The Need for Global Networking in Policy Dialogue and Capacity Building for Curriculum Renewal:

1. IBE SEMINAR on Toward a Global Network of Curriculum Developers 6-8 July 2005, IBE, Geneva The Need for Global Networking in Policy Dialogue and Capacity Building for Curriculum Renewal: A Chinese National Perspective Zhou Nan-Zhao China

2. 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

3. 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 access  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’

4. 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

5. Age Academic year 27 22 Doctoral programmes 26 21 25 20 24 19 Master’s degree programmes 23 18 22 17 21 16 Bachelor’s degree Higher vocational ed. 20 15 本 科 19 14 18 13 17 12 General upper secondary ed. Vocational upper secondary ed. 16 11 15 10 14 9 General junior secondary ed. Vocational junior secondary ed. 13 8 12 7 11 6 10 5 9 4 Primary ed. 8 3 7 2 6 1 5 Pre-schooling ed. 4 3 Education System in China

6. Schools/Colleges, Teachers and Students in Chinese Education System (2003)[Source: Ynag Jin: Basic Education in China, 2005]

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

9. 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)

10. 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: involving 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 comparative 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]

11. 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 Development & 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]

12. Curriculum Structuring at Three Levels • Learning Domains • Languages and literature • Mathematics • Humanities & Society • Sciences • Technologies • Physical Education & Health • Comprehensive Practice • Art • School Subjects • Modules

13. Implementation of Curriculum Reform under Education-Ministry Guidance andthrough Local Participation 2001 • Designating 42 rural counties/urban districts in 27 provinces as ‘state curriculum reform zones’, accounting for 1%, or 470,000, of student population 2002 • Experimentation in 528 counties as provincial experimental zones’, accounting for 20%, or 8,950,000, of student population 2003 • Experimentation in 1,642 counties, accounting for 57%, or 35 million, of student population 2004 • Experimentation in 2,576 counties, accounting for 90% of student population 2005 • Experimentation in 2,870 counties, accounting for 100% of student population [Source: Zhu Mujue, Country Report to UNESCOBKK-NIER Regional Workshop on Management of Curriculum Change. NIER, Tokyo, Japan. 2004]

14. 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 Breadth and In-depth of Curriculum Change from to

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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:

18. Over-loaded curriculum -- lack of definition of basic competences and 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 Shifts of Concern from Local to International

19. 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

20. 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 students based 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. Issues for International Policy Debate and Dialogue 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)

24. Lifelong learningas 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

25. 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 foradequate 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

26. 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

27. Subject Matter Content (to reflect interdisciplinarity / interconnectedness) Rationale Goals / Objectives Philosophy (To incorporate the principle of education throughout life) Teaching Approaches (To highlight holistic / interdisciplinal approaches) Learning Outcomes (To include the four pillars of learning) An Optional Framework for Renewing Basic Education Curriculum: An Example of Outcome of Regional Networking

28. An Input-Process-Outcomes Framework for Assessing Education Quality [source: Education for All: Is the World on the Track? UNESCO Press, 2002] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INPUTS PROCESS OUTCOMES Achievement School School Climate Attainment Student Characteristics Standards Teaching/ Learning Household/ Community Characteristics

29. Education sector policy Enabling environment Teaching Learning Knowledge Infrastructure School management and governance The learner Human and physical resources A Policy framework for improving the quality of teaching and learning:A Reference Point for Curriculum Change [Source: UNESCO: EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005]

30. 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 • ‘lifelonglearners’’ forconstant improvement of curriculum

31. Global Networking,with IBE as its center and coordinator, and through programme activities. • Suggestions for Joint Activities: • 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.