From big ideas to small practice

Competency-based curricula in low-resource, centralised education systems

Authors

  • Andy Smart

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21344/iartem.v16i1.1055

Keywords:

competencies, curriculum, global south education, syllabus design, textbooks

Abstract

For some time now, education systems in many countries of the Global South and elsewhere have pursued competency-based curriculum reforms. The appeal of competencies in such contexts seems to lie mainly in a yearning to move away from rote-teaching towards membership of what might be called a ‘21st century education club’, in which thinking is prioritised over recall and skills lead to employment. However, the expectations of competency-based curricula are often more ambitious than any system can cope with, let alone systems constrained by limited resources and especially where textbooks – the core of classroom activities in education systems of the Global South – have not been repurposed to support new pedagogical approaches. This paper seeks to identify the elements of what many education systems might describe as important in moving towards a competency-based curriculum and analyses the competency-based curricula of two countries, Kenya and Ghana. It finds that the subject syllabuses, the hinge-point for textbook writers, provide little guidance as to how those writers, and therefore the teachers who use the textbooks, might reflect and support new pedagogical approaches. This lack of syllabus-level signage in a textbook-driven system is therefore likely to impede pedagogical change. The paper recommends that curriculum reformers identify contextually appropriate pedagogical innovations by anticipating the needs of syllabus and textbook developers, and thereby the classroom teachers on whom the reforms depend for success.

Author Biography

  • Andy Smart

    Andy Smart is an independent consultant specialising in education, publishing, and reading, particularly in the Global South. He has carried out work on textbook policies and textbook evaluation criteria in several countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, to improve the way that textbooks reflect curricular aims. He is a co-founder of NISSEM, a networking group advocating for improved textbooks to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal Target 4.7

Downloads

Published

2024-08-31

Issue

Section

Peer-reviewed articles

How to Cite

From big ideas to small practice: Competency-based curricula in low-resource, centralised education systems. (2024). IARTEM E-Journal, 16(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.21344/iartem.v16i1.1055