Preparation for Life and Work. Comparative Study with a Focus On
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EDUCATION TOWARDS FUTURE SECTOR PROJECT “POST-PRIMARY EDUCATION” 4 Preparation for Life and Work Comparative Study with a Focus on Basic (Primary and Lower Secondary) Education in Developing African Countries Dakmara Georgescu, Philip Stabback, Klaus Jahn, Elmehdi Ag-Muphtah and Philippe de Castro Post-primare Bildung Publisher: Responsible: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Dipl. Päd. Univ. Klaus Jahn Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH T +49 (0) 6196 79-1276 Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg 1-5 F +49 (0) 6196 79-801276 65760 Eschborn, Germany E [email protected] T +49 (0) 61 96 79-0 F +49 (0) 61 96 79-1115 Authors: I www.gtz.de Dakmara Georgescu, Philip Stabback, Klaus Jahn, Elmehdi Ag-Muphtah and Philippe de Castr Photographs: Edith de Vos Design: Nikolai Krasomil www.design-werk.com 2 Eschborn 2008 Acknowledgements . 5 Executive Summary . 6 1 Introduction . 12 1.1 Context and Scope of the Study . 12 1.1.1 Context and Scope . 12 1.1.2 The Concept of Basic Education . 13 1.2 Methodological Aspects . 16 2 Definition and Categorisation of Competencies and Skills . 19 2.1 Competency-based Curriculum Development: a Universal Challenge . 19 2.2 Defining Competencies and Skills in the Context of this Study . 26 3 Country Background Data . 30 3.1 Comparative Aspects . 30 3.2 Policy Aspects . 38 4 Curriculum Analyses . 40 4.1 Comprehensive Case Studies . 41 4.1.1 Research Questions informing this Study . 41 4.1.2 Structure of the Case Studies . 42 4.1.3 Comprehensive Case Studies . 43 Case Study A - South Africa . 43 Case Study B - Botswana . 54 Case Study C - Mali . 66 Case Study D -Congo . 76 4.2 Other Reference Country Studies . 86 Reference Country Study A - Angola . 86 Reference Country Study B - Burundi . 94 Reference Country Study C - Kenya . 98 Reference Country Study D - Mauritius . 102 Reference Country Study E - Mozambique . 108 Reference Country Study F - Senegal . 115 4.3 Developed Countries (Other Regions Studies) . 121 Other Regions Study A - Australia/New South Wales (NSW) . 121 Other Regions Study B – United Kingdom/England . 132 3 5 Conclusions and Recommendations . 138 5.1 Conclusions from a Comparative Perspective: Main Issues and Lessons Learned . 138 5.2 Recommendations . 143 5.2.1 Education Structure: Nature and Scope of Lower Secondary Education as Part of Basic Education . 143 5.2.2 Curriculum Models and Construction . 145 5.2.3 Support for Curriculum Implementation . 146 5.2.4 Curriculum Processes . 147 5.2.5 Competency-based Approaches and Quality Assurance . 148 5.2.6 Capacity Development . 150 5.2.7 Learning from One Another from both Successes and Failures . 150 References . 152 Annexes A Analytical Framework and Research Questions . 156 B Glossary . 158 C Overview of Education Structure in the Respective Countries . 161 Abbreviations . 163 4 Preface The team of authors would like to express their gratitude to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and GTZ (German Development Cooperation (GTZ)1 for the initiative to carry out curriculum-related research on the development of competencies for life and work in Sub-Saharan coun- tries with technical support from IBE. This Study aims to provide an insight into the topic for the ADEA Biennale in May 2008 (Maputo, Mozambique). The authors are also grateful to Dr. Clementina Acedo, IBE Director, and all the IBE colleagues who assisted with materials, advice and administrative support during the research process and the writing of the present Report. Last, but not least, they are extremely grateful to all national teams and contact persons from the ten Sub-Saharan countries analysed2 who offered their time and professional skills to make sure that the IBE had at its disposal, for each case, up-to-date information reflecting the most recent developments in curriculum. The authors 1 GTZ: an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. 2 Angola (Republic of Angola), Botswana (Republic of Botswana), Burundi (Republic of Burundi),Congo (Republic of the Congo), Kenya (Republic of Kenya), Mali (Republic of Mali), Mauritius, Mozambique (Republic of Mozambique), Senegal (Republic of Senegal), South Africa (Republic of South Africa). 5 Executive summary In accordance with its terms of reference, the main tasks of the Study on Preparation for Life and Work with a Focus on Basic Education (Primary and Secondary) in Developing African Countries3 were to examine the basic education (written) curricula of a range of African countries to assess the extent to which they provided opportunities to young people to develop practical and useful competencies and skills. A further task was to set this information in a broader context by analysing and describing the approaches to competency and skill development adopted in contexts outside Africa. Life and work are strongly inter-connected and preparation for both ought to take into account current deve- lopments. What does it mean to live and work in the twenty-first century? What is different in comparison to the past, and what is to be envisaged with regard to the future? The curriculum (especially in its written form, which sets broader or more specific guidelines for learning) is only one of the factors impacting on individual and societal development, and has a mediated influence. Even a good curriculum is not effective per se, but reaches students based on teachers’ facilitation, in specific conditions. However, it is useful and interesting to analyse the written/intended curriculum - and its discourse - for it reflects in many respects the ways societies envisage learning and preparation for life and work through mission statements, rationales, learning objectives and outcomes, the selection and organisation of the learning content, teaching and learning methods, as well as the ways learning is assessed and valued. The Study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how preparation for life and work is being emphasi- sed in the written curriculum of selected Sub-Saharan African countries (Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa), as well as of developed countries such as Australia (New South Wales) and United Kingdom (England). Given their emphasis on expanding basic education from 4/6 to 8/9 years, Sub-Saharan countries tend to focus increasingly on lower secondary education (usually Grades 6/7 to 8/9), reckoned as an education stage in need of substantive (re)construction. Most of such pro- cesses of (re)constructing lower secondary education envisage the development of life-relevant competencies in learners. This is proven by comprehensive processes of structural changes accompanied by curriculum and other reforms, such as in the realm of assessment and teacher education and training. The research was thus focusing on identifying meaningful solutions to integrate competency-based approaches in basic education in a sustainable way. Throughout the Study, the authors preferred to use the term ‘compe- tency’ (plural ‘competencies’) as an ‘umbrella-term’ embedding knowledge, values, skills, attitudes, behaviours, patterns of thinking.4 The terms ‘competency’ and ‘skills’ are sometimes used as synonyms in the international pedagogical literature, however in this Study the term ‘competency’ is considered an overarching concept: as shown further on in Section 2 of the present Study, ‘competencies’ represent the capacity individuals have to mobilize, in an independent and effective way, their knowledge, skills5, attitudes, values, etc., in order to give appropriate responses to challenges of different kind. 3 Further on referred to as the Study. 4 See also the detailed discussions on the meaning of ‘skills’ and ‘competencies’ in Section 2 of this Paper. 5 Skills’ may have different meanings, amongst which are, in a narrow sense, ‘automated components of behaviour’ or in a broader sense ‘capacities individuals manifest in action’. 6 In this.