Developing and Implementing Curriculum Frameworks - …

1 I N T E R N A T I O N A L B U R E A U O F E D U CA T I O N Training Tools for Curriculum Development Developing and Implementing Curriculum Frameworks 3 4 Table of contents Conceptual 6 Rationale .. 6 Purpose .. 6 Overview of training activities .. 7 The conceptual framework .. 7 Training manual .. 14 ACTIVITY 1 Stage 1: Evidence-gathering .. 14 ACTIVITY 2 Stage 2: Preparation .. 16 ACTIVITY 3 Stage 3: Development .. 23 ACTIVITY 4 Stage 4: Implementation .. 28 ACTIVITY 5 Stage 5: Monitoring and evaluation .. 32 Training resources .. 36 Matrix of issues (Activity 1, Task 1) .. 36 Drafting a ministerial briefing paper (Activity 1, Task 4).

2 37 Relevance and readiness (Activity 2, Task 2) .. 38 Influences on the Curriculum framework (Activity 3, Task 1) .. 39 Rating the effectiveness of current Curriculum development processes (Activity 3, Task 2) .. 40 Developing an ideal process worksheet (Activity 3, Task 3) .. 41 Implications of a Curriculum framework worksheet (Activity 4, Task 2) .. 42 Simple structure for a process evaluation report (Activity 5, Task 1) 43 Additional resources .. 44 1. Links to Curriculum Frameworks .. 44 2. Links to Curriculum development process examples .. 44 Appendix: Critical issues relating to the contents of a Curriculum framework .. 1. What will be the scope of the Curriculum framework ?

3 48 5 2. What is the learning theory and philosophy which will underpin our framework ? .. 48 3. How adequate are our current Curriculum vision, aims and objectives? Should they be revised as part of the development process? .. 50 4. Which values and principles will underpin the Curriculum ? .. 50 6 Conceptual framework Rationale In many countries, the traditional Curriculum consists of a set of content items, most commonly knowledge and information, which is prescribed by a central authority. This authority expects the prescribed content to be taught and learned by all students, in all schools, often in the same prescribed sequence and at a prescribed pace.

4 This traditional model has been challenged with increasing intensity over recent decades. There are many reasons for this, but perhaps the four main reasons are: 1. The rapid increase in the breadth and depth of human knowledge, and the subsequent challenge of selecting bits of knowledge to constitute a Curriculum ; 2. The realization that the main aim of Curriculum should be to produce competent young people, rather than students who can simply remember information and recall it for examination purposes. Curriculum developers (as well as teachers) are searching for ways to ensure that graduates from their schools have a base of knowledge, skills, attitudes, beliefs and values that will enable them to function successfully in the various roles they will have throughout their lives as family and community members, as citizens, as students, as members of the workforce, and so on.

5 So there is increasing emphasis on applying knowledge in various situations in order to understand more deeply through connecting different pieces of knowledge, to imagine different ways of doing things and to solve problems in both logical and creative ways in other words, to be competent. 3. As a consequence of this, the realization that not all students need to learn the same content in order to become competent in the ways described above. They can become competent by learning the foundation skills and knowledge, but then pursuing their interests within the Curriculum so that learning is more enjoyable and relevant for them.

6 4. A growing belief that the school years are not the only period of their lives when students will learn in structured ways, and that they should be encouraged to be inquisitive and to continue learning throughout their lives. The Curriculum should therefore be connected to pre-school learning, to learning acquired outside school and to post-school learning. From a Curriculum design perspective, there is a critical need for more flexibility, and one of the approaches available to Curriculum developers to achieve this flexibility is to build a Curriculum framework as a strong foundation for describing what is to be learned in schools.

7 This module is not about what a Curriculum framework is its contents and structure. There are many examples of Curriculum Frameworks publicly available and accessible, and references to some of these can be found in the Additional resources section of this module. This topic is also covered in other modules within this training course or pack. What is not so readily available, however, is information and guidance about the process of Developing a Curriculum framework in other words, the how rather than the what . While it is impossible to keep the what completely separate from the how , this module focuses on how to address the key questions, issues and challenges that arise during a development process, rather than on what the answers and responses should be.

8 Purpose This module is designed to be completed in conjunction with or subsequent to the study of Module 3 Curriculum Design (Training Tools for Curriculum Development A Resource Pack). Rather than describe what a Curriculum framework is, the purpose of this module is to understand how a Curriculum framework 7 can be developed in other words, the processes that will be required to develop a Curriculum framework successfully. It is not possible to define a set of processes for Developing a Curriculum framework that will work in every context. The educational context of every country is a complex mix of educational traditions, Curriculum development structures, policy priorities, human capacities and financial resources.

9 Similarly, the Curriculum of every country has its own, individual strengths and weaknesses, is based on a national approach to and philosophy of education, and most countries have developed a set of either implicit or explicit educational priorities to which the Curriculum must respond. The main purpose of the module is to provide the reader with a clear, staged model of a process, and with some fundamental knowledge and information about each stage. The five stage model proposed for the process is: Stage 1: Evidence-gathering Stage 2: Preparation Stage 3: Development Stage 4: Implementation Stage 5: Monitoring and evaluation However, the central challenge for you, the readers of this module, is to transfer and apply its generic content to your individual country or system circumstances.

10 Overview of training activities The structure of the Training activities section of the module reflects the five-stage model proposed for the Curriculum framework development process. Each of the five stages has at least one training activity attached to it, each of which requires the completion of a number of tasks and sub-tasks. The broad purpose of the training activities is to place you, the reader or participant, in the position of a Curriculum developer, and to have you make some decision about or formulate some response to an issue or challenge associated with the process. You may be asked to do this individually, as a member of a country team or as a member of a small workshop group.