The Need for Global Networking in Policy Dialogue and Capacity

Building for Curriculum Renewal:A Chinese National Perspective

Zhou Nan-Zhao

China

IBE SEMINAR on

Toward a Global Network of Curriculum Developers

6-8 July 2005, IBE, Geneva

An Outline of Presentation

Curriculum Change as Part of Educational Reform: Developing linking the three roles of IBE in the development of a global network for curriculum change

Main Parties for Successful Curriculum Change and Educational Reform:

Developing network at three levels: national, regional and international

Roles and Functions of a Global Network of Curriculum Developers: Suggestions for Joint Activities for 2005 & 2006-2007

I. CURRICULUM CHANGE AS PART OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM: Examples of the Chinese Case

Universalization of 9-Year Compulsory Education: EFA at National Level:

Recognition of education as a basic human right Expansion of basic education for equal opportunities in a

ccess the size of the textbook industry and provision of textbooks as a main indicator of EFA for 200 m. pupils

The shift of emphasis from inputs/access to process and quality outcomes: greater attention to curriculum change and development of common ‘national curriculum standards’

Restructuring of Secondary Education: the expansion of vocational-technical education the need for greater relevance of school curriculum and work skills training in school curriculum

Expansion of Higher Education: the conflict between limited access to higher education and the college-bound school curriculum: ‘the tail wagging the dog’ the need to transform college-entrance exam (as a remaining barrier) for further curriculum change

The changing roles of government in market-oriented economy and education: the decen-tralization in educational planning and policy-making decentralization in curriculum management and textbook development

Age Academic year

27 2226 2125 20

Doctoral programmes

24 1923 1822 17

Master’s degree programmes

21 1620 1519 1418 13

本 科Higher vocational ed.

17 1216 1115 10

General upper secondary ed.

Vocational upper secondary ed.

14 913 812 7

General junior secondary ed. Vocational junior sec

ondary ed.11 610 59 48 37 26 1

Primary ed.

543

Pre-schooling ed.

Bachelor’s degree

Education System in China

Schools/Colleges, Teachers and Students in Chinese Education System (2003)

[Source: Ynag Jin: Basic Education in China, 2005]

No. of schools

No. of teachers

No. of students

Gross enrollment rates

Higher education1,552 724,658 18,362,858 17%

Upper secondary education

46,670 2,448,533 32,413,533 44%

Lower secondary education

66,650 3,502,224 66,908,273 93%

Primary education

508,559 5,750,359 116,897,395 107.2%

77. 779. 7

81. 8

86. 6

90. 8 92. 6 93. 7 94. 3 94. 4 94. 9 95. 5 97 97. 9

42. 6 43. 6 44. 147. 8

50. 3 49. 851. 5 50. 7 50 51. 2

52. 9

58. 359. 6

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Pri mary to J uni or Secondary小学升初中J uni or secondary to seni or secondary初中升高中

%

Promotion Rates of Primary & Lower Secondary School Graduates in China [Source: Ynag Jin: Basic Education in China, 2005]

Composi ti on of General and Vocati onalEducati on at the Upper Secondary Level

(i n 10,000)[Source: Ynag J i n: Basi c Educati on i n Chi na, 2005]

455

677

473

282317

360396

558

752

510521 520 473

412398

510

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

General ed.普高 Vocati onal ed. 中职

II. MAIN PARTIES FOR SUCCESSFUL CURRICULUM CHANGE AND

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

National public authorities: ‘The heart of EFA lies at national level’. The fundamental roles of nation/state government in curriculum change

Local community (teachers, principals, parents, community people, etc.)

International community (GOs including UNESCO, NGOs like IEA, EI, IBO)

A Glimpse of the Curriculum ReformDue to Policy Change of National Authority

Survey Study for Policy Change

1996: National survey on compulsory education curriculum implementation: involvin

g 16,000 sample school students, 2,000 head masters and teachers in 10 provinces, and GOs and NGO policy-makers

1998 – 2002: Survey on senior high school curriculum implementation, based on comparati

ve studies of curriculum changes in 20 countries

2002: Survey on curriculum implementation in experimental areas

[Source: Zhu Mujue, Country Report to UNESCOBKK-NIER Regional Workshop on Management of Curriculum Change. NIER, Tokyo, Japan. 2004]

Policy Formulation and Curriculum Standards Development

2001: ‘Basic Education Curriculum Outline Programme’; A Curriculum Framework of Compulsory Education; Curriculum standards of 22 school subjects for 1st-9th graders; Textbooks for individual subjects for K-9 schools; Provisionary Regulations on Management of Primary & Secondary School Textbook Developme

nt & Approval. Guidance on Experimentation of New Compulsory Education Curriculum’

2002: ‘Education Ministry Notification on School Evaluation and Examination System Reform’

2003: Senior High School Curriculum Reform Programme Development of Curriculum Standards and Interpretation of 15 school subjects Development of School Textbooks for each school subject

[Source: Zhu Mujue, Country Report to UNESCOBKK-NIER Regional Workshop on Management of Curriculum Change. NIER, Tokyo, Japan. 2004]

Learning DomainsLanguages and literatureMathematicsHumanities & SocietySciencesTechnologiesPhysical Education & HealthComprehensive PracticeArt

School Subjects

Modules

Curriculum Structuring at Three Levels

Implementation of Curriculum Reform under Education-Ministry Guidance and

through Local Participation

2001 Designating 42 rural counties/urban districts in 27 provinces as ‘state curric

ulum reform zones’, accounting for 1%, or 470,000, of student population2002 Experimentation in 528 counties as provincial experimental zones’, account

ing for 20%, or 8,950,000, of student population2003 Experimentation in 1,642 counties, accounting for 57%, or 35 million, of stud

ent population2004 Experimentation in 2,576 counties, accounting for 90% of student population2005 Experimentation in 2,870 counties, accounting for 100% of student populatio

n

[Source: Zhu Mujue, Country Report to UNESCOBKK-NIER Regional Workshop on Management of Curriculum Change. NIER, Tokyo, Japan. 2004]

Breadth and In-depth of Curriculum Change

• Teaching and teacher-centered

-- Curriculum & textbooks designed to reflect roles of the teacher as ‘source of information’ and ‘provider’ of knowledge

Learning and learner centered

-- to facilitate active learning, developing inquiry skills

-- facilitating learning to learn

-- more attention to learning process

-- more learner-directed activities/projects

from

to

Rigid discipline-based subjects

College-bound cognitive learning

Examination-oriented: teaching to test

Interdisciplinarity and integration of subjects into curricular ‘package’ in cohesive ways

Multi-dimensional learning for higher learning, for the world of work and for responsible citizenship

Outcomes-oriented: achieving learning goals

School education claimed ‘value-free’, without course offering in moral/civic education

Totally academic curriculum

Terminal learning as once-for-life chance before employment

Teaching of shared human values made a learning area and values/ethic education to be integrated into curriculum at all levels

Diversification of educational content

Integral part of a lifelong learning continuum

Largely national and local concern: education as a primary vehicle for transmitting and preserving cultural norms

Highly centralized curriculum process and management

Increasing international concern due to globalization (demand for new learning opportunities expanding across communities in multicultural societies)

Decentralization,

with flexibility for local/regional inputs and adaptation of national core curriculum:

Over-loaded curriculum

-- lack of definition of basic competencesand their structures

-- fragmented approach to responding to new demands/needs

-- adding new subjects without removal

--competing for content and for teaching hours

Reducing curricular load:-- by better defining basic subject content and integrating related subject areas-- by balancing basic learning competences and content to be achieved at the end of each stage/cycle-- by preparing teachers for new approach

Technology either missing or weak: IT education offered only as a subject, with acquisition of specific knowledge/skills as learning goal

Textbooks being the only or dominant curricular materials

Technology pervasive: ICT integrated into content & process:

-- ICT as a subject-- ICT as a tool (applied to T-L in

all subjects)-- ICT as educational resources

(for all learning areas, in learning to learn)

Textbooks as part of multi-media learning materials or no standardized textbooks

Curriculum assessment to evaluate learning achievement

-- ‘in seeking to make the important measurable, only the measurable has become important’ (A. Pillot & J. Osborne)

-- evaluating individual studentsbased on testing results in term of quantified test scores

-- no valid/reliable instrument for evaluation of value/behavioral outcomes

Assessment changed accordingly in quantitative and qualitative terms to align with curricular change

-- “to measure not only the ‘measurable’ but the ‘relevant’ ”(A. Pillot & J. Osborne)

-- comprehensive assessment of performance of teacher/school and education system

-- both formative and summative assessment (e.g. for practical work)

-- instruments/indicators being developed to evaluate attitudial/behavioral outcomes

The Roles of International Community

in Curriculum Change:The Case of IBE in Policy Dialogue and

Capacity Building for Curriculum Change

As laboratory of ideas: promoting research and policy dialogue on key issues influences of socio-economic and political contexts for curriculum change

As standards setter: promoting information sharing on national curriculum standards

As capacity builder: technical assistance in national/institutional capacity building in planning and leading curriculum change

As information clearing-house: databank of curriculum innovations and findings of international studies

As catalyst for international cooperation: promoting experiences-sharing for different policy options, curriculum frameworks, and diversified approaches through collaborative programmes/projects and activities

III. ROLES/FUNCTIONS/ACTIVITIES OF A GLOBAL NETWORK

Strengthened partnership and networking: as a UNESCO policy and strategy in achieving EFA goals

The need for capacity building in curriculum change at national level: hundreds of policy-makers at ministry-provincial-municipal-county levels; hundreds of curriculum researchers/specialists at 14 leading normal universities and at provincial/municipal teaching-researching groups; and institutes of education for in-service training of nearly 10 million teachers.

The need for policy dialogue at international level

Issues for International Policy Debate and Dialogu

e in Curriculum Reform The changing nature of curriculum

development: as ‘an on-going process aimed at organizing better learning opportunities and thus focusing on actual inter-actions in classroom’ (IBE, 1999)

continuous efforts to translate educational goals into activities, materials and observable behavioral changes;

links between learning, teaching and assessment more clearly recognized -- requiring monitoring, feedback as well as subsequent revision and modification

be open to and experiment with different curricular models

cycles’ of curriculum reform (JP: 10 years; PK: 4 years)

Lifelong learning as a principle cutting through all stages and curriculum development for each grade and level: school curriculum as part of a continuum of learning

College-entrance exam remaining bottleneck of fundamental & successful curricular reform: teach to the test or test what is taught and should be learned through curriculum? [ROK: ‘CEE-centered school education nullifies all expected effects of educational innovation’].

Differentiation in curriculum rational or effective for individualization?

Inquiry/exploratory learning as a cross-cutting principle and research-based leaning as a subject

How to integrate in curriculum both the content and tools of learning? fundamental removal or replacement and reorganization?

Supply-driven (deliver what we know, what we assume learners need know) or demand-driven (what the society and learners need know, which we might not know well enough to teach)?

Articulation and transition between primary and lower/upper secondary levels: holistic and integral curricular design for adequate preparation for learning at a higher level but avoiding duplication/repetition

Mechanisms for supervision, monitoring and systematic evaluation of curricular changes

Sustainability of curriculum reform after external funding: resources for sustained reform; on-going improvement based on feedback but avoid risk of abandonment

International Networking for Sharing Approaches:

and Frameworks:Using Four Pillars of Learning in

Reorganizing Content

An identification of fundamental skills, competencies, adaptabilities and values needed for a new century

A set of universal principles for teaching-learning at all levels of formal/nonformula education and for all phases of life

Complementation and interpenetration of one another

An Optional Framework for Renewing Basic Education Curriculum:

An Example of Outcome of Regional Networking

Subject Matter Content

(to reflect interdisciplinarity / interconnectedness)

Rationale Goals / Objectives Philosophy

(To incorporate the principle of education throughout life)

Learning Outcomes

(To include the four pillars of learning)

Teaching Approaches

(To highlight holistic / interdisciplinal approaches)

PROCESS OUTCOMES

School

Student Characteristics

Household/Community

Characteristics

INPUTS

School Climate

Teaching/Learning

Standards

Attainment

Achievement

An Input-Process-Outcomes Framework for Assessing Education QualityAn Input-Process-Outcomes Framework for Assessing Education Quality[source: Education for All: Is the World on the Track? UNESCO Press, 2002]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Policy framework for improving the quality of teaching and

learning: A Reference Point for Curriculum Change

Education sector policy

Enabling environment

Teaching

Learning

KnowledgeInfrastructure

School management

and governance

Human and physical resources

The learner

[Source: UNESCO: EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005]

Global Networking for Capacity Building:Preparing Teachers for Curriculum Change:

Curriculum reform and teacher professional development: closely inter-linked; the former depending on the latter.

Teachers’ vital roles as ‘real actors’: ‘participants’ in decision-making ‘conveyors’ of curriculum philosophy Motivated/effective ‘implementers’ ‘designers’ of curricular materials and teaching approaches ‘lifelong learners’’ for constant improvement of curriculum

Global Networking, with IBE as its center and coordinator, and through programme activities.

Suggestions for Joint Activities:1. An IBE Forum on Curriculum Change and Education Reform,

for policy dialogue on key issues in curriculum change;

2. Development of training materials and use of Asia-Pacific Resource Pack for Management of Curriculum Change through inter-national and inter-disciplinary teams

3. Mobile ‘training of trainers’ workshops for capacity building

4. Selected comparative studies on major dimensions of curriculum reform and educational reform

5. information-sharing services, e.g. contribution to IBE databank and website on curriculum reforms worldwide.