky@ibe.unesco.org

Ms. Isabel ByronAssistant Programme SpecialistInternational Bureau of EducationCase postale 1991211 Geneva 20SwitzerlandTel: (41 22) 9177800 Fax: (41 22) 9177801E-mail: i.byron@ibe.unesco.org

Mr. Zhou Nanzhao,Director a.i.Acting Chief of ACEID UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and thePacific920 Sukhumvit Road,Bangkok, ThailandTel: (66 2) 3910577 Fax: (66 2) 3910866E-mail: n.zhou@unesco-proap.org

Ms. Lucille C. GregorioSpecialist in Science and Technology EducationUNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and thePacific920 Sukhumvit Road,Bangkok ThailandTel: (66 2) 3910577 Fax: (66 2) 3910866E-mail: lc.gregorio@unesco-proap.org

Secretarial and administrative support

Mrs. Amporn RatanavipakUNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia Pacific(PROAP)920 Sukhumvit Road,Bangkok 10110ThailandTel: (662) 391-0577 (Ext. 318)E-mail: r.amporn@unesco-proap.org

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UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education (IBE) andthe UNESCO’s Principal Regional Office for Asia andthe Pacific (PROAP) are organizing, with the support ofthe Ministry of Education, Thailand, a sub-regional sem-inar for curriculum specialists from countries of East andSouth East Asia. The seminar will focus on capacitybuilding in fundamental skills for effective curriculumdevelopment and reform and will be held in Bangkokfrom 12-16 December 2000.

BACKGROUND

The South-East and East Asia region is faced with numer-ous challenges to the provision of quality basic educationto meet the rapidly changing needs of its large population.Recent economic upheavals influenced by an increasinglyglobalized economy, rapid advances in science and tech-nology, immense social and cultural changes, have all ledto the need for innovative reforms and renewal of primaryand secondary education curricula. Under the presentsocial and economic pressures, education policy-makersand curriculum developers face the crucial task of defin-ing new contents of education that reflect the knowledgeand skills necessary for individuals’ personal growth, theirfunctioning in an increasingly complex society and theirintegration into the world of work.

While reforms to address these challenges havealready been taking place for a number of years in themember countries of the East and South-East Asianregion, it is recognized that they have so far been inade-quate to reply to the changing needs of the countries.Furthermore, reforms are most of the time not imple-mented effectively. Where formal educational institu-tions do succeed in keeping up to date with the advancesin knowledge, information learned in school soonbecomes obsolete in the wider society. Even in the mostdeveloped of these countries, governments are realizingthat young people are not being properly prepared tothink and act independently and creatively within a per-spective of learning beyond school.

The Report of the International Commission onEducation for the Twenty-first Century proposes reorienta-tion and re-organization of education systems through cur-ricular innovations/reforms based on the guiding principleof ‘learning throughout life’, building on the ‘four pillarsof learning’, (learning to know, learning to do, learning tobe, learning to live together). This has strong implicationsfor the process of curriculum reform, taking into consider-ation the cultural sensitivities of each country.

Curriculum reform is a complex process, andrequires curriculum developers’ full awareness of theintentions of and demands made by policy-makers, anunderstanding of the diverse needs of students and the

challenging tasks of teachers. It also requires a fullappreciation of the concerns of parents, employers, otherinterest groups and the society at-large. Curriculum pro-fessionals need to master a number of essential compe-tencies in order for curriculum development and reformto be carried out as effectively as possible through allstages of the process. Clarity of objectives, consistencyand feasibility of plans, active participation and a senseof ownership by key stakeholders, sustainability ofchange, all need to be ensured.

The IBE’s mission is to strengthen the capacity ofUNESCO Member States as regards the content of edu-cation. It has identified the strengthening of competen-cies among curriculum specialists as a key area of con-cern. The UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asiaand the Pacific (PROAP) has long been involved incapacity-building for curriculum development in theregion. Its present concern is to examine the strengthsand weaknesses of the curriculum for basic education ofselected countries in East and South-East Asia and toformulate a sub-regional strategy for developing a cur-riculum framework for the twenty-first century. Bothinstitutions have therefore come together to organize thisseminar in light of their shared aim to buildnational/regional capacities for curriculum reform.

OBJECTIVES OF THE SEMINAR

● To exchange experiences about recent and ongoinginitiatives in curriculum reforms in the participatingcountries.

● To develop a number of competencies related to asystematic process of curriculum reform, within theperspective of “learning to learn”.

● To formulate a regional curriculum framework, asdefined in the Delors Report. The framework willidentify criteria for curriculum analysis and will beused as the basis for the conducting of national casestudies in selected countries.

● To begin a dialogue on modalities for closer regionalco-operation in the field of curriculum development,leading to the establishment of a “Network ofCurriculum Specialists” in the South-East and EastAsia sub-region.

PARTICIPATION

Participants will be invited from the following countries:Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR,Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Republic of Korea,Thailand, Viet Nam, and SEAMEO-RECSAM. Theseminar is intended for Directors or other high-rankingofficers of Curriculum Development Centres or corre-sponding institutions.

ANNEX II:

INFORMATION NOTE

48

CONTENTS AND MODALITIES

The seminar will emphasize active participant involve-ment and interaction. It will be divided into country pre-sentations, training and drafting components. Trainingsessions will consist of a presentation by an expert in oneof the selected competencies, followed by group workand discussion. Drafting sessions will be carried out byidentifying members of task groups, who will formulatethe outlines of key documents.

COUNTRY PRESENTATIONS

To allow for informed exchange within the regional con-text, participants will be requested to prepare writtenreports on their country’s recent curriculum reforms,identifying the main elements and stages in the reformprocess. Participants will receive guidelines for thepreparation of these country presentations.

COMPETENCY PROFILE PRESENTATIONS

Principal elements of the selected competencies will bepresented by experts in the field. Presentations will beinteractive and supported by OHP or multi-media learn-ing aids.

WORKSHOPS

During the workshops, aspects of the skills to be devel-oped will be practised through various exercises, facili-tated by the invited expert. Each session will end with adiscussion of the main elements of each competency and

how it may be applied actively to the curriculum devel-opment process, and in the formulation of a ‘generic’regional framework.

DRAFTING SESSION

During the second half of the seminar, discussions, fol-lowed by practical drafting sessions, will take place toformulate the curriculum framework and the guidelinesfor the case studies to be undertaken on curriculumreform in selected countries.

Each participant will be requested to bring to theseminar, copies of the national curriculum for the basiceducation level. This will be the main document used inpreparing the analysis of the country’s national curricu-lum, following the framework agreed upon.(Background Document: the Delors Report.)

CONCLUDING SESSION

Participants will discuss plans for national follow-upaction relating to the conducting of the case studies oncurriculum reform. Participants will also have the oppor-tunity to discuss the possibility of creating a regionalnetwork of curriculum specialists. This network wouldpermit participating countries to intensify informationexchange on curricular issues, and develop, under IBEand PROAP leadership, various shared activities (such asconducting studies of a common interest, organization ofpolicy seminars for decision-makers, development ofexpertise in various curricular areas, etc.).

CAPACITY-BUILDING FOR CURRICULUM SPECIALISTS

IN EAST AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA

FINAL REPORT OF THE TRAINING SEMINARHOSTED BY THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION,

THAILAND Bangkok, Thailand, 12-16 December 2000

INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF EDUCATION (IBE)UNESCO PRINCIPAL REGIONAL OFFICE FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

With funding support from Japanese Funds-in-Trust

IBE

“Open files” for PROSPECTS in 2001 — Volume XXXI

● No. 1, March 2001:Secondary education

● No. 2, June 2001:Constructivism in education

● No. 3, September 2001:Education for living together in the twenty-first

century

● No. 4, December 2001:School autonomy and evaluation

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