From September 29th until October 3rd a delegation from the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and VVOB Cambodia took part in the 4th World Conference on Science and Technology Education in Sarawak, Malaysia. The conference was organised by ICASE, the International Council of Associations for Science Education, and UNESCO. The central theme of the conference was ‘Live science, Love learning, Create Change’. VVOB presented two papers during this conference.
Keynote Speakers
The conference included an impressive line-up of keynote speakers. Prof. Eric Mazur, physics professor at Harvard University, explained the use of peer instruction in physics lectures. Prof. John Hattie (see picture), well-known for his meta-meta-analysis on teaching quality, talked about ‘making teaching and learning visible’ through enhanced feedback, setting clear expectations and collaborative teaching. Keynotes from ministry officials from Malaysia and Myanmar on integrating international learning assessments such as TIMMS and PISA in their national education policies were very much appreciated by the Cambodian delegation.
Science Curriculum
"The information from the conference will help the staff of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport with the revision of the science education curriculum planned in 2015", said Mrs. An Kityasy, from the Department of Curriculum Development. For her, it is clear that the new science curriculum should include more hands-on activities. Mrs. Tek Vannaret liked that strenghtening teacher capacity to provide effective feedback emerged as a central element in improving learning outcomes. Mr. Soun Socheat from the Department of Curriculum Development was inspired by a presentation on the Green schools programme of UNESCO, and would like to apply it in Cambodia as well.
VVOB Papers
A first paper from VVOB relates the objectives of the SEAL programme to the theoretical frameworks of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) and Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge (TPACK). It discusses successes and challenges of the programme in improving teacher trainers’ and teachers’ teaching skills. In a second paper, accessibility to education in Cambodia is analysed from an institutional perspective applying the Framework of Institutional Change, developed by the North. It highlights the importance of aligning changes in formal rules such as Cambodia’s recent ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities with informal constraints and enforcement characteristics.
