BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The Zambia country Poverty Reduction Paper PRP coming to our national Educat

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
A PAPER PRESENTED TO THE ESSA CONFERENCE WORKSHOP
ON THE LOCALISED CURRICULUM AS A WAY AND MEANS
TOWARDS POVERTY REDUCTION THRUOGH
EDUCATION. PREPARED BY MUTINTA MWEEMBE CHIEF
CURRICURULUM DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST STANDARDARDS
AND CURRICULUM DIRECTORATE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
CENTRE LUSAKA ZAMBIA


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• BACKGROUND INFORMATIONThe Zambia country
  Poverty Reduction Paper (PRP)
• Focus on learning-1989-99
• The national Educational policy of Education
  Educating our future of May 96
• The Zambia Education Curriculum Framework-of
  December-2000,
• The Teachers Curriculum Manual-2003 and
• The Guidelines for the Localised Curriculum
  of-January,2005. All are addressed towards
  answering the questions of

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• What was done in the past which is not done
  today?
• What activities did we do in our communities that
  brought wealth and prosperity to individuals and
  our communities?
• What do we need to do in order to eradicate
  poverty and bring prosperity to the individual
  and our nation as a whole?
• In answering these questions it was found that it
  was only through changing our Curriculum that
  we could address these questions and eventually
  find answers to reduce poverty in our midst.

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• What was done in the past which is not done
  today?
• What activities did we do in our communities that
  brought wealth and prosperity to individuals and
  our communities?
• What do we need to do in order to eradicate
  poverty and bring prosperity to the individual
  and our nation as a whole?
• In answering these questions it was found that it
  was only through changing our Curriculum that
  we could address these questions and eventually
  find answers to reduce poverty in our midst.

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• INTRODUCTION
• THE CURRICULUM CHANGES LEADING TO
• POVERTY REDUCTION IN ZAMBIA
• In Zambia today the curriculum has been well
  arranged and laid out in the school
  Learning/Teaching and assessment programme , but
  yet, many parents and stakeholders simply view
  formal education as one that leads to further
  academic studies which is crowned by large
  income employment. (The basic curriculum
  framework 2000).

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• This leaves little desire for many parents to
  allow their children to go to school. In some
  areas, parents would rather let their children do
  various income generating activities found in
  those areas such as
• fishing,
• basket/
• mat making,
• fish-farming,
• Crop and Animal husbandry,
• Bee -keeping for honey,
• confectionery,
• Restaurant and other activities. fishing,
• basket/
• mat making,
• fish-farming,
• Crop and Animal husbandry,
• Bee -keeping for honey,
• confectionery,
• restaurant, Carpentry This leaves little desire
  for many parents to allow their children to go to
  school. In some areas, parents would rather let
  their children do various income generating
  activities found in those areas such as
• fishing,
• basket/
• mat making,

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• and in other words generally running small scale
  Enterprises, than go to school. Therefore it was
  found as a need to change the Curriculum to the
  dictates of time and needs of the society.

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• That is why the School Curriculum and the
  Teacher Education pre and in-service curriculum
  are both undergoing radical reforms in Zambia.
  These two are being designed so that they can
  complement each other. Both these Education
  reforms aim at putting Educating Our Future
  our Education policy into practice (Teachers
  Curriculum manual April 2001).

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• WHY DO WE NEED A LOCALIZED CURRICULUM?
• The purpose of introducing a localized curriculum
  as a component of the core national curriculum is
  to enhance the relevance of the curriculum to
  individual and community needs. The intention is
  that parents, learners and the local communities
  in general, should feel that formal education is
  strongly linked to their day-to-day life and
  activities, additionally the localization of the
  curriculum is about developing the kind of
  teaching/learning and assessment, that will bring
  about benefits to the local community spilling
  over to the provincial, National and
  international Market benefits. This can be
  achieved by developing skills, knowledge,
  positive attitudes, values, and competences in
  the learners that contribute to the social,
  cultural, political and economic development of
  the individual and community.

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• HOW IS THE LOCALISED CURRICULUM TO BE
• IMPLEMENTED?
• It has been realized that a Localized curriculum
  cannot be achieved and implemented in isolation.
  It must integrate environmental issues, causes,
  risks, and expected solutions basing on
  individual and community needs and aspirations.
  The development of the Localised Curriculum
  therefore should be contextualised and located
  within each particular community and developed by
  the particular community basing on their area
  social-cultural, economic and political needs
  .The best institutions where these can be
  implemented are the Basic Schools, Teacher
  Education Colleges and the Communities involving
  teachers, parents, experts in various activities
  and the learners in the planning and
  implementation of their own activities. Whether
  we agree or not Teachers, parents and other
  community experts and their learners can be
  products as well as agents of change towards
  sustainable development.

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• HOW HAVE WE INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL
• EDUCATION INTO OUR CURRICULUM IN ZAMBIA?
• The need to introduce and integrate Environmental
  Education into the Zambian Education system was
  recognized to be one of the most effective ways
  of ensuring that Environmental management
  occupies a significant role in our Zambian
  society. This integration has been done in the
  Basic Education and in the Teacher Training
  Curriculum so as to prepare a teaching and
  learning cadre that would be very effective in
  participating in their community activities
  towards achieving sustainable environmental
  management and sustainable development in Zambia.

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• WHAT ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES HAVE BEEN INTEGRATED
• INTO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM?
• The Environmental Education processes which
  have been integrated into the school system do
  not only develop hands on Environmental Education
  experiences, but also have been contextualised
  towards local needs of the learners. In this
  context a Localised curriculum for each
  particular area is required to be developed
  basing on its social, cultural, political,
  economical and scientific background. The
  Localised Curriculum is accommodating the
  teaching of various life sustaining skills which
  include environmental based skills and
  activities. It is expected that learning under
  the Localised Curriculum should link the
  community towards the use of their local
  knowledge and day to day activities in bringing
  benefits to the individuals, their homesteads and
  to their immediate communities. It is envisaged
  that this will bring about the kind of
  teaching/learning and assessment that will foster
  into learners the acquisition of sustainable
  knowledge, skills, values, positive attitudes and
  competences that can contribute to their social,
  cultural and economic development of any
  particular community.

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• WHAT WAS NOT DONE IN THE PAST
• The development of the school curriculum was
  basically left to the Educationist, there was
  very little or no consultation with other
  stakeholders involved in the provision or use of
  Education such as the communities, Parastatal
  organisations, the church, quasi-Government and
  Non Governmental Organisations. Even though all
  these organizations were players in the provision
  and implementation of education . This led to the
  use of different means and ways of education
  strategies, yet all aiming at one expected out,
  that of empowering the learner to live a
  sustainable life.

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• WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD IN
• EDUCATION PLANNING AND PROVISION?
• It has been realized that in order for us to
  harness all these efforts, while at the same time
  provide access of learners to quality education,
  there is need to involve a consultative approach
  that will combine the effective use of different
  education stakeholders/ players and ,factors and
  strategies to achieve sustainable development.
  The factors to be considered therefore are as
  follows

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• the development of local resource persons,
• identification of various local activities in
  each area
• tapping on local knowledge and ingenuity of a
  people on their Environmental activities
• availing training locally suitable to local
  needs
• availing effective use of relevant and up to date
  data and materials relatively available in the
  local communities relevant to the needs of the
  learners and their immediate communities.
• Situating learning in their own contexts based
  on their experiences and that of their societal
  goals and expectations.

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• In the absence of any of these above the learning
  process, though being as effective as it may seem
  to be in the normal classroom teaching/learning
  and assessment processes, in the modern sense it
  will not cater for the holistic needs of society.
  Therefore the need to bring teaching/learning and
  assessment experiences which will be in the
  context of the people and their life
  expectations.
• Even where considerable improvements have been
  made in recent years in the provision of
  education materials and the emphasis of the use
  of various teaching methods, the idea of
  community based learning is quite critical to our
  society today.

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• CONCLUSION
• HOW DO WE VIEW THE ENVIRONMENT
• TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?
• The world is made up of many different elements
  that exist in the environment. The environment is
  a sum total of living and non-living elements
  that surround us. These elements being Air,
  Water, Land, Plants and Animals. The interaction
  and interdependence of these elements provide the
  important life support systems upon which all
  life on earth depends.

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• THE STATUS OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN THE
  SCHOOL CURRICULUM
• WHAT WAS IT IN THE PAST
• Environmental Education existed as an extra
  curricular activity in the school Curriculum
  being well pronounced under the Chongololo and
  Conservations clubs. Environmental Education was
  never viewed as a part of the formal curriculum
  and this went on until the curriculum review of
  1993.

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• After 1993, there was a general community out-cry
  to integrate Environmental Education as a local,
  national, regional and global concern. But, in
  order to do this, there was a need to
  strategically integrate it into the existing
  curriculum without creating a separate new
  learning area in such a way that it stood out as
  an extra burden to teachers as they were already
  weighed down with an overloaded curriculum.
  (Educating our Future)

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• WHAT IS THE PRESENT POSITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL
  EDUCATION
• Bearing this in mind and also considering that
  there was a general shortage of time and
  resources, the integration of Environmental
  Education in the already existing disciplines
  seemed most practical. That way, it would then
  automatically jump from the back, straight into
  the front seat. In This way then, the Ministry of
  Education would have integrated it into their
  system with no constraints. The new approach
  incorporated would foster into learners the art
  of recognizing and acquiring knowledge, skills ,
  positive attitudes, values and acceptable
  behavioral change towards the sustainable
  developmental concepts ultimate in the
  development of a locally acceptable and developed
  skilled and Environmentally knowledgeable
  clientele in the needs and dictates of their
  society.

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• These principles are extremely crucial for
  understanding and appreciating the
  inter-relationships that exist between humans,
  their culture and their surroundings. All these
  values would be infused in the formal education
  system without competing for time and resources
  of the other learning areas.
• This type of education would then be responsive
  to the provision of practice in analytical and
  creative thinking towards decision-making,
  problem solving and self-evaluation empowering
  the products with anew (code of conduct), with
  regard to issues on the environment. This is the
  kind of empowerment our citizenry in schools and
  communities should be getting having gone through
  their own planned and implemented Localised
  Curriculum.

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• WHAT ARE THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES OF THIS TYPE OF
  EDUCATION?
• It is expected that this type of Education if
  encouraged will achieve self reliance and reduce
  on poverty and unemployment, but as all the
  principles and recommendations from both the
  regional, national and local Environmental
  conventions and meetings have been lamenting on
  sustainable development. This will be the only
  way towards achieving it.

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• CURRICULUM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
• The new curriculum will be child centered.
• It will provide opportunities to the learners for
  Problem solving approaches to solve
  environmental problems.
• It will provide a more participatory type of
  education availing a curriculum that can respond
  to environmental issues in planning and
  implementation.
• It will provide a Curriculum that is responsive
  to the state of the Zambian environment.
• It will also create a Curriculum that allows
  praxis taking into consideration Environmental
  Education issues, causes, risks and expected
  solutions combined so that practice and theory
  could be achieved.

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• The new Localised curriculum will be in the
  Zambian context, community based and located in
  the needs of the end users and in its areas of
  its practical needs and practice. This means
  therefore that the new school curriculum will
  reflect the true and realistic Zambian
  social-cultural, economic and political
  situation.
• In the past, the design of the curriculum was by
  curriculum experts outside schools and then
  handed down to teachers for implementation. The
  planning and implementation will look at the
  needs and include all other stakeholders and
  education providers and practitioners.
• It will be a Curriculum responsive to the state
  of the Zambian environmental crisis in regard to
  poverty levels. Therefore will regard ways and
  means how to bring about Sustainable development
  using community based Entrepreneurial activities
  in

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• relation to the immediate environment and the
  needs of its people environmental policies that
  address poverty and curriculum needs both process
  and structural reforms.
• The learners will use their life expectations in
  their learning process which can represent and
  incorporate as much of Zambias environmental
  issues, risks and problems in the identified
  areas. In so doing the curriculum is envisaged to
  run more on the basis of an Environmental
  Education course that would enable learners being
  responsive to the Zambian environmental situation
  and their own community environmental needs and
  concerns.
• There should avail a situation where education
  for technological development and job creation
  should integrate environmental and sustainable
  developmental issues in their communities to
  achieve sustainable development. Where they turn
  the sleeping capital in their communities into
  sustainable wealthy reaching safe-guarding even
  greater impacts on the environment in a negative
  sense. Poverty as in the past, will then
  accompany past policies of separate development
  and instead be replaced by sustainable living
  leading to sustainable development

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• RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CORE CURRICULUM AND
  THE LOCALISED STEPS IN DEVELOPING A LOCALISED
  CURRICULUM
• A localized curriculum is crucial in developing
  an understanding between the school and the local
  community. Bearing this in mind, the
  establishment process will therefore apply as
  many consultative methodologies as possible in
  order to effectively consolidate the formulation
  of the Localized Curriculum. Such methods will
  involve

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• 1. Sensitization
• In order to develop a local curriculum,
  sensitization is an important stage because
  stakeholders are needed in order to formulate and
  implement a Localized Curriculum. This way, they
  will understand its main purpose, intentions and
  its implementation strategies and support it.
• 2. Needs Assessment.
• This is an important tool that is used as a means
  of identifying types of common economic, social,
  political and cultural activities that take place
  in a local community. This assessment further
  helps the people to integrate Environmental
  issues and activities found in an area into the
  school curriculum. It is important that the needs
  assessment report produced be circulated to all
  teachers, parents and other Educational providers.

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• 3. Planning Stage.
• This involves careful selection and putting
  together of activities involving skills,
  knowledge, positive attitudes , behavior and
  experiences found in the area and the various
  stakeholders involved in both the provision, of
  both the conventional and traditional education.
  . These components will then be further be
  re-defined into General and Specific learning
  outcomes for each activity that will follow a
  certain scope and sequence order.
• 4. Approval
• A consultative forum needs to be held with the
  various stakeholders in order to discuss and
  determine whether the activities planned are
  relevant, feasible and achievable in meeting the
  tasks of the learners and the community, also
  considering the expected benefits of the
  particular community as outcomes of the
  particular planned course.

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• MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
• This is the mother body that is responsible for
  all education and teacher training initiatives.
  The Ministry has recently developed a policy that
  decentralises training and materials development
  especially on Environmental Education and the
  localised Curriculum in particular.

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• 5. Development Process
• This is seen as a critical stage because it is be
  based on resource mobilization. Resource
  mobilization as seen in this case will involve
  human, financial, time and material resources
  required achieving the learning/teaching and
  assessment programmes. All comments and views
  from stakeholders will then be incorporated into
  the final document as a draft curriculum that
  will be both distributed used in
  teaching/learning process and stored for
  reference in future.
• 6. Implementation
• The school system and district boards will ensure
  that teachers are adequately trained to implement
  the localized curriculum in their work bearing in
  mind that the Localised Curriculum is part of the
  core Curriculum and is to be integrated into the
  school based continuous assessment mechanism.

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• 7. Monitoring and Evaluation
• Different monitoring and evaluation tools need to
  be developed along the way. This is crucial in
  ensuring sustainability. It is envisaged that
  monitoring and evaluation will be better attained
  under combined efforts with partner
  organizations. In carrying out the monitoring
  there is need to develop various tools such as
• QUESTIONNARES
• GROUP DISCUSSIONS WITH ALL INTERESTED PARTIES
• CHECKLISTS
• CONTINOUS ASSESSMENT RECORD BOOKS
• LEARNERS EXPERIENCES
• TEACHER EXPERIENCES
• LOCAL LEADERSHIP EXPEXTATIONS AND EXPERIENCES
• REPORTS
• PRODUCTS AS PORTIFOLIOS
• GAINS AND FAILURES

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• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Environmental Education Policy Initiative (EEPI)
  1993 The Environment, Development and
  Environmental Education, Sharenet, Howick.
  SouthAfrica
• POVERTY reduction paper of zambia
• WWF ZEP 2001 Emerging responses to the
  environmental crisis adapted from Rhodes
  University SADC International Certificate
• Ministry of Education 2000 Basic School
  Curriculum Framework,
• Ministry of Education, 1996 Educating Our
  Future- National Policy on Education, Zambia
  Education Publishing House, Lusaka.
• Curriculum Development Centre (CDC), 2001.
  Teachers Curriculum Manual.
• The state of Environment of Zambia
• Government Republic of Zambia/IUCN Publication
  The National Conservation Strategy Avon Litho
  Limited 1985 UK
• Environmental Council of Zambia National
  Environmental Education Workshop Report 1999

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• M.C. Monroe D. Cappaert Integrating EE into
  the School Curriculum Kendall/Hunt Publishing
  Company 1994 University of Michigan USA
• Curriculum Development Centre Environmental
  Education Teachers Manual 2000 LUSAKA
• CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT CENTRE Guidelines to the
  Localised Curriculum Manual developed
  2005,Lusaka.
• WWF USA Exploring Biodiversity A Guide for
  Educators around the World Conservation
  International/WWF USA 2002 USA
• National Convention Centre Environmental
  Education foe Sustainable Development African
  Perspectives EEASA International Conference
  Report National 2001 LESOTHO.
• Zambia Publishing House Educating Our Future
  Ministry Of Education 1996 Learning from
  Development Volunteer Service Overseas study
  guide 1994 London.

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