Abstract
Weak or unstructured stakeholder participation in higher education curricula development still remains a problem in Armenia. Change in outdated curricula development processes is needed, as they often do not meet students’ needs; do not adopt innovative teaching methods or tools; and do not fit the labour market’s demand. This paper traces the evolution of the participatory curriculum development process of the Organic Agriculture Master’s program at the Armenian National Agrarian University (ANAU). Prioritizing mainly qualitative methods of research, five relevant stakeholder groups with approximately 10–12 members each at varying levels were involved in this action research. Additionally, paper-based and online surveys were conducted with 290 ANAU students. The results focus on the conceptual mapping of the process of participatory action research, bridging its relevance to the Armenian labour market’s needs. Moreover, the results highlight lessons learned from the process—shaping them around significant theories for participatory action research—and underline the possibilities of the Organic Agriculture Master’s development process as a model program at ANAU and perhaps elsewhere.
Highlights
In the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many former member countries were confronted with a newfound independence and accompanying responsibilities.In Armenia, among many other new challenges, the higher education system was in dire need of reassessment (Heyneman 2010; Karakhanyan et al 2012)
We will describe the process of participatory curriculum developthis subsection, willofdescribe the established process of participatory curriculumMaster’s develop-promentIn(PCD)
(2002) described above, and by identifying the types of participation by described above, and highlight highlight the need of a strong connection among practitioners and science that would betthefill need a strong connection among in practitioners science that would fill of ter theofgap of organic professionals the labour and market by showing the better formation the gap of organic professionals in the labour market by showing the formation of the the Stakeholder Committee
Summary
In the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many former member countries were confronted with a newfound independence and accompanying responsibilities.In Armenia, among many other new challenges, the higher education system was in dire need of reassessment (Heyneman 2010; Karakhanyan et al 2012). Higher education in Armenia has undergone major changes; challenges of outdated curricula and corresponding teaching methods continue to persist Such issues raise questions regarding the current higher education system and its relevance to the needs of students and the labour market. The skills of university graduates and their completed study programs often do not meet the requirements of the labour market or address real-world problems (Bardak et al 2011) These challenges are shared by many higher education institutions; yet Armenia, and perhaps other post-Soviet countries, after having to rebuild many systems since the 1990s, exhibit acute labour market challenges. 2021), this may not reflect the real situation, as the data collection was spotty Another duality in the labour market is the high number of unemployed people with a higher education.
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