(Post) Pandemic Curriculum Adjustment Webinar

The UNESCO Regional Bureau of Education for the Arab States in Beirut, the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS) and the International Bureau of Education (UNESCO IBE) are jointly organizing a webinar on “(Post) Pandemic Curriculum Adjustment”. 

Since early 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic affected education systems the world over especially because of school closure and the shift from in-person teaching and learning to remote/online and hybrid/blended learning. In addition to facing challenges with regard to the needed infrastructure and the (new) competencies teachers, learners and parents had to acquire and develop to deal with the new (technology-based) learning environments, schools, teachers, principals and other stakeholders had to find solutions with regard to adjusting the curriculum to the new realities.

While many studies the world over looked into the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on teachers and on learners (such as learning losses), much less had been inquired about how schools and their staffs dealt with new curriculum arrangements to fit remote/online and hybrid/blended learning. Discussions on curriculum, such as in the context of the UNESCO IBE webinar of 30 October 2020 (please find link here) have reiterated that the need of curriculum adjustment the Covid-19 pandemic caused should be approached as an opportunity for the overall improvement of curricula so as to make them more relevant, up-to-date and learner-friendly.

In order to contribute to the international discussion on curriculum changes in the new (post)pandemic context, UNESCO Office in Beirut commissioned a pilot study on (post)pandemic curriculum adjustment in the Arab Region. The pilot study looked into both the challenges schools in the Arab Region faced with regard to curriculum and curriculum-related matters (such as teaching and learning assessment), and promising responses/approaches that were put in place in different contexts. The study documents:

(a) Different types of curriculum changes/adjustments that have been considered;

(b) The roles of different stakeholders in taking curriculum decisions;

(c) The links (and tensions) among quality, equity, inclusion and accountability;

(d) Promising avenues with regard to curriculum adjustment that could be considered to inform curriculum policies, capacity development strategies and learning from one another in the context of forward-looking communities of practice; and

(e) The importance of system-wide alignment for learning in the light of Education Agenda 2030 wherein curriculum, teaching practices and learning assessment are called upon to contribute through specific, yet cohesive approaches.

Topics Addressed

- Challenges Arab countries faced in adjusting their K-12 curriculum to the new Covid-19 pandemic realities

- Examples of curriculum adjustment strategies Arab countries have put in place at different levels

- Examples from other countries

- Stakeholder roles in adjusting curricula so as to make them flexible, learner-friendly, relevant, inclusive and up-to-date

- Desirable links and harmonization among curriculum, teaching practices and learning assessment

- Recommendations for policy formulation and implementation, including capacity development, as well as for improving research approaches in learning about curriculum adjustment issues

Participants

- Teachers and Principals

- Curriculum developers

- Developers of learning resources, including technology-enabled resources

- School inspectors

- Teacher trainers

- Policy and decision makers

- Researchers of curriculum issues and scholars

Arabic-English simultaneous translation will be provided
YouTube online streaming will be equally provided

Please register in advance for this webinar:
https://unesco-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sf4GjIWCTmqXg...

Resources

Info Sheet and Agenda (EN)

Info Sheet and Agenda (AR)