Ministry of Education and Higher Education Palestinian Curriculum Development Centre Quality Education thru Quality Curricula The Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief Teaching for tolerance, respect and recognition in relation with religion or belief Global meeting of experts in Oslo, September 2nd – 5th 2004

Global meeting of experts in Oslo, September 2nd – 5th 2004   “Teaching for tolerance, respect and recognition in relation with religion or belief” The Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief in cooperation with UNESCO’s Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue Programme Edited by Ingvill Thorson Plesner and Oddbjørn Leirvik

The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child Article 29 is about the quality, content and ethos of education i.e.: developing children to their fullest potential, respect for human rights and freedoms, respect for cultural identity, language and nationality, preparation for life in society, understanding, peace, tolerance and equity of the sexes, and environmental concerns.

Quality Curricula Orientations Historical Back ground POLICY APPROACH INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES TEACHERS’ TRAINING RELATEDNESS ASSESMENT METHODOLOGY SUBJECT INNOVATIONS VALUES THINKING SKILLS Techniques of Curricula Evaluation National Assessment

Historical Background 1990–91 Two UNESCO Sponsored Conferences on Curricula Change in Palestine 1995 The establishment of the Palestinian Curriculum Development Center (PCDC) 1998 The first Palestinian Curricula Plan was submitted by MEHE and ratified by the Cabinet and Legislative Council 1998–99 Subject syllabuses were developed by National teams 1999 The teams for grades 1 & 6 first phase started

Centralized vs. Decentralized Policy Centralized vs. Decentralized

Textbook Provision Authors Subject Specialists PCDC Coordinator Scientific/Language Editing Designer Illustrator Printer Warehouse MOE/PCDC Approval Committees Schools Field Trialing Distribution to Schools

Plan of Work Flowchart for Producing the Palestinian Curricula Year 2000 Year 2001 Year 2002 Year 2003 Year 2004 Year 2005 Year 2006 1st Grade 6th Grade 2nd Grade 7th Grade 3rd Grade 8th Grade 4th Grade 9th Grade 5th Grade 10th Grade 11th Grade 12th Grade Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed Underway 2006

Objectives Pedagogy Based Approach Objectives Pedagogy Based VS Outcomes based Competencies based

Instructional Strategies Advance Organizer Teaching by Questioning Role-playing Simulation Case Studies Cooperative Learning Abolish Rote Learning

Teachers’ Training Source of training needs Resourceful Material developer Reflector Student pedagogy oriented

Relatedness Reconstructionist Language and style appropriateness Relevant and Interesting Related to development Integrative knowledge

Assessment Questions What? (recall) Why? (analysis) How? (apply) structured test items No more paper pencil Projects Portfolio Attainment not performance

Methodology Student-centered Activity based Issue based Theme based

Subjects Innovations Additional Languages Environment and Health Second Language: English from the 1st Grade Third Language: French, Hebrew, German, Italian, etc. Environment and Health Christian Education Management & Economics Contemporary Issues Home Economics Technical & Vocational Education Technology (ICT) Civic Education, National Education Free activities In addition to the Core Subjects: Arabic Lang., Mathematics, Sciences, Social Studies, Religion Ed., Arts and Crafts, PE

Values National Values International Values Human Rights Democracy Citizenship

Thinking Skills Critical Thinking (logical, creative, lateral) Problem Solving Decision Making Pluralism of Thinking

Techniques of Curricula Evaluation Textbook Teacher’s Focus group Teacher’s Observation Teacher’s interview Student’s Feed back Parent’s Feedback National Evaluation

National Assessment Purposes: - Compare National Achievement - Evaluate Teacher’s Performance - Evaluate School Performance