engleski

Knowledge based society and curriculum development

The development of knowledge based society generates new needs both at the individual and the society level (economy, scientific and technological development, multiculturalisam, the role of individual as a citizen, personal development, etc.). Challenges raised by the new developments have brought to the fore the question of development of key competencies neccessary for work and life in knowledge society and adequate curricular changes. They are now widely politically and theoretically discussed, especially in countries where the education for new competencies gained a strategic importance in development of their economic competitiveness and strethening their social cohesion (EU and OECD countries). In the European Union identified common objectives of the educational systems include definition of new areas of key competencies relevant for work and life in knowledge based society. Although they serve as mere recommendations for educational policies in individual countries they are of fundamental significance for the development and integration of Europe-wide educational policies. (Standaert, 2003) This is of especial importance for Croatia which, as an accessory country, perceives a membership in the EU as one of its fundamental strategic goals. This presentation is focused on two main issues: 1. impacts of the new competencies for knowledge based society on the curriculum changes, 2. the analysis of the current state of the Croatian national curriculum in the context of the curriculum developments in European countries. According to the holistic model (Weinert, 2001 ; Rychen and Salganic, 2003 ; Letschert, 2004), key competencies are compex systems consisting of cognitive and non-cognitive componenets, which refer to multifuctional and transdisciplinary competencies that are useful for achieving many important goals in different contexts. Such approach to the concept of key competencies calls into question traditional concept of curriculum and learning methods. A comparative analysis of national curricula for compulsory education carried out in 2005 on a sample of 11 European countries (Scandinavian countries, Central European countries and Great Britan), shows that there is a trend toward development of a coherent, integrated curriculum with broader curriculum areas (countries with national curriculum frameworks). In difference to this trend, Croatia has a traditional, subject based curriculum (there is no a National Curriculum Framework that would ensure the coherence of the curriculum system and processes but a set of subject-based programs of study, that is syllabi) rooted in individual disciplines. The content of syllabi is seen as isolated, without necessary integration across subjects or subject areas (there is no cross-curricular themes). These characteristics of the subject syllabi are also proved by the findings of the empirical research of the teachers opinions which was carried out in 2003 on a stratified-random sample of 1134 subject teachers in 121 elementary schools (15% sample). The applied questionnaire consisted of open-ended and closed questions set mainly on Likert scales. The teachers were evaluating: 1) representation of areas of child development in syllabi ; 2) the key curriculum design concepts such as coherence, breadth and balance, contemporariness, etc. (Harland et al., 2002) ; (3) time allocation for each subject, etc. According to the findings, the cognitive area is the most represented area in the syllabi (child cognitive development is covered by each subject). The esthetical, physical and practical/technical area are the least presented areas (they are covered by one or limited number of subjects). Insufficient horizontal coherence, a content overload and obsoleteness were also indicated as weak points of the syllabi. In conclusion, it could be said that both types of analyses indicate that Croatian national curriculum requires radical changes towards a balanced, integrated and coherent national curriculum which will provide pupils with competencies necessary to cope with challenges of the future.

knowledge based society; new competences; curriculum; Croatian teachers' opinions

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