Transcript Figure 1. Number of foreign tertiary students in OECD

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
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
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’
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 marketoriented economy and education: the decentralization in educational planning and policy-making
 decentralization in curriculum management and
textbook development
Education System in China
Age
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
Academic year
22
Doctoral
21
programmes
20
19
Master’s degree programmes
18
17
16
Bachelor’s
Higher
15
degree
本 科 vocational ed.
14
13
12
General upper
Vocational upper
11
secondary ed.
secondary ed.
10
9
General junior
8
secondary ed.
7
6
5
4
Primary ed.
3
2
1
Pre-schooling ed.
Vocational junior
secondary ed.
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
1,552
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%
508,559
5,750,359
116,897,395
Higher education
Primary education
107.2%
Promotion Rates of Primary & Lower Secondary School
Graduates in China [Source: Ynag Jin: Basic Education in China, 2005]
100
%
90.8
90
80
92.6
93.7
94.3
94.4
94.9
95.5
97
97.9
86.6
77.7
79.7
81.8
70
60
58.359.6
50
40
47.8
42.6
43.6
50.3
49.8
51.5
50.7
50
51.2
52.9
44.1
30
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
小学升初中 Primary to Junior Secondary
初中升高中Junior secondary to senior secondary
Composition of General and Vocational
Education at the Upper Secondary Level
(in 10,000)
[ Source: Ynag Jin: Basic Education in China, 2005 ]
1300
1200
1100
510
1000
900
455
800
700
600
510
521
520
473
412
398
500
752
400
677
300
558
473
200
100
317
282
360
396
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 Reform
Due 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]
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
Management of Curriculum Change. NIER, Tokyo, Japan. 2004]
Workshop on
Curriculum Structuring at Three Levels
Learning Domains
Languages and literature
Mathematics
Humanities & Society
Sciences
Technologies
Physical Education
& Health
Comprehensive Practice
Art
School Subjects
Modules
Implementation of Curriculum Reform
under Education-Ministry Guidance and
through 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

Experimentation in 2,870 counties, accounting for 100% of student population
2005
[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
from
•
Teaching and teachercentered
-- Curriculum & textbooks
designed to reflect roles
of the teacher as ‘source
of information’ and
‘provider’ of knowledge
to
 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



Rigid discipline-based
subjects
 Interdisciplinarity and
integration of subjects into
curricular ‘package’ in
cohesive ways
College-bound
cognitive learning
 Multi-dimensional learning
for higher learning, for the
world of work and for
responsible citizenship
Examination-oriented:
teaching to test
 Outcomes-oriented:
achieving learning goals



School education
claimed ‘value-free’,
without course
offering in
moral/civic
education
 Teaching of shared
human values made
a learning area and
values/ethic
education to be
integrated into
curriculum at all
levels
Totally academic
curriculum
 Diversification of
Terminal learning as
once-for-life chance
before employment
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 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


Technology either
missing or weak:
IT education offered only
as a subject, with
acquisition of specific
knowledge/skills as
learning goal
 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 being the
only or dominant
curricular materials
 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 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
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
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)
 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 teachinglearning 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)
An Input-Process-Outcomes Framework for Assessing Education Quality
[source: Education for All: Is the World on the Track? UNESCO Press, 2002]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------INPUTS
School
PROCESS
School Climate
Student
Characteristics
Household/
Community
Characteristics
OUTCOMES
Achievement
Attainment
Teaching/
Learning
Standards
A Policy framework for improving the quality of teaching and learning:
A Reference Point for Curriculum Change
Education sector policy
Enabling environment
Knowledge
Infrastructure
Teaching
The learner
School
management
and governance
Learning
Human and
physical
resources
[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.