Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula: Case Studies ... - Unicef

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East Asia and the Pacific
Women discuss landmine awareness
in Vientiane, the capital of the Lao
People's Democratic Republic.
© UNICEF/NYHQ1996-0843/Semeniuk
all ages. DRR curricula predicated upon the participatory and
child-centred approach challenged traditional lecture-based
teaching methods (Vanaspong, 2011).
The project evaluation reports the positive impact of childcentred
pedagogies on both students and teachers. Even
though general life skills improvement was not an intended
project objective, teachers noticed that children learnt ‘skills
in daily life such as being more responsible, punctual and
cooperative’ and also ‘learnt to listen to their friends and think
more of others and about issues faced by their communities’
(Ibid). Parents also noticed that children had developed ‘more
social skills and communicate better in daily life’ (Ibid). The
participating children themselves reported an increased sense
of confidence in expressing themselves and ‘thinking and
doing things by themselves’, which are significant
achievements insofar as they defy traditional cultural norms. In
terms of knowledge and skills, students gained an understanding
of the causes and impact of disasters, thus better
understanding their own communities through risk analysis,
and teamwork and leadership skills (Ibid). The participating
teachers ‘applied child centred approach in their classes’,
although they always provided lectured beforehand (Ibid, 46).
One of the unexpected findings was ‘the teachers directly
linked the DRR modules with increase in school attendance.
This was due to the teachers being training in child-centred
teaching and learning and this learning was used in other
classrooms which made children enjoy class more!’ 43 .
The project report notes that in children’s capacity building,
it is important to work more with adults to facilitate meaningful
child participation (Ibid, 20).
Student Assessment
No details of DRR-specific student assessment have been
found within available MDRD-EDU documentation.
Teacher Professional Development/Guidance
A teacher’s guide accompanying the student modules and six
supplementary story booklets on hazard related topics (e.g.,
road accidents, pollution, fire and storm, drought and
landslides) were developed (ASEAN/UNISDR, 2011).
There were capacity-building training opportunities in both
phases of MDRD-EDU project. During phase one, two training
sessions were provided to participants including principals and
teachers of the selected pilot schools, district and provincial
educational officers, and district pedagogical advisors
(32 participants for the first and 18 for the second). During
phase two, teacher-trainers from eight provincial training
centres took part in the training (ADPC, 2010). A series of
teacher training and instruction in trainer events was also
conducted in order to build the capacity of teachers and of
regional centre training officers of the MoE National Teachers
Training Institute. The specific purpose of ToT was to enable
them to lead the integration of the DRR training module into
the existing annual programme of training of teachers in their
jurisdiction 44 .
43
Danielle Wade, Save the Children Australia, to Fumiyo Kagawa,
20 October 2011.
44
Alex Fowler, ADPC, to Fumiyo Kagawa 23 November 2011.
Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula: Case Studies from Thirty Countries