1 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

2 “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

3 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.

4 Quality Curricula Orientations Historical Back ground 1. POLICY 2. APPROACH 3. INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES 4. TEACHERS ’ TRAINING 5. RELATEDNESS 6. ASSESMENT 7. METHODOLOGY 8. SUBJECT INNOVATIONS 9. VALUES 10. THINKING SKILLS 11. Techniques of Curricula Evaluation 12. National Assessment

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

6 Policy Centralized vs. Decentralized

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

8 Plan of Work Flowchart for Producing the Palestinian Curricula Year st Grade 6 th Grade 2 nd Grade 7 th Grade 3 rd Grade 8 th Grade 4 th Grade 9 th Grade 5 th Grade 10 th Grade 11 th Grade12 th Grade Completed Year 2000Year 2002Year 2003Year 2004Year 2005 Year 2006 Underway2006

9 Approach Objectives Pedagogy Based VS Outcomes based Competencies based

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

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

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

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

14 Methodology Student-centered Activity based Issue based Theme based

15 Subjects Innovations Additional Languages a.Second Language: English from the 1 st Grade b.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

16 Values National Values International Values Human Rights Democracy Citizenship

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

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

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