Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Leadership

6/27/2023

Competence-Based Curriculum

Rwandan national standards applied and achieved in The Anne Frank Project teacher training in story-based learning at Urukundo Learning Center, Muhanga, Rwanda; June 24-25, 2023, according to “Competence-Based Curriculum: Curriculum Framework Pre-Primary to Upper Secondary,” Republic of Rwanda Ministry of Education, Rwanda Education Board, 2015

1.18.1 Learner centered

The curriculum must address learners’ individual needs, interests, abilities and backgrounds, creating an environment where learning activities are organized in a way that encourages learners to construct knowledge either individually or in groups in an active way.

1.18.3 Inclusive

The curriculum must ensure that every individual is valued and there are high expectations of every learner. Learning must be organised so that all learners thrive, including girls, learners with disabilities, learners with special educational needs and regardless of their background.

1.18.4 Flexible

The curriculum will to cater for learners’ individual needs and talents and ensure the provision of a holistic education that includes knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. The curriculum should facilitate horizontal and vertical mobility within and across different education systems. This will involve developing a curriculum that allows interactive teaching and learning involving all categories of learners to provide opportunities to nurture them.

1.21 Developing Competences

Competences cannot be taught directly like subject knowledge. They are acquired over time through the cumulative effect of a competence approach to learning. They require students to practice and employ the generic competences throughout the subjects that they study. They require the syllabi to be constructed with competences at their heart. They require teachers to adopt approaches that encourage and enable students to think critically, to carry out research, to solve problems, to be creative and innovative, to communicate, to co-operate and to become life-long leaners.

1.24 National curriculum competence descriptors

Citizenship and National Identity: Relating the impact of historical events on past and present national and cultural identity; Understanding the historical and cultural roots of Rwandan society and how the local superstructure functions in relation to the global environment; Demonstrating respect for cultural identities and expressing the role of the national language in social and cultural context; Advocating for the historical, cultural and geographical heritage of the nation within the global dimensions; Showing national consciousness, a strong sense of belonging and patriotic spirit; Advocating for a harmonious and cohesive society and working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Lifelong learning: Taking initiative to update knowledge and skills with minimum external support; Coping with the evolution of knowledge and technology advances for personal fulfillment; Seeking out acquaintances more knowledgeable in areas that need personal improvement and development; Exploiting all opportunities available to improve on knowledge and skills.

Creativity and Innovation: Responding creatively to the variety of challenges encountered in life; Use imagination beyond knowledge provided to generate new ideas to enrich learning; Take initiative to explore challenges and ideas in order to construct new concepts; Generate original ideas and apply them in learning situations; Demonstrate resilience when faced with learning challenges

Communication: Communicating and conveying confidently and effectively information and ideas through speaking and writing and other forms of communication; Comprehending language through listening and reading; Using oral and written language to discuss, argue and debate a variety of themes in a logical and appealing manner; Communicate clearly and confidently using a range of linguistic, symbolic, representational and physical expression.

Cooperation, Interpersonal management, Life skills: Co-operating with others as a team in whatever task assigned; Adapting to different situations including the world of work; Demonstrating a sense of personal and social responsibility and making ethical decisions and judgments; Practising respect for the rights, views and feelings of others; Practising positive ethical and moral attitudes with respect to socially acceptable behaviour.

1.25 Principles of Assessment

Accessible, equitable and fair: Assessments must offer equal opportunities to learners to succeed, and be adaptable to learners’ circumstances. Assessments must be accessible to all learners in terms of the forms of questioning and testing. Accessibility involves particular attention to the language demands for learners, especially those for whom English is an additional language.

Support progression: Assessments should yield information about aspects of learners’ performance which can then be used to diagnose strengths and weaknesses, and next steps for learners. Formative assessments which are relevant to the current learning should provide evidence which teachers can use to feedback to learners. Competencies, which include knowledge, skills and attitudes, should be assessed in the context of practical application in order for progress to be identified and supported.

1.43.23 Music, Dance and Drama

Music, dance and drama are performing arts that provide a valuable channel for human expression and experience. The sounds of instruments and songs stimulate a human response that is not only heard, but also awakens and touches emotions. Responses to musical experiences span sensory, gross motor, fine motor, cognitive, communicative, and social. As such, music, dance and drama teach about life and living, about thoughts and feelings, and about self and others as well as providing opportunities for students to be creative and to understand, enjoy and appreciate them for life. Music develops critical thinking skills that are applicable to all disciplines requiring creative solutions. Concepts, facts, and higher order thinking skills are all connected through musical concepts. Experiencing music, dance and drama through listening, composing, and performing provides students with a means to acquire knowledge and to communicate through the language of the senses.

6/23/2023

Hail Mary, Full of Grace

Nyamata

Butterflies yellow and white, like floating tissue

Starlight holes in the roof, casting violent beams onto a rubble floor

Children learning, children laughing, children playing

Please be seated

Paper cranes

Handwritten love notes in languages I cannot understand

Mounds of clothes riddled by blood clay and bullets

Pray for us

A pinky cream baby dress with old brown blood soaking the front, as if from a messy dinner with no bib. Three ruffles at the hem, puffy sleeves, a bow at the collar. Her bones are somewhere here.

Pray for us

More children’s clothes - blue shorts, a sweater vest, a tiny t-shirt

Boxes and boxes of clothes in various sizes, stored separate from the mountains on pews

Please kneel.

A cracked baptismal font

A blown-out sacristie

Helpless rosaries

A brown lizard guarding coffins full of indiscriminate bones

Piles of skulls femurs and forearms

Muzungu Mary, full of grace

Banana trees

Children laughing, children playing

The midday bell rings them home

Go in peace to love and serve

Ave Maria