The Teacher and the School Curriculum

Module # 2

Subject: The Teacher and the School Curriculum

I. MAIN TOPIC/S:
On Becoming a Global Teacher

II. OBJECTIVES:

At the end of a 90 – minute lesson the student should be able to:

1. compare the educational system of selected countries of the world;
2. describe multicultural education and the role of the teacher in addressing diversity
among learners;
3. reflect on the qualities and responsibilities of a global teacher.

III. INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY:

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When you become a licensed professional teacher where do you

intend to serve? In the Philippines? Or in a foreign country?
If in a foreign country, name the country and give reasons.

IV. LESSON PROPER:

On Becoming a Global Teacher

Purita P. Bilbao

Introduction

Our world has been called a “global village”. Satellite communications make
possible television, telephone and documents transmitted through fax and electronic mails
across thousands of miles in thousandths of a second. Our students can view global warfare in
the middle east, famine in Africa, industrial pollution in Europe or industrial breakthrough in
Korea or Japan through a worldwide web of the information highways.

Global education poses variety of goals ranging from increased knowledge about
the peoples of the world to resolutions of global problems, from increased fluency in foreign
languages to the development of more tolerant attitudes towards other cultures and peoples.
Global education embraces today’s challenges as national borders are opened. It paves the way
for borderless education to respond to the needs of educating children of the world they are
entering. It offers new curricular dimensions and possibilities, current scientific and
technological breakthroughs for completely new frontiers in education

Contemporary curricula responded to the concept of this global village. The

increase use of technology in the classroom, the incorporation of the changing realities of our
world’s society, and the ease of mobility of peoples of the world become a challenge to you
preparation as prospective teachers.

Hence, future teachers like you should prepare to respond to these multiple
challenges. To become a global teacher you should be equipped with a wider range of
knowledge of the various educational systems outside the country; master skills and
competencies which can address global demands; and possess attitudes and values that are
acceptable to multicultural communities. When you are able to satisfy these benchmark
requirements, then you can safely say, you have prepared well to be a great teacher of the
world.

As future teachers, think globally, but act locally! You can be a global teacher by
being the best teacher in your school.

As a future teacher, you shall be guided by UNESCO’s principle that Education is

For All and that this education is anchored on the Four Pillars which are:
1. Learning to know
2. Learning to do
3. Learning to Be
4. Learning to Live Together.

Let us now look at the educational system of some countries.

1. Educational system of China

The most populous country of the world is China. With over 200 million students
attending public schools taught by over 9 million teachers in the elementary, junior and senior
high schools, it is the largest educational system of the world. (Wang, 1996; Nanjundiah, 1996)
the education system is highly centralized. The course syllabi are written by scientists and
professors hired by the National Educational Commission. The subject matter and instructional
contents are uniform for all. The six years of school make up the primary grades which is
devoted to development of cognitive skill, and this is followed by another six years of high
school. Class size ranged from 40 to 60 students and the students have to cover all topics in
order to pass national examinations. Students wishing to attend university must pass one of
the two versions of the National University Entrance Examination. The quality and reputation
of the school will depend on the number of students passing the examination (Changbin,
1995; Kwang, 2000)

Education, one of the fundamental Chinese traditions entered to a new era of

deep transformation after 1949. Education was used as a vital tool for centralization and
unification of the country. The new educational system includes:
 Six years of primary education.
 Three years of junior middle school, three years of senior middle school.
 Six years of university.
 Varieties of technical and vocation schools.
 The problems in Chinese education are diverse, from elitism to social
alienation. Key point schools were established in primary and secondary
institutions as well. With the Chinese’s open door policy, the country
entered into a rapid development even in education.

2. Educational System of Japan

The Japanese education system is highly centralized and is administered by the

Mombusho or Ministry of Education. The school system from kindergarten through university
serves about 24 million students, with about ten percent going to the University. About one
third go to the private schools and the rest are enrolled in the public of national school
system. (Abner, 2002)
The Japanese educational system is sometimes seen as a model of how to
operate schools. The system gives an mental picture of obedient, quiet school children sitting
on their desks, listening to the teacher and working hard to pass the various entrance
examinations.
In 2005, a book Japan in the 21st Century: Environment, Economy and Society
says:
“Japan’s educational system produces students who perform far better on
international examinations than Americans do, and Japanese students are indisputably among
the best in the world in solving mathematical equations . . . Youngsters are well behaved,
envied around and law abiding; Japan’s low crime rates are well known and widely envied
around the world. But what is even more striking than the lack of crime is the overwhelming
civility; graffiti and vandalism are rare and school sports teams not only bow to each other
before the game but rush over to the opposing team’s stand after the fame to pay their
respect.”
(The Japanese Educational System www.bookiemice.net/darkchilde/japan/jeduc.html)

a. Basic education structure of Japanese educational system

The Japanese educational system is divided into five basic levels: kindergarten,
elementary schools (six years) lower secondary school (three years) upper secondary school
(three years) and university (usually around four years)
There are also preschools (yochien) with mainly female teachers. These are not
official part of the educational system. Prefectural boards license teachers, appoint teachers
to public elementary and lower secondary schools and also license preschools in their area.
In Japan, education is free and compulsory for children from 6 to 15 years.
Classes are large and teaching methods is usually lecture. Japanese students spend 243 days
a year in school. The school calendar is year – round with some breaks between sessions.
Standard curriculum includes Japanese language, social studies, math and science
along with art, music, home economics, physical education, the most emphasis being given
to learning the Japanese language.
Lower secondary schools cover grade seven, eight and nine. Men compose two –
thirds of the teachers in this level. Class size average 38 and the periods are fifty minutes
long.
Upper secondary schools offer academic, technical and vocational programs. The
first year courses include Japanese language, English, Science and Math. Vocational course
includes information processing, navigation, fish farming, ceramics and business English. The
upper secondary schools are ranked based on their success in placing graduating students
into prestigious Universities.
b. Higher education

Junior colleges by women who want to pursue courses stress home economics,
nursing, teaching, humanities and social science.
There are various universities that students can attend in Japan. Private
institutions make up 80% of university enrolments although the public schools have the most
prestige. To get into the universities (there are more than 500) the student must take two
exams; the first one is a national achievement test and the second one given by the
university itself. The competition is quite fierce and some students who fail the test again.
These students are called ronin, which originally meant samurai.
Sixty percent of the universities have graduate schools, but only seven percent of
university graduate gets Master’s degrees. At the doctorate level, students enrol in medical
programs and the humanities.
Japanese education relies heavily upon examinations to determine which schools
the student will go to next, resulting in a push by students and parents (usually mothers) for
their children to study very hard for the test so that he or she can get into the best school.
The entire educational system seem to be built on a principle that if you do well in exams,
you will get into good schools, or universities and automatically into a good life – time job.

3. Educational System in the United States of America

The levels of education in the U.S. are similar to those in other countries. There
are public and private colleges, schools and universities in the United States. The public
schools are funded, in part, by a city, and/or state, and/or federal government. Students
living in the city or state pay less tuition because some tax money is used to subsidize the
tuition. Non – US residents would pay more, since they would not be residents of the city or
state where the college or university is located. Private colleges and universities are
supported primarily by tuition and private contributions. All students must pay the same
tuition no matter where they come from.

a. Structure and organization of basic education

Pre – primary education – Type of school providing this education are

kindergarten, nursery schools, preschool programmes, child/day care centers.
- Age level is 4-6 years old and the duration is 2 years. Primary education –
elementary school – There are varied levels of schooling in the primary education.
- Grades 1 to 4 – children are from ages 6 to 10
- Transition to middle school
- Grades 1 to 5 – children are from ages 6 to 11
- Transition to middle school
- Grades 1 to 6 – children are from ages 6 to 12
- Transition to junior high school
- Grades 1 to 7 – children are from ages 6 -14
- Transition to junior high school
Middle schools education – Grades 4 – 6 , 5 – 7, or 6 – 8.
- Age level is from 10 – 14
Secondary education – high school – Grades 7 – 12 or 8 – 12
- Ages 12 – 18 years old
- High school diploma is awarded.
- 2 levels
- Junior high school
 - Grades 7 – 8, 7-9, or 8-9
- Ages 12 – 14 years old
- Senior high school
- Grades 9 -12, or 10 – 12
- Ages 14 – 18 years old.

Duration of compulsory education is from entry of 6 years old to exit of 18 years

old.
b. Higher education

Higher education in the U.S. begins at the post-secondary education. It is a

diverse and autonomous community of publicly and privately supported institutions. Current
data states that there are some 2,819 institutions offering Bachelor’s or higher degrees and
4, 927 institutions offering shorter non – degrees of two years duration. These higher
education institutions are classified according to the following categories:
- Research universities (I and II) – Comprehensive doctorate granting institutions that
have extensive theoretical and applied research in a wide variety of programs.
- Doctorate – granting universities (I and II) – Universities offering comprehensive studies
but awards Doctorate in limited fields or areas.
- Master’s (Comprehensive) universities and colleges (I and II) – Institutions offering
academic and professional programmes at the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels but do not
award research doctorate.
- Baccalaureate (Liberal Arts) Colleges (I and II) – Institutions offering Bachelor’s degrees
but not higher.
- Associate of Arts colleges – they offer academic and professional or occupational studies
at the Associate Degree level including public community colleges and public and private
junior colleges.
- Professional school and other specialized institutions – Institutions that offer only one or
few related courses in the professional or academic with degree level from associate to
research doctorates.
- Postsecondary vocational and technical schools – Institutions offering short non –
degree training programs of less than two years duration, leading to certificates or
diplomas in occupational specialties.

Post-secondary education – there is no real age categories for post-secondary

education. Generally, American students start college right after completing high school
(About 60% of all students who graduate from high school enter college at some point in
their life) Junior and technical colleges are designed to be 4 – year programs at the
undergraduate level. In reality, the average American takes over 6 years to finish a four
year degree. The reason is that more than 50% of college freshmen do not know what
major or specialization they wish to study. Also many students work to pay for college
expenses. Thus they may take fewer classes in order to work.

Vocational and technical schools operate at either the high school or junior
college levels. They teach skills such as secretarial, auto – mechanics, photography, and
nursing.
College and University Education – A college usually has a Bachelor’s (4 year)
program. A university may be composed of several colleges (for example, the college of
medicine and the college of engineering). Universities often have graduate programs as
well. For most purposes, a Bachelor’s degree from a college is equivalent to a Bachelor’s
 degree from a University, so that the two words “college” and “university” mean the same
thing to most Americans. Generally, the value of degree is a reflection of how society views
the particular college or university. From a Bachelor’s degree a student can proceed to a
graduate program for master’s degree or a doctorate degree. For non-residents of the US, a
TOEFEL is required and a Graduate Record Examination or GRE is a must.

Classes begin in September and end in June of every year. The language of
instruction is English. (United Stated of America – Education. (United States of America –
Education System. www.ibe.unesco.org/)

V. EVALUATION:

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A. Make a matrix using the example below

Title: Educational System of Selected Countries of the World

Name of Country Levels of Education Description of each Special Features

Level
1. China

2. Japan

3. United States
of America

B.
1. Based on your matrix of the various educational systems of other countries how
would you compare our Philippine educational system? In what aspects are we
similar with other countries? Is our educational system globally competitive?
2. If given an opportunity to experience teaching in another country, where would
you like to teach? Why?

VI. ASSESSMENT GUIDE:

Assesment Points
A. Matrix 9 pts + 1
B. Essay 1 & 2 10 pts. each