State of Kuwait Ministry of EducationELT Asema supervision

Kuwait National Curriculum Competence and Standards

basedapproach

E.L.T Senior Supervisor : Nouria Al SedraPresented By: E.L.T Supervisor : Fatma Ameen

Project Presentation:

Curriculum and Standards Component

Context of the project School Education Quality Improvement

(SEQI) Partnership Program between the Government of the State of Kuwait and the World Bank Group

SEQI Project has three main components:

1. Curriculum and standards for grades 1 to 12.

2. National Education Standards for Teachers, School Leadership and Students .

3. National Assessments (MESA).

Preparing human resources

Preparing National conceptual Curriculum Documents

Preparing National operational Curriculum Documents

Preparing subject curricula and standards

Preparing the implementation Process

II. Short overview of the process: phases

How do we exercise these competences ?

An initial cascade training model has been designed where each cascade trains the following one:

International consultants

Master trainers

Subject trainers School principals Head teachers

Teachers 

At the end of the session you will be able to:

Explain the reasons for a new curriculum approach in Kuwait Primary Education.

Describe the concept of competence-based curriculum as a process.

List the main components of the Kuwait National Curriculum.

Explain the main terminology related to competence- and student achievement standards-based approach

Expected outcomes

Watch and reflect!

A GOOD CURRICULUM CAN CHANGE THE

FACE AND FATE OF A NATION

Why a new Curriculum in Kuwait?

Task (1)

National Challenges New vision of Kuwait as expected by his Highness Sheikh

Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait

New social, economic, political, cultural and human challenges

New learning needs and expectations of children and youngsters towards school

International challenges Globalization Knowledge Economy The Digital Age (CPD )Continuous Development . Learning to Live Together Lifelong learning

Why a new Curriculum in Kuwait?

What are the skills of the 21st century? Why 21st century skills learning? How is Teaching in the 21st century ?

21st century skills : Above and Beyond

21st century Skills .What, Why and How?

21st Century Skills

21st Century Skills

Being Creative and Innovative

Undertaking critical thinking, problem solving and decision making

Illustrating meta-cognition, learning to learn and original/meaningful thought. 

Communication capabilities.

Collaborative capabilities.

Citizenship – local and global;

Life and Career capabilities and values;

Information and ICT literacy (learning in digital networks)

Capability to undertake Personal and Social responsibility.

Ways of

Thinking

Ways of Working

Living in the

World. 

To develop a quality curriculum and standards, you should have a common understanding regarding the following questions (concepts).

Curriculum and Standards: Key Concepts

Concepts to be approached

Curriculum

Kuwait National Curriculum

Kuwait National Curriculum Framework

Competence-based

curriculum

CompetenceSKey-

competenceS

General competenceS

Specific competenceS

Standards

The Word : Curriculum Latin:The term, ‘curriculum’ is derived from the 

Latin word "Currere" which means to run/to proceed. Currere refers to the ‘course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults.’

What outcomes do we want? What content is therefore needed? How can that best be taught/learned? How do we best assess that? How do we evaluate our process?

Cronbleth (1992) defines curriculum as answering three questions:

a) What knowledge, skills and values are most worthwhile? b) Why are they most worthwhile? c) How should the young acquire them?

A curriculum will answer

What is a Curriculum? A curriculum is a system of learning experiences and

opportunities that are planned for children and young people through their education.

◦ A curriculum represents a multifunctional, but highly organized system of knowledge, skills and attitudes/values that all individuals are offered by a given education system (and society) and that is useful for personal fulfillment and development, inclusion and employment in a well-functioning society.

Curriculum is the reality of learning in /outside the

classroom which is not shown in books and documents

False assumption- Curriculum is the textbook!

Difference Between A Syllabus & A Curriculum (Task)

Syllabus

Difference Between Syllabus & Curriculum

Syllabus

Functionally a “Syllabus” is generally a uni-dimensional

document. It merely presents the content or the subject matter to be

studied.

What does a Curriculum give more as compared to a textbook?

What do you think? Please discuss in group Each group is kindly asked to give a set of

answers

Task

Inclusiveness. First, assisting every student, regardless of ability, gender or

social circumstances, to reach their individual potential as learners. Each student is different. Not all are academically gifted. But all students can be encouraged to do their best development in helping them achieve their potential.

Future-orientation. Secondly , the curriculum will be forward-looking and prepare

learners for the future through the development of broad competencies. The curriculum will need to develop student competency in Communication, Collaboration , Critical thinking , problem solving, and Creativity .

What does a Curriculum give more as compared to a textbook?

Differentiation. Thirdly, the curriculum will permit curriculum differentiation,

it will provide space for teachers to adapt the curriculum to suit the students in their classes. It will not demand that every student learn exactly the same content in exactly the same way and in exactly the same number of hours.

New teacher roles. Finally, the curriculum will promote a new role for the

teacher, a new individualized teacher-student relationship and a desire in teachers to encourage inquiry and curiosity. Similarly, the teacher in the role of assessor should use assessment not just to test how well content is learned, but to understand the strengths and weaknesses of individuals.

What does a Curriculum give more as compared to a textbook?

Why? When? How? In which concrete context? With which expected results? Connected to what?

The curriculum offers not only the WHAT but also the

Kuwait National Curriculum covers the overall system of learning experiences offered to children and students of Kuwait in all ordered subjects in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes/values from ages 3 to 18 by relevant educational institutions.

Therefore, the National Curriculum defines, by necessity, what students should know, be able to do, and how they should behave in terms of values-oriented human beings as a result of their learning process.

What is Kuwait National Curriculum (KNC)?

What is the Kuwait National Curriculum framework (KNCF)?

KNCF• Rationale

• Conceptual

foundations

• Vision

• Mission

• philosophy

• Principles

• Standards

• Competences

• Teaching plan

• T/L Resourses

What is Kuwait Curriculum framework (KNCF)??

"Curriculum Framework"

The Story Of Learning

processes

products

prospects

The KNCF is the main conceptual document that regulates the Kuwait curriculum system. The KNCF has a normative, prescriptive and regulatory role.

It presents the conceptual foundation, the vision, the philosophy, as well as the concrete ways in which learning is organized and offered to children and students of Kuwait throughout various education stages, from grades 1 to 12.

What is the Kuwait National Curriculum framework (KNCF)?

The Kuwait National Curriculum Framework indicates:

The rationale of the new Kuwait National Curriculum The conceptual foundations of the new curriculum The key curriculum statements; the vision, the philosophy,

principles and the mission of the curriculum system in Kuwait. The types of competences student should acquire through schooling. The type of standards that describe the level of achievement of the

competences at different stages of schooling The way in which the curriculum is organized in a Teaching Plan and

in this context in a number of subject matters.

The Kuwait National Curriculum Framework clearly guides policy makers, curriculum writers, schools and education administrators in the process of designing, organizing, managing and assessing school activities and their effectiveness

The roles and functions of the KNCF as an “umbrella” document for curriculum .

key curriculum statements

TaskDiscuss in groups the meaning of each word and why they are

essential in building any

curriculum.

Vision Mission Philosophy principles

Understanding the key curriculum statements

The Curriculum Statements have the role of regulating the whole curriculum system, including the subject curricula and standards. They concretely determine - what, why and how, based on what rationale, in which order and – last but not least – with what kind of benefits for learning do children and students in Kuwait get within their education.

The basic Curriculum Statements are:

Vision Mission Philosophy principles

Vision statementThe future citizens should be:

Confident in their Islamic, national and global identity

Actively involved in social and individual growth

Connected to other people and the environment

Lifelong learners

Mission statement In the light of the Kuwaiti Vision for its future, the

Mission of the new Kuwait National Curriculum is to contribute to the education of a new generation fully equipped with the key competences needed for making the country a financial and commercial power in the current world.

On the grounds of preserving Islamic, Arabic and National Kuwait values, in the next twenty – thirty years, we should educate citizens who cherish and respect their country, their traditions and their national identity, being at the same time open to acquiring multiple identities as citizens of Kuwait, the Gulf, the larger Arab World, and the World at large.

Philosophy The following key Educational and Curriculum Philosophies of the 21st Century are seen as playing a leading role:

Developing a holistic, complex personality, equipped with a genuine respect for Islamic, National and general human values and fully committed to personal development.

Enhancing Education for All and Inclusiveness as key pillars of

the National Curriculum.

Consistently infusing the life-long learning perspective as well as the pre-eminence of learning processes as compared to the teaching processes.

Fully assuming the Philosophy of Globalization, the Knowledge and Learning Economy, the Digital Age and Sustainable Development, while educating students to preserve national values and traditions.

Promoting the real integration of the domains of knowledge as one of the most important current trends in curriculum development and in teaching and learning internationally.

Principles The Kuwait National Curriculum is developed based

on a set of principles and criteria aimed at ensuring coherence at the level of its design and development and – at a later stage – of its implementation. These principles, related to different aspects of the National Curriculum, are concise statements that express the characteristics of the new curriculum approach or education improvement in Kuwait

A. Principles related to Curriculum as an overall System B. Principles related to the Learning Process C. Principles related to the Teaching ProcessD. Principles related to the Assessment of Students’ Achievements  

Kuwait National Curriculum

is based on the competences children and students aged 3 to 18 are supposed to acquire and the learning achievement standards that indicate to what extent this process effectively happens over the school years and/or at different stages of the process.

What type of Curriculum is the Kuwait New National Curriculum?

A curriculum that emphasizes what the learners are expected

to do rather than mainly focusing on what they are expected

to learn about. In principle such a curriculum is:

Learner-centered and adaptive to the changing needs of students, teachers and society, and

Real life needs-centered: implying that learning activities and environments are chosen so that learners can acquire and apply the knowledge, skills and attitudes to situations they encounter in everyday life.

In a competence-based curriculum, the aims of education are achieved by gradually developing a coherent system of key, general and specific competences that are measurable by means of the learning achievement standards and their detailed indicators.

What is a competence- and standard-based curriculum?

The main idea of competency-based

curriculum illustrates:1.Instead of objectives, think “competences”2.Instead of content, think outcomes 3.Learner activities will be based on

performance of learners.4.Teaching activities are learner centered5.Formative evaluation is necessary

The main idea of competency-based education

Competences are

integrated systems of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and beliefs developed through formal (and non-formal) education that allow individuals to become responsible and autonomous persons, able to solve a diversity of problems and perform in everyday life-settings at the quality level expressed by the standards.

What are the Competences?

What are the Competences?

The Kuwait National Curriculum operates with three types of

competences

Key competences

General competences

Specific competences

What are the Key Competences?

key competences(NON-SUBJECT )specific

represent a transferable, multifunctional package (system) of knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, beliefs, and personal/social attributes that all individuals need to acquire for their personal development, inclusion and employment

(i.e. for being successful in their personal and social life, as well as in their professional career).

key competences are supposed to be achieved by the end of the Secondary Education period. They are cross-curricular (i.e. non-subject specific), transferable and multifunctional competences – so that, in principle, all subjects can/should contribute to their development.

What are the Key Competences?

The Key Competences students should master by the end of Grade 12 are:

1. Islamic Religious and Ethical Competences2. Communicative Competences in Arabic Language3. Communicative Competences in English and other

Foreign Languages4. Mathematical Competences5. Social and Civic Competences6. Scientific, Technological and Digital Competences7. Personal Development and Learning to Learn Competences8. Life and Work, Economic and Financial Competences

Key Competences by the end of Grade 12

What are the General Competences?

As compared to the key competences

General competences are subject-specific. They define the most general subject-based knowledge, skills and attitudes/values embedded/integrated in students’ expected outcomes by the end of Grade 12.

www.themegallery.com

General competencies developed through the study of English Listening to oral messages by means of different

strategies in a variety of contexts for effective comprehension

Speaking by using strategies of individual and interactive speech in a variety of communicative contexts

Reading and viewing a range of texts by means of different strategies in a variety of contexts

Writing a range of texts adapted to a variety of communicative purposes

Examples of general competencies

Specific Competences The specific competences are structured and developed in students during a school year. As compared to the General Competences: Specific Competences define more specific systems of integrated knowledge, skills and attitudes/values. They can even cover specialized, topic-based competences students are supposed to display by the end of each grade.

The specific competences are clustered in the following four dimensions:

A range of realities specific to the subject (knowledge); A range of operations (skills and strategies) A range of personal and social responses (attitudes, values) A range of connections with other subjects and domains.

What are the Specific Competences?

www.themegallery.com

Specific competences

2. Speaking by using strategies of individual and interactive speech in a variety of communicative contexts

A range of language realities 

2.1 .Using simple words, expressions and sentences to express themselves about self, family, food and other items in small conversations or individual speech A range of operations 

2.2 .Responding to simple communicative situations in mini dialogues related to everyday topicsA range of attitudes

2.3 .Building up positive personal motivation to speak with peers and adults using simple phrases and sentences

A range of connections 2.4.Using the knowledge and abilities acquired in other

subjects when producing sounds of English or speaking about their family or school  

What do you think are the differences between competences and learning objectives ?

Group Work Task

The difference between competences and learning objectives

Competences define the applied skills , attitudes and knowledge that enable people to successfully perform their work

learning objectives are specific to a course of instruction.

Competences are relevant to an individual’s job responsibilities, roles and capabilities. They are a way to verify that a learner has in fact learned what was intended in the learning objectives.

Learning objectives describe what the learner should be able to achieve at the end of a learning period. Learning objectives should be specific, measurable statements and written in behavioral terms.

Competences say how we can be certain they know it.

Objectives say what we want the learners to know

The difference between competences and learning objectives

Competency: Utilizes appropriate methods for interacting sensitively, effectively, and professionally with persons from diverse cultural, educational, and professional backgrounds, and persons of all ages and lifestyle preferences.

Learning objectives from a course that relate to the above competency

Describe the demographic trends related to diverse populations in the United States and abroad Compare and contrast diversity and cultural competency in the public health context Identify a framework to design culturally competent public health care services for diverse populations

Here is an example of competencies and learning objectives relating to the competency:

What are Standards?

All competence-based curricula – including the new Kuwait National Curriculum – introduce and largely use the concept of standards.

StandardsStandards are statements about what is valued IN LEARNING.They describe expectations and are used to judge the level of performance in a field or domain.

An operational decision, requirement or regulation related to the quality level to be achieved by a certain aspect of the education system”, (in our case, student’s learning)

Standards are the WHAT of education while curriculum and instruction are the HOW.”

What types of standards in KNC?

Performance Standards Curriculum standards

They refer to the quality level to be achieved by students’ in performing their general competences by the end of each of the school stages – i.e. Primary, Intermediary, and Secondary. The measurement of the performance standards is a matter of different forms of national summative assessments or examinations.

Performance standards

Performance standards for

MESA

By the end of grade

12

By the end of

grade 9

By the end of

grade 5

Measurement Process

They refer to the quality level to be achieved by students in attaining the specific competences. Curriculum standards describe to what extent the specific competences should be achieved by the end of each grade. In the Kuwait Curriculum, curriculum standards are related to specific competences defined in the subject curriculum. Curriculum standards are a matter of school- and class-based formative and summative assessment.

Curriculum standards

curriculum standards for school exams

By the end of each grade

Measurement Process

General Competencies

To be achieved by the end of grade 12

subject specific

Specific Competencies

To be achieved by the end of each

grade

Performance

standardsLevel of

achievement by the end

of each stage5,9,12

Curriculum standards

Level of achievement by the end of each grade

Key CompetenciesTo be achieved by the end of grade 12- cross

curricular

What is Subject Curricula?Are official documents that define why, what, how

and with which kind of final expected results students learn in a certain subject from Grades 1 to 12. They fully reflect the conceptual foundation and the provision of the key curriculum statements as defined by the Kuwait National Curriculum Framework.

Why Subject Curricula and Standards are important? Subject Curricula and Standards are an essential part of the curriculum for all those interested in education: students, parents, teachers, school principals, supervisors and curriculum and standards developers, Education.

They offer a clear vision for the knowledge, skills and attitudes/values to be achieved by a student by means of the concrete learning process (textbooks included).

Well-structured curricula generate efficient teaching learning materials as well as a learning process that inspires extends and motivates students for achieving the competences and the standards mentioned in the curriculum.

Task Curriculum Concepts

To Moving from

Competency and standard based

1.Content /skill/ based curriculum

Skills/performance focus 2. Knowledge / skills /performance focus

Student’s centered class ( PPP)

3. Teacher’s/student centered class ( PPP )

Formative & summative evaluation ) Ps and teachers)

4. Summative / evaluation

New curricula

To Moving from

Parents are involved and know the standards

5.Parents are not much involved and are not aware of standards

A range of language realities A range of operations

6. Cognitive Domain 7.Proficiency Domain

A Range of attitudes 8. Affective domain

A range of connection 9. Transfer Domain Integration of school subjects

Progression of skills is clearer , organized , and a good guide for teachers

10.Progression of skills from one grade to another was not among teachers priorities

Activities designed made standards more applicable

11.Ambitious,hard to achieve standards/objectives

What does a competence-based curriculum require from teachers?Roughly: To plan the teaching-learning-assessment process within a larger

period of time To choose/produce and use a wide range of TLM that represents

best the curricular content and helps to achieve the performance standards

To choose and use interactive methods of teaching on a daily basis

To adapt the teaching style, methodology and TLM to every classroom needs

To use creatively all the assessment methods and tools To systematically study the innovations in the relevant area of

science To focus the learning process on competence gain (instead of

memorizing the information) To constantly work at self-improvement, to be methodologically

creative To acquire educational skills by involving in various CPD

activities To demonstrate openness, collaborating with other teachers of

different subjects, school management and community

How could the teachers be able to implement

the new curriculum at classroom level? Considering the requirements, they should: Be automatically involved in CPD programs to foster their teaching

competencies in order to operate with the new curriculum

Be encouraged and supported by the supervisors and school principals to apply the new curriculum at classroom level

Have time to reflect on the new procedures with other people

Have the guidance of their Head Teacher and access to examples of best practices in subject teaching

Be active participants in their own CPD Be motivated, promoted for the outstanding work reflected in the

students’ achievements

Thank You!