There were two main discussion questions raised at the 4th session of the National Assembly Standing Committee's monitoring delegation on curriculum and textbook innovation on August 2: should we continue to firmly follow the new path (2018 General Education Program) or "return to the old path" (2006 program)? Should we socialize textbooks to diversify teaching materials or have a unified set of textbooks?
As a lecturer of natural science pedagogy at the Faculty of General Education, I have some opinions as follows:
Be determined to innovate but must find ways to overcome shortcomings
The 2006 curriculum was designed from a reductionist perspective, taking everything from the complex to its simplest and most basic form and then delving into the nature of these basics. This was the common approach of education throughout the world in the 20th century, dividing natural sciences (KHTN) into basic sciences, including physics, chemistry and biology.
The teaching staff is trained in this direction, each person can only teach one subject according to their expertise. The 2006 education model has many advantages but has gradually become inadequate, clearly shown in the story of "the blind men and the elephant". The elephant in the story is the subject of Natural Science, the parts of the elephant are individual branches of science.
In the 21st century, science has developed very strongly, the Nobel Prize is awarded annually to research and discoveries considered "strange", successively completing or denying old laws. The boundaries between individual scientific disciplines are gradually blurred, even completely disappearing. Experimental data in many fields complement each other, providing practical evidence that makes it impossible for people not to change their perception of the world around them.
Therefore, education must innovate, shift to a complexity perspective, looking at problems from many angles, in correlation with other factors. In reality, most things and phenomena operate according to the complexity principle. For example, the use of materials, the cause of disease, weather conditions, economic fluctuations, social trends, environmental impacts... can only be correct when considered from a complexity perspective. Complexity has developed into complex science, which is considered a modern approach of mankind to all problems in the 21st century.
Parents and students look for textbooks in a bookstore in Ho Chi Minh City.
Integrated form of teaching natural sciences in the general education program framework of countries around the world
- In Finland , the program was renewed in 2014, officially applied in 2016 from grades 1 to 6, and in 2019 from grades 7 to 9.
- The old British program was developed in 1999, the new program was developed in 2013, applied immediately in the 2014-2015 school year for first graders, other grades still study the old 1999 program.
- Germany applied from the 2011-2012 school year.
- Singapore applies in the 2013-2014 school year.
- US applies school year 2014-2015.
The content of the natural science program of the above countries includes knowledge of scientific methods, physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, design technology... presented in the form of integrated topics like in Vietnam today.
Thus, educational innovation in Vietnam in the 2019-2020 school year is a timely direction, in line with educational trends. The 2018 General Education Program in general, and the design of the integrated Natural Science subject in particular, have approached advanced educational systems in the world.
Therefore, Vietnam must persevere in implementing but find ways to overcome shortcomings, together achieving educational goals according to current globalization standards.
Should there be a unified set of natural science textbooks?
According to the new program, the subject of Natural Science is designed to be broad but not deep. The goal is to help students perceive problems, objects, and phenomena around them in their true, complex nature. The nature of Natural Science is not a mechanical synthesis of physics, chemistry, and biology. The new program is designed and divided into 6 content streams. Therefore, teachers of Natural Science must understand the content streams in the organic relationship between different knowledge blocks.
The first content line of the Natural Science subject teaches about the scientific method, helping students know the "correct way" to approach and solve problems. If education is too theoretical, students will lack the skills and habits of working with data and solving problems based on evidence. Therefore, teachers must shift from a lecture style of teaching to a methodological guide, helping students fulfill learning requirements according to lesson objectives.
There are different sets of natural science textbooks that present challenges for both students and teachers.
For example, when studying elephants, students do not just observe and conclude that elephants are very big. Students must know how to do calculations, compare proportions with other animals, or measure height, weight... to argue and prove their conclusions. With a scientific way of working, students from a young age form the habit of respecting data, not acting emotionally, drawing conclusions based on experience, judgment and crowd thinking. The results of learning according to the new scientific method have practical value, when applied to life, students will know how to think critically.
Textbooks are an open source of learning materials, teachers have full authority to select appropriate knowledge, boldly remove redundant parts, unnecessary to the content context. Information does not need to be much but must be accurate, to lead the content flow into a meaningful and attractive story for learners. Doing this is not easy at all.
In addition, there is a huge gap between the general education program issued by the Ministry of Education and Training and the textbooks. The books are compiled in the form of cutting large content into individual lessons, accompanied by separate teaching and learning activities.
Specifically, the first content line on scientific methods, although very important, is compiled very roughly in the books. Because they have never been trained before, the staff in charge of training are also assigned according to the majors of physics, chemistry, and biology. Currently, there are not many pedagogues or individuals who truly understand the knowledge of natural sciences, to help teachers see the complex, hidden connections between the initial blocks of single-subject knowledge.
Given the above situation, should there be a set of natural science textbooks applied nationwide? This set of textbooks is a guideline, unifying the content and objectives in the spirit and viewpoint of the 2018 General Education Program. The content should not be lengthy or difficult to understand, but should be distilled and strung together into a logical scientific chain.
The Natural Science textbook series only needs to focus on 6 content streams, correctly representing the integrated structure of scientific fields. By doing so, the new textbook can help teachers change their approach, see the meaning and overall beauty of Natural Science, similar to the way they love Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
With a unified set of natural science textbooks combined with teaching methods and techniques that have been continuously trained over the past time, we believe that teachers can completely read, understand and implement their integrated natural science lessons well.
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