Transforming curriculum & assessment: competencies-based approach in Korea Presenter : LEE, KEUN HO

Curriculum as a ‘design’ of the future society Education is a forward-looking activity for our next generation to be well-prepared for the changing world and its ways of life. Curriculum as a blue print of education must reflect the trends and directions evolving from social, cultural, intellectual, economical, and industrial progress and

Trend of recent social changes Not only quantitative expansion but also qualitative transformation Incoming of ‘knowledge-based society’, ‘ear of informational inundation’ Expansion of life-long education, diversification and virtualization of learning locations

A new task of education in the 21st century The traditional educational approach does not fit in this rapidly changing learning environment of 21st century An immanent task: how to select the high quality knowledge and information and put them to good and proper use

Initiation of the notion of competencies Learners need to acquire the abilities to utilize the information and knowledge in the real world, on top of the traditional knowledge-centric, unidirectional delivery of the school education

Multiplicity of the meanings of competencies A philosophy A vision An objective A principle of selection and organization of educational contents A direction of teaching-learning and assessment A concrete educational outcome

Some common misconceptions on the notion of competencies Limited job related skills based on a behavioral approach A substitute of the traditional subject matters, which is comprised of completely new and different forms and contents of education. A competency is clearly demarcated from the other competencies and has a special contents and method to raise that particular competency

A definition of competencies in Korean context Competencies refer to the whole of Knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, behaviors and characteristics that people need to have in order to work and live successfully and soundly in a society and community. They are the basic, essential and universal traits, characteristics and abilities of human beings (Lee et al, 2013).

The traditional vs competencies-based approach in education(CBE) The traditional approach Competencies-based approach Mainly aims to deliver subject knowledge Aims to utilize the subject knowledge and create a new form of knowledge Input centered (something to teach) Process and output centered (something to be achieved by students) fragmented approach Integrated - connected and holistic approach To accumulate and reproduce what is taught To apply what is learnt to actual life situations and create something new

How to make a curriculum competencies-based? The diversity of the types and categories of competencies across different countries seems to have resulted from selecting competencies based on the country’s own situation and educational ideals, and adjusting the priority accordingly. The direction and content of competencies based curriculum is mainly determined by what we consider to be important and what we want to achieve for the future.

What do we want to achieve for future Korean generation? Happiness-pursuit-education: nurturing of the creative talents and fulfilling individuals’ dreams Boost the joy of learning!

How can we realize the happiness-pursuit-education? Reducing the loads of study, especially the burdens of test preparation! Making instructions be more interesting and experiential through apply various teaching-learning methods tailored students’ aptitudes and career paths

Curriculum reform for cultivating competencies CBE is not necessarily in conflict with the existing subject centered curriculum but still demands the reform of the previous subject curricular through: Careful selection of subject contents which are the most essential, representative of subject discipline and can give an opportunity, structure and methods for the further study. Organization and implementation of subject curricular by using of integrated, related and connected ways among different subjects.

In order to actualize competencies based curriculum… Competencies can only be achieved when innovative modifications to teaching, learning, and assessment methods supporting the changes to curriculum documents are attained. Need an aligned practice which retains an adequate balance between curriculum, instruction methods and assessment practices.

How can we make an alignment of curriculum, instruction and assessment Curriculum: less is more! Instruction: honoring openness and diversity! Assessment: not for selection but for education!

Thank you!