Teaching for the future
by
Andrew Lees
As an international learning institution, it’s not surprising that
UniSA works collaboratively with many international partner
institutions.
When that country is Papua New Guinea, and the task is the creation of a lower secondary schooling curriculum, even UniSA academics have their work cut out for them.
UniSA, in partnership with Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia and Department of Education and Children's Services , played host to nine visiting curriculum officers from Papua New Guinea (pictured left) for three weeks under the Curriculum Reform Implementation Project.
Together, the PNG curriculum officers, with support and advice from their South Australian counterparts, have almost finished drafting a new, and more culturally, economically and socially appropriate lower secondary schooling syllabus for PNG. Project coordinator Rosemary Badenoch said she was very impressed with the headway made.
“Many of the curriculum officers had no background in curriculum writing and more modern, child-centred teaching methodologies,” she said.
“The notion of making the new PNG curriculum much more practically relevant for the majority of students who will return to their home villages after their schooling ends, as well as providing appropriate content and standards for those few who will continue their schooling to the tertiary level, has been a wonderful and exciting challenge for all involved.”
Badenoch said it had been a very challenging project for a range of reasons.
“Many of the visiting officers don’t have peers back home to bounce ideas off.
PNG delegation leader Kila Veli-Kila said PNG youth needed to be given practical skills relevant to their own communities.
“We have had a similar curriculum from colonial times to PNG’s independence,” Veli-Kila said.
“It’s served its purpose, but it is not serving the needs of the majority of the nation now.
Ms Veli-Kila said there was a clear need for secondary schooling to foster pride in PNG itself, and have tried to create a modern and adaptable teaching syllabus suited to an emerging PNG.
“Jobs are scarce, [so] we want to give student the skills and knowledge to be able to seek work in their communities to be productive and valued members of that community.”