Local Curriculum Research Articles

Structural enablements and constraints in the creation and enactment of local content in Norwegian education

ABSTRACT In Norway, the national curriculum together with the Education Act serves as the foundation for teaching and learning in primary and secondary education and training. Local educational providers are given autonomy to develop local adaptations of the centrally given subject-specific curriculum competence aims. This article explores some structural enablements and constraints tied to teachers’ opportunities to make use of local content in curricula in lower secondary schools in Norway, including rural/urban differences. The analysis is based on data consisting of 18 qualitative interviews with teachers in two municipalities and participant observation in one of the municipalities in Northern Norway. The finding of this paper is that the design of the national curriculum allows for local content based on its competence aims. This serves as an enabler for teachers to create and enact local content in education. However, there are several constraints that limit local adaptation for teachers – time pressure, lack of access to content due to finances and distance and losing school control of local curriculum. Also, these constraints have a different impact depending on the geographical context. The article employs Margaret Archer’s theories on centralized and decentralized educational systems to analyse these structural enablements and constraints.

Revealing the reality of undergraduate GP teaching in UK medical curricula: a cross-sectional questionnaire study.

Time in general practice offers medical students opportunities to learn a breadth of clinical knowledge and skills relevant to their future clinical practice. Undergraduate experiences shape career decisions and current recommendations are that 25% of undergraduate curriculum time should be focused on general practice. However, previous work demonstrated that GP teaching had plateaued or reduced in UK medical schools. Therefore, an up-to-date description of undergraduate GP teaching is timely. To describe the current picture of UK undergraduate GP teaching, including the amount of time and resources allocated to GP teaching. A cross-sectional questionnaire study across 36 UK medical schools. The questionnaire was designed based on a previous survey performed in 2011-2013, with additional questions on human and financial support allocated to GP teaching. The questionnaire was piloted and revised prior to distribution to leads of undergraduate GP teaching in UK medical schools. The questionnaire response rate was 100%. GP teaching constituted an average of 9.2% of medical curricula; this was lower than previous figures, though the actual number of GP sessions has remained static. The majority (n = 23) describe plans to increase GP teaching in their local curricula over the next 5 years. UK-wide average payment was 55.60 GBP/student/session of in-practice teaching, falling well below estimated costs to practices. Allocation of human resources was varied. Undergraduate GP teaching provision has plateaued since 2000 and falls short of national recommendations. Chronic underinvestment in GP teaching persists at a time when teaching is expected to increase. Both aspects need to be addressed to facilitate high-quality undergraduate GP teaching and promotion of the expert medical generalist role.

Symposium: Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education: Canadian Perspectives

This symposium examines Canadian perspectives on environmental and sustainability education in teacher education (ESE-TE) through the newly published Springer book volume titled, Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education: Canadian Perspectives (2019). The book’s contributors, from diverse faculties of education across Canada, employed a range of research methods in exploring various aspects of Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education (ESE-TE). The book includes the results of empirical and non-empirical studies, including case studies, mixed methods studies, self-study and narrative inquiry, as well as theoretical, conceptual and philosophical inquiries on ESE-TE. The book volume concludes that ESE-TE in Canada depends on the determined, persevering and passionate efforts of faculty members working in varied contexts while exhibiting a fair degree of autonomy. While provincial policy directives for ESE-TE are the exception rather than the norm, the degree of autonomy that post-secondary instructors enjoy could be further supported and strengthened by consistent policy directives that help further local curriculum development by faculty members representing different curricular areas. Additional empirical research is needed to identify specific factors—including a) approaches employed in Canadian ESE-TE programs, b) theoretical frameworks informing such approaches, c) curricular emphases and outcomes implemented in these programs, and d) experiences of ESE-TE students, instructors, administrators and policy-makers—that facilitate or hinder the enhancement of ESE-TE.

EVALUASI PENGEMBANGAN KURIKULUM MUATAN LOKAL SEKOLAH DASAR NEGERI KOTA MEULABOH

This research was motivated by the fact that local content curriculum development in schools, was not yet optimal. This research aimed to evaluate local content curriculum development of elementary schools in Meulaboh. The main problem of this research was how the evaluation results of the development of local curriculum in Meulaboh Elementary School. This research was evaluated study using quantitative models. Evaluation is done by collecting information in the form of data component of curriculum development to then analyzed average percentage aspect by using descriptive analysis. The instruments used were questionnaires, and document observation sheets. The population consisted of 6 schools pilotting Curriculum 2013 and respondents consisted of 6 headmasters, and 19 teschers were chosen using purposive sampling technique. The results of the research indicate that: the condition of curriculum development categorized good category (59%). The results showed that over all components of the evaluation in the evaluation of each aspect of good category.

Learners’ socio-cultural backgrounds and science teaching and learning: a case study of township schools in South Africa

In an effort to pursue and achieve quality and equity in science education, the South African National Curriculum Statement stipulates that learners should be accorded an opportunity to acquire and apply knowledge and skills in meaningful ways. Accordingly, the curriculum promotes knowledge in both local and global contexts. The study investigated how teachers’ knowledge of learners’ socio-cultural backgrounds is invoked in enacting various teaching and learning approaches that bring relevance of science to learners. Three science teachers from three township high schools were observed teaching while incorporating learners’ socio-cultural practices, experiences and beliefs when teaching the topics reproduction, nutrition and healthy diet. The teachers were interviewed after each lesson via a closed-ended protocol. Science local curriculum documents and lesson plans were also analysed. A total of five lesson observations and five post-lesson interviews per teacher were analysed using the constant comparative method. The findings revealed that teachers use probing and open-ended questions, argumentation in groups, authentic problem-solving activities and resources, examples, experiences and language familiar to learners. Such practices promote class and group interaction, develop critical and analytical thinking skills in learners and promote conceptual understanding. The research findings provide insights into how certain science topics can be taught in meaningful ways to socio-economically and culturally diverse learners, which can contribute to the current debate on relevant education in a country faced with huge diversity.

Educational Process of Exceptional Children in Special Education Waraqil Jannah School

This article was to analyse how the educational process of exceptional children in the special educational school Waraqil Jannah. This school was an excellent school who integrated with an orphanage, founded in 2012. The researchers used descriptive qualitative methods though Purwoko’s theory. Observation, interview, and documentation were used in this collecting data. While, analysing data used triangulation technique. The obtained data was to analyzed by referring to the models of Miles and Huberman analysis with the steps of data reduction, data model (data display) and the withdrawal of conclusions. The result showed that the school used curriculum based on combination from government curriculum and local curriculum, but in the process of daily learning was adjust to condition of children. Learning facilities was available. Hence it can interfere with the learning process. There was no graduate teachers’ special education who teaches at this school
 Keywords: Exceptional Children, Special Education School, Learning Process

Integration and Sustainability of Electronic Surgical Logbooks in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa lack adequate surgical workforces to achieve safe and affordable care for their populations. The Global Surgery movement highlights the urgent need to address this situation. Interventions include not only financial, material and infrastructural support, but also collaborative information flow to support surgical training. In 2015, an electronic logbook was launched for surgical trainees across Sub-Saharan Africa. To assess the integration and context sustainability of surgical e-logbooks in Sub-Saharan Africa. In January 2019, a survey analysis of surgical trainees was employed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Participants (active trainees and recent fellows) completed an anonymous internet-based questionnaire evaluating end-user feedback, perceptions and self-reported compliance. Multi-point Likert Scale measures and free-text thematic analysis were used. 358 (68.19%) eligible individuals across 21 Sub-Saharan countries and seven surgical specialties voluntarily participated. The e-resource demonstrated integration into local curricula with the majority of users maintaining activity and reporting moderate-high compliance. Context appropriateness measures were high with 203 (69.76%) deeming it convenient to use. The principle obstacle to compliance was internet connectivity (74, 25.96%), while behavioural factors including supervisor engagement were implicated. The e-logbook demonstrated future sustainability with the majority (243, 78.14%) of participants intent on maintaining usage beyond completion of surgical training. We describe the successful integration and sustainability of electronic surgical logbooks for trainees across Sub-Saharan Africa. However context-appropriate resources are essential for Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Internet connectivity may hinder the achievement of several Global Surgery objectives in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Changing conditions for teachers’ knowledge work: new actor constellations and responsibilities

In a time of strong focus on school development, teachers’ work is increasingly linked to a variety of actors, organisations and stakeholders with different agendas and suggestions for school improvements. This paper explores the different actor constellations that teachers engage with in collaborative knowledge work and the opportunities and constraints such engagements entail. By drawing on ethnographic methods, teams of teachers from one lower secondary school in Norway assigned to developing a local curriculum were followed closely across sites over a year. The analysis, which employs resources from assemblage thinking (AT), shows how new actor constellations spatially relocate teachers’ work in ways that extend their professional roles and responsibilities. The findings also reveal that such work is epistemically demanding because it requires comprehensive collective negotiations and investigative activities from the teachers. The analysis foregrounds insights that contribute to our understanding of changing conditions for knowledge work in the teaching profession.

Examining the mathematical content knowledge of pre-service primary teachers at the highest primary school level in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT This study examined pre-service primary teachers’ (PSPTs) mathematics performance on a set of question items measuring at the sixth grade level in Hong Kong. These items covered the five learning strands of the local primary mathematics curriculum – number, algebra, measures, shape and space, and data handling. The participants of the study were 152 PSPTs who had chosen mathematics as a major in an undergraduate teacher education program. Their strengths and weaknesses in particular mathematics topics were identified. Across all four years of the teacher education program, only 6% of the participants were able to provide fully correct mathematical responses to all five items. Further, it is surprising that merely 14% of graduating cohorts achieved a full mark for the mathematical word problem that required them to show their working steps. These findings suggest that issues relating to the preparation of mathematics specialists should be further considered in primary mathematics education.

Delivery of cancer survivorship education to community health care professionals.

11032 Background: Cancer survivorship care is an integral part of oncology care. Although oncologists overwhelmingly demonstrate a desire to be a part of their cancer survivors’ care and management, only 60% of oncologists feel comfortable promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors, screening and prevention care. There is currently no standard of care for survivorship care education and data evaluating current educational models is limited. Methods: Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) utilizes telehealth to promote long-distance learning and sharing of best practices. We utilized the Project ECHO model to deliver a survivorship curriculum in 6 hourly, biweekly sessions from October 2019 to December 2019. The curriculum was aligned with the 4 central tenets of survivorship care and was developed based on a needs assessment. Recruited participants included registered nurses (RN), registered dietitians (RD), advanced practice providers (APP), radiation oncologists and medical oncologists. Participants were enrolled in either a local ECHO curriculum or a national ECHO curriculum. Local Connecticut participants were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews to evaluate their experience. Results: Eight participants including 3 MDs, 1 APP, 1 SW and 3 RNs from 3 community oncology clinics in suburban Connecticut enrolled in the local ECHO curriculum. Twenty-eight participants including 17 RDs, 2 MDs, and 3 APPs from 13 hospital and community practices enrolled in the national ECHO curriculum. Four participants (50%) agreed to participate in semi-structured interviews. Motivations to participate included ease of participation and interest in survivorship. Participants described a positive experience, citing a well-structured curriculum and sense of community as highlights. Two participants described the sessions as empowering, leading to more discussions and engagement with survivors. All participants described an increased awareness of resources available for cancer survivors. Areas for improvement included greater assistance with technology and session time management. Concomitant patient care was the most cited barrier to participation. Conclusions: This pilot study is the first to demonstrate the feasibility of the Project ECHO model for delivering cancer survivorship education to community oncology providers. Further research evaluating the correlation between improved provider knowledge and survivorship care outcomes is needed.

Practical solutions for implementation of Transition to Practice curricula in a competency-based medical education model.

BackgroundAlthough transition from residency to practice represents a critical learning stage, there is a paucity of literature to inform local curriculum development and implementation.ObjectivesTo describe local curriculum development for Transition to Practice (TTP) for use within a competency-based medical education model, including important content and suitable teaching and assessment strategies.DesignWe reviewed the literature to construct a definition and develop initial curriculum content for TTP. We then gathered local residency program directors’ views on TTP content, teaching, and assessment via online survey and an international educational conference workshop.ResultsWe identified 21 important TTP content areas in the literature and analyzed 35 survey responses, representing 33 residency programs. Survey participants viewed Further sophistication of clinical skills, How to set up a practice, and Time management skills as the three most important content areas. Views on content importance varied by program. For teaching and assessment strategies, most respondents preferred: assessing what residents could do, providing real-life practice opportunities, and offering workplace-based assessments.ConclusionsTTP curricula implementation should reflect nationally set, specialty-specific curriculum elements; locally developed priority content; and assessment and teaching strategies. Individual learner needs and imminent practice context should guide faculty approaches to curriculum delivery.Résumé

Health Systems Science in Medical Education: Unifying the Components to Catalyze Transformation.

Medical education exists in the service of patients and communities and must continually calibrate its focus to ensure the achievement of these goals. To close gaps in U.S. health outcomes, medical education is steadily evolving to better prepare providers with the knowledge and skills to lead patient- and systems-level improvements. Systems-related competencies, including high-value care, quality improvement, population health, informatics, and systems thinking, are needed to achieve this but are often curricular islands in medical education, dependent on local context, and have lacked a unifying framework. The third pillar of medical education-health systems science (HSS)-complements the basic and clinical sciences and integrates the full range of systems-related competencies. Despite the movement toward HSS, there remains uncertainty and significant inconsistency in the application of HSS concepts and nomenclature within health care and medical education. In this Article, the authors (1) explore the historical context of several key systems-related competency areas; (2) describe HSS and highlight a schema crosswalk between HSS and systems-related national competency recommendations, accreditation standards, national and local curricula, educator recommendations, and textbooks; and (3) articulate 6 rationales for the use and integration of a broad HSS framework within medical education. These rationales include: (1) ensuring core competencies are not marginalized, (2) accounting for related and integrated competencies in curricular design, (3) providing the foundation for comprehensive assessments and evaluations, (4) providing a clear learning pathway for the undergraduate-graduate-workforce continuum, (5) facilitating a shift toward a national standard, and (6) catalyzing a new professional identity as systems citizens. Continued movement toward a cohesive framework will better align the clinical and educational missions by cultivating the next generation of systems-minded health care professionals.

Foreign Language Education Standards: Ukrainian Dimension

Some issues regarding adaptation of the foreign language (English, Chinese) education standards are presented in the article. The purpose of the study is to present all possible correlations related to the foreign language education standards in Ukraine. The relevance of the problem is stipulated by the Ukrainian normative education regulations as well as inter-governmental agreements, which are to be compared and correlated. The appropriate research methods have been considered: theoretical and practical analyses of the normative education documents and methodological prerequisites which could facilitate an adequate correlation of the foreign language education standards in the framework of Ukraine's international cooperation. The common reference levels for foreign language acquisition, the components of foreign and local curricula/ syllabi, the contents of academic mobility programmes and the criteria of teachers' work quality assessment have been presented. The main suggestions (findings) which are to be observed have been given: aspect-targeted training in a foreign language; keeping to local specificities, education requirements and cultural traditions; the need in teachers' advanced training, etc.

Moving From an Implicit to an Explicit Approach of Life Skills Development and Transfer: The Case of Surfing in Schools

The purpose of this article is to provide insight on a partnership between Matosinhos City Hall that coordinates educational programs including physical education and the School of Higher Education of Porto. For the past 2 years, the institutions have worked together to develop a local curriculum for physical education teachers to foster life skills development and transfer in their students. In this article, we provide an overview about (a) how the partnership was developed, (b) how establishing fundamental pedagogical components provided the platform for later explicit life skills teaching, (c) the facilitators and barriers that emerged from these efforts, and (d) plans to integrate an explicit approach to sport-based life skills development and transfer.

English Teachers’ Attitude towards Professional Development in Kuwait

Teacher professional development is a life-long and continuous process in which teachers are expected to upgrade their knowledge, master new skills, and change their practices since advancement in their teaching career is finally for their students and education reform. Besides, teachers and their professional development must be seen as an investment. This study is designed to investigate the English teachers’ attitude towards professional development in Kuwait and the problems encountered by those teachers, and their need for professional development programs. It intends to devise innovative approaches for English teacher’s development in Kuwait based on teachers’ requirements to provide those teachers with all they need to overcome the obstacles they face in their professional lives. It will also assess teachers’ preferences of the pedagogical tools that enable them to convey the instructional material. The participants in this study were 20 experienced in-service English teachers who were chosen randomly from three different institutes at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) in Kuwait. Data were gathered from two main sources: Interviews with in-service teachers of English, and questionnaires. Specifically, the study aimed to address questions related to the teachers’ future development and the possible problems facing them or expects that might face them in the future, and their feedback about the challenges and difficulties of teaching English in Kuwait. The findings revealed a lack of teachers’ development in some particular areas that need more skill development of English teachers. Intensive training courses should be applied for the in-service teachers, and professional development programs should promote and enhance teaching effectiveness and support professional growth. Teachers’ professional development should permit the transition to higher status and responsibility roles within the teaching profession. Therefore, teachers need access to new research and acknowledgment in teaching literacy, language development, and an integrated curriculum. Moreover, they need appropriate up-to-date qualifications in both the content area of the subject and teaching methodology. They also need opportunities to share expertise with other experienced teachers and educators, leading to reflection on practice. Furthermore, high-quality teaching should be focused on developing a strong, well informed, and well supported professional body to respond to community and educational concerns. Also, access to professional development is of paramount importance as it enables teachers to improve students’ learning outcomes. Finally, English teachers can actively participate in evaluating teaching practices and programs; and actively participate in the implementation of local state and national curriculum initiatives.

PELAKSANAAN PEMBELAJARAN SENI BUDAYA (MUSIK) TRADISIONAL GANDANG TAMBUA DI MTs NEGERI 4 PADANG PARIAMAN

Abstract This research aims to describe the implementation of cultural arts learning (music) of traditional gandang tambua in Mts Negeri 4 Padang Pariaman in which the game of gandang tambua in madrasah is an implementation of the local content curriculum used by madrasah in the curriculum 2013. The research method was qualitative research with using a descriptive analysis research approach. The object of research was the learning activity of Tambua traditional music which was carried out at class VIII-1 both of theory and practice learning. The research instruments used were observation, interviews, and documentation studies. Techniques of data collection were done by taking documentation notes, field notes and interviews guideline. The results of the study explain that the implementation of cultural art learning (music) of the gandang tambua in MTs Negeri 4 Padang Pariaman still uses the usual or conventional methods. The use of lecture, question and answer, discussion and training methods by imitating the game gandang tambua that the teacher always demonstrates is applied in theory and practice learning activities. Besides that, in the training activityof gandang tambua, the teacher introduces the activitiy of imitating, remembering and memorizing the model of the punch that the teacher demonstrates. These learning ways raise variety of problems in practice, especially when explaining and practicing the gandang tambua in front of the students, the teacher does not look for methods that are suitable and also the teacher does not use adequate learning media. Keywords: Implementation, cultural arts (music), Gandang Tambua

Are we preparing for collaboration, advocacy and leadership? Targeted multi-site analysis of collaborative intrinsic roles implementation in medical undergraduate curricula

BackgroundThe Collaborator, Health Advocate and Leader/Manager roles are highly relevant for safe patient management and optimization of healthcare system in rehabilitation and prevention. They are defined in competency-based frameworks and incorporate competencies empowering physicians to master typical daily tasks in interdisciplinary, interprofessional and institutional collaboration. However, appropriate implementation of roles remains difficult in undergraduate medical education (UME) and needs to be closely monitored. The aim of this cross-institutional mapping study was to examine for the roles of Collaborator, Health Advocate and Leader/Manager: (1) To what extent do German UME programs explicitly meet the given standards after 5 years of study? (2) Which information may be obtained from multi-site mapping data for evidence-based reflection on curricula and framework?MethodsIn a joint project of eight German UME programs, 80 to 100% of courses were mapped from teachers’ perspective against given national standards: (sub-)competency coverage, competency level attainment and assessment. All faculties used a common tool and consented procedures for data collection and processing. The roles’ representation was characterized by the curricular weighting of each role content expressed by the percentage of courses referring to it (citations). Data were visualized in a benchmarking approach related to a general mean of the intrinsic roles as reference line.Results(Sub-)competencies of the Health Advocate are consistently well-integrated in curricula with a wide range of generally high curricular weightings. The Collaborator reveals average curricular representation, but also signs of ongoing curricular development in relevant parts and clear weaknesses regarding assessment and achieved outcomes. The Leader/Manager displays consistently lowest curricular weightings with several substantial deficiencies in curricular representation, constructive alignment and/or outcome level. Our data allow identifying challenges to be considered by local curriculum developers or framework reviewers (e.g. non-achievement of competency levels, potential underrepresentation, lacking constructive alignment).ConclusionOur non-normative, process-related benchmarking approach provides a differentiated crosscut snapshot to compare programs in the field of others, thus revealing shortcomings in role implementation, especially for Leader/Manager and Collaborator. The synopsis of multi-site data may serve as an external reference for program self-assessment and goal-oriented curriculum development. It may also provide practical data for framework review.

Innovation, Recreation, Interpretation? A Case Study on the Origins and Implementation of Transversal Core Competencies in Finnish Basic Education Core Curriculum Reform 2016

This qualitative study on the Finnish basic education curriculum (2016) had two goals. First, to survey the origins of first two new curriculum competences: 1) thinking and learning to learn, and, 2) cultural competences. Second, to analyse the local curricular implementation and comprehension in a rapid socio-cultural change. To reveal the possible data trends, two research questions were addressed: 1. What was the background of first two 2016 transversal core competencies? 2. How were those competencies implemented into a local curriculum 2016-19? The Data included basic education curricula (1985-2016), and a local curriculum. Relevant legislation, official information (e.g. PISA), parental feedback, and a questionnaire to an anonymous implementing principal comprised the curricular data. The Data triangulation was completed with a wide range of educational, cultural and ideological research. Regarding ethics, the individual sources and educational provider remained anonymous. Findings were surprising. “Modern” thinking and learning skills were created in early 20th century American society by Deweyan comprehension. However, an immigration had changed the long-lasting interpretation on the origins of Finnish culture. Moreover, local curriculum implementation was more successfully comprehended and supported. Conclusions were obvious: more identifiable research and teachers’ training were needed for curricular reforms and competences. The socio-cultural comprehension in the era of AI asked for sound arguments.

Extending assessment of engineering professional skills to include the local indonesia higher education competency

ABSTRACT While Engineering Professional Skills (EPS) are critical for today’s engineering careers, their assessment is much more subjective and significantly harder to measure than quantitative disciplinary skills. The differing graduate mobilities required for global, regional, and local engineering have led to the development of several accreditation standards (e.g. the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Washington Accord, Bologna agreement, the Indonesia Accreditation Board for Engineering Education). Although these standards share most of their EPS features, a significant difference exists in the extent to which cultural competency development in relation to local populations is required in the education of engineers. This paper addresses EPS assessment in an Indonesian setting where the curriculum must simultaneously cover both the national (core) curriculum and the local (institutional) curriculum, with the latter requiring (by government decree) awareness of and sensitivity to local requirement issues. The modification of an existing Engineering Professional Skills Assessment (EPSA) rubric to include assessment of the local Indonesia higher education competency is described, and the results of two cycles of action research with Indonesian tertiary students are presented. The curricula activities introduced involved complex scenarios to develop competency with diverse ethical, cultural, ethnic, religious, political, and citizenship views.

Finnish teachers and librarians in curriculum reform

The Finnish national core curriculum offers a framework for designing local curricula. This case study examined how teacher-public librarian partnerships cooperated to plan and implement their local curricula. Their major goal was to plan and implement cooperative activities that would promote students’ motivation to read. Teachers and librarians representing seven partnerships were interviewed and their curricula analyzed. All library-school partnerships except one included a plan in their local curricula to demonstrate the school-library cooperation through concrete activities to support students’ motivation to read. These activities were implemented in practice, but teachers participated little in the planning or implementation of them. More cooperation and involvement from teachers would be needed to meet the core curriculum’s demands for fostering motivation to read.