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

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Eastern and Southern Africa
A boy presses his face against a
window in a school in Maseru,
the capital of Lesotho.
© UNICEF/NYHQ2008-1776/Pirozzi
curriculum aspect. Its topics link to grades as follows: How do
I feel after an emergency? (5); How to react in case of an
emergency? (5); Listen, protect and connect (6, 7, 8, 9);
Psychosocial play and creative activities (art, silent stories,
movement, music, storytelling, ‘fabric play’, cooperative
games, drama games) (7, 8, 9) (Ibid. 2-3, 5).
Pedagogy
Reference to the inclusion of socio-affective and psychosocial
topics and learning modalities such as empathy building, the
sharing of feelings, games and drama, is indicative of the new
emphasis on active and experiential learning in the delivery
of the new curriculum. ‘It is planned,’ writes Munas Kalden,
‘to have more participatory methodologies and participatory
appraisal tools. We want to train the teachers on the same.
For example, conducting hazard, vulnerability and capacity
assessment, [using] Venn diagrams, seasonal calendars,
hazard maps, historical profiles, transect walks, problem trees’ 51 .
The report on a September 2011 workshop for Lesotho
curriculum developers (see below) gives significant space to
reviewing interactive learning materials. ‘Successful disaster
risk reduction education strategies,’ the report affirms,
‘are student-driven and learner centric. …Disaster education
should not be an event (like an evacuation drill); it should be
a process’ (UNICEF et al, 2011, 34).
Student Assessment
The anticipated consequence of the new skills-oriented
curriculum is skills-oriented forms of assessment of DRR
student learning, but details are still to be worked out 52 .
Teacher Professional Development/Guidance
The details of how teacher training will help facilitate delivery
of DRR elements of the new curriculum have yet to be determined.
They are ‘to be worked out collectively by UNICEF and the
NCDC’ 53 .
Learning Outcomes/Competencies
No detailed listing of grade-related learning outcomes or
competencies has been developed thus far 54 .
Policy Development, Planning and Implementation Aspects
A 1997 Disaster Management Act established a National Disaster
Management Authority (NDMA) under the Prime Minister’s
Office with the responsibility of planning, coordinating and
monitoring disaster management actions and programmes.
In 2007, NDMA, with support from UNISDR, established a
National Platform for addressing inter-related social, economic
and environmental disaster risk reduction, thus bringing
together different sectors. In 2007 a National Plan for Capacity
Development in DRR was also approved, with one of its five
objectives being ‘to enhance information and knowledge
management for disaster risk management’ (UNISDR, 2010,
114-15).
51 52
Munas Kalden to Fumiyo Kagawa, 9 November 2011 Ibid.
53
Ibid.
54
Ibid.
Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula: Case Studies from Thirty Countries