Curriculum Reform and Innovation

One of my main educational interests is curriculum reform and innovation. There have been several interesting opportunities to be involved in curriculum development over the last 15 years. I was taught by Ron White, the former director of Reading University’s Centre for Applied Language Studies, at the time when his seminal  “ELT Curriculum” was being published.  My PhD thesis on curriculum reform in the Middle East was done under his supervision. These pages deal more specifically with curriculum reform attempts at Kochi University, most recently with my colleague, Darren Lingley, with whom three joint articles have been published reporting projects and several other plans developed. In education, curriculum development is the area that tends to attract the most exaggerated claims of success. The key question is always whether this is reflected in classroom practices and in improved learning.

Curriculum development requires a vision of what an ideal curriculum would look like in a particular context. This should not obscure the fact that curriculum development is a highly practical activity. The basic aim is to ensure that all students who would like to achieve excellence in English during their stay at our university have the opportunity to do so. In my view, years one and two should aim to cover basic language abilities intensively to enable advanced content courses to be taught in English at a later stage. Years three and four should provide advanced content courses in English in a variety of fields.

Principles 

Recent attempts (over the last six years) at curriculum reform are based on some core principles, set out in the form of what we see in our context as essential structural requirements for progress. To outsiders, they will probably appear neither new nor radical. However, where they are lacking (as many of them are in the present structure), substantial progress is unlikely to happen:

§        Adequate opportunities to use English, rather than talking about using it in Japanese.

§        More intensive English provision which requires the use of English on a regular (possibly daily) basis.

§        Classes streamed according to ability.

§        Reasonable class sizes with the aim being a maximum of 20 students per class.

§        Wide coverage of language skills and abilities.

§        Gradation ( Progressively more advanced courses available from one semester to the next.)

§        Long-term duration: a 3-4 year curriculum for students who want to specialize.

§         Study Abroad: All language students should be strongly encouraged to do short and long-term study abroad.

§        Educational technology should be seen as a useful support for good programmes but not as a goal in itself.

Below are brief summaries of publications on in-house curriculum development with my colleague, Darren Lingley (including one with Miyoko Onaka), and one authored by myself.  Offprints or MS attachment copies of the full papers are readily available on request.

Formative Placement Testing and its Impact on ELT Curriculum  (with D. Lingley) October: 2004 JACET Journal Vol. 39 pp. 73-86

A report of two interlocking in-house ELT curriculum development projects at Kochi University directed by myself and Darren Lingley. The first section reports on the implementation of a streaming project for all first-year University students and the second section reports on the design of an intensive English programme for post-first students at upper-intermediate level as a follow up to the first-year streaming. 

 Reforming the Eikaiwa Curriculum: Streaming Students Kochi University Reports of Educational Research and Activity, Vol.   2003 pp. 156-166  (With Darren Lingley)

This paper outlines the full and large-scale reform of the compulsory first-year English conversation course by streaming students into four different levels for the first time. The theoretical and practical organization of a pre-course placement test is described and the use of the test to establish a starting level in interactive skills essential to the course aims is explained.    

Eikaiwa Curriculum Development: Design of Theme-based Units  International Communication Department Journal, Faculty of Humanities and Economics, Vol. 3 (pp.63-82) Kochi University. (August 2002) (With Darren Lingley)

An article describing a large-scale materials writing project in the context of curriculum development for the general education English programme of Kochi University. It discusses the aims of the programme within the theory of curriculum development, discusses criteria for designing ‘holistic’ communication activities and provides examples.

Self-Access and Intensive Language Improvement in the English Seminar International Communication Department Journal, Faculty of Humanities and Economics, Vol. 3 (pp. 43-62 ) Kochi University. (August 2002) (With Darren Lingley, and Miyoko Onaka)

This paper outlines the design of a self-access element for the English seminar program at Kochi University. It discusses the theory of self-access learning and describes the rationale behind the design of original profile sheets in the four language skills as a means of fostering self-awareness and improvement.

Bridging the Gap - Curriculum Goals and Classroom Realities in Eikaiwa Courses  Kochi University Reports of Educational Research and Activity, Vol. 4  2000 pp.48-52

This paper discusses and defines institutional curriculum goals, general course aims and specific syllabus objectives in relation to English conversation (eikaiwa) courses at Kochi University. It attempts to define these three different levels in relation to the particular context and the institutional constraints which influence the design of  courses, making reference and introducing the first contributions to a University publication by part-time English teachers.