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

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School children on top of
a dune/ Aral, Kazakhstan.
© UNESCO/ Zhanat Kulenov
related issues and incremental teacher training) are brushed
over. Once curriculum is in place a sense of ‘fait accompli’
rather than ‘work in progress’ can set in.
Examples of centralized competency-base DRR development
include the Phillipines (case study 11) and, to some degree,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR and Peru (case studies 6, 8, 9, 24).
The centrally developed special subject (dedicated space)
approach
This approach creates a new stand-alone subject dedicated
entirely to or alloting significant curricula space for disaster risk
reduction learning within the formal curriculum. Key messages
and skills of disaster risk reduction are core or pertinent to the
subject.
Advantages
Central government backing and commitment participate
in the decision to launch the initiative, which leads to quick
implementation, large-scale piloting with evaluation
and rapid movement to scale.
Creation of a distinct DRR subject attracts special attention
and status, clear and strong message that disaster risk
reducation learning is an important part of formal learning.
Disadvantages
Creating a special disaster-related subject might be considered
to be a ‘job done’ and further efforts to infuse disaster-related
themes and topics elsewhere in the curriculum might be
forgotten or seen as unnecessary.
If a special subject is limited to specific grade levels and/or
is an optional course, student exposure to disaster-related
learning will be very limited.
The cross-cutting nature of disaster-related learning might
be under- valued.
It could take time to help teachers become fully conversant
in the newly created subject and to develop teaching and
learning materials and assessment methods.
Examples of the dedicated space approach are Georgia and
Russia (case studies 2, 4). It is important to note that in both
cases the newly created dedicated subject is accompanied
by the integration of disaster-related learning across a number
of subjects.
The symbiosis approach
This approach to disaster-related curriculum integration relies
upon the ‘family ressemblance’ between DRR and other
cross-curricular initiatives concerned with developing social
awareness and empowering the individual for active citizenship
that are already mainstreamed. In this way, a cross-curricular
dimension that is already in place acts as a carrier for disaster
risk reduction learning while at the same time is itself enriched.
Examples across the 30 case studies include embedding
DRR in Life Skills, Civic/Citizenship education, environmental
education and education for sustainable development. In some
African countries, DRR is also finding a home within nascent
or rapidly developing climate change education programmes.
Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula: Case Studies from Thirty Countries