ພາສາລາວ
Since 2015, the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), with the support of the Australian Government and the European Union through the BEQUAL program, has been revising the primary curriculum and the primary teacher training curriculum.
The primary curriculum is taught in all primary classrooms across the country and the primary teacher training curriculum is used in the eight Teacher Training Colleges to train teacher trainees in becoming future primary school teachers. Therefore, the new TTC primary teacher training curriculum is closely aligned with the new national primary school curriculum, founded on principles of active teaching and learning. It focuses on subjects such as teaching Lao Language, Lao to non-Lao speakers and inclusive education. With the new training curriculum, teacher trainees will receive a strong orientation in the primary curriculum they will be teaching in the future, mentoring on how to teach children using the new pedagogical approach and time to practice teaching children during their teacher trainee years.
The implementation of both revised curricula started in September 2019, with a new Grade 1 being taught in primary schools all over the country and a new Year 1 in each of the eight Teacher Training Colleges (TTC).
The revision of the new primary teacher training curriculum is led by the Department of Teacher Education (DTE) and the Teacher Development Center (TDC). Seventeen curriculum development teams of writers drawn from DTE, TDC, the 4 Faculties of Education (FoE) of University across the country, the Research Institute of Educational Sciences (RIES), TTCs and the Art and Physical Education College were involved in writing the new teacher training materials. The approach is iterative to trial the materials in TTCs and revise them as required. While all eight TTCs have started to use the new curriculum for Year 1, the implementation and the trialing of the materials is closely monitored at two focus TTCs, Pakse and Dongkhamxang. Teacher-trainers will provide feedback on the new materials which will be analyzed to revise the curriculum materials where needed.
This week, the “Pre-service Curriculum Revision and Development Workshop”, chaired by Ajan Bounxay Chansina, Director General TDC will bring together more than 60 members of the curriculum development teams. The writing teams for subjects taught in Year 1 Semester 1 will review the materials based on the feedback from teacher-trainers who have been using them since September, especially at the focus TTCs. As several writers are also teacher-trainers, they will also use their own Semester 1 teaching experience to suggest further improvement. Following the workshop, the Year 1 Semester 1 materials will be refined and finalised for next year.
In addition, curriculum writers will complete the materials for the subjects taught in Year 1 Semester 2 and continue to develop curriculum materials for Year 2. Following the workshop, materials for Semester 2 will be produced and sent to all TTCs, in time to be used at the start of the second term in February 2020.
This iterative process of curriculum development will continue throughout the school year with regular Pre-service Curriculum Development and Revision workshops scheduled every 3 months.
Well trained teachers are crucial for student learning. The revision and alignment of both curricula are an important step towards improving education outcomes for Lao children and creating opportunities for their future.
Click here to watch the reportage that was broadcasted on TV Channel 1 – Education News
https://www.facebook.com/IMCLaos/videos/3097990906883995/