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

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Section 10.
Case 3:
The Case Studies
Kazakhstan
Overview
Kazakhstan is an example of a materialsled
and training-led approach to integrating
DRR within the formal school curriculum
that seeks to capitalize upon existing
windows of opportunity for integration
rather than systematically opening up
further opportunities or developing
a thoroughgoing whole curriculum
approach. The peer-to-peer learning and
assessment approaches are noteworthy.
The Ministry of Education does not
appear to be offering proactive leadership
in DRR curriculum development and
wider integration.
Introduction
The Kazakh Law on Emergency Situations of 1991 established
that ‘DRR principles and practice must be taught in pre-schools,
primary and secondary schools’. The approach followed
thereafter was one of utilizing opportune spaces in the national
curriculum for treating disaster-related topics; that is, aspects
of biology curriculum at grades 8, 9 and 11, the safety and life
skills Basics of Life Security programme, grades 1 to 11,
and pre-military education, grades 10 and 11. This somewhat
ad hoc response to the DRR imperative was also mirrored
in learning and teaching materials which ‘many stakeholders’
reported to be ‘inadequate’ (UNICEF, 2011, 1-2).
Kazakhstan became a partner in the 2009-11 UNICEF DIPECHO
regional programme for DRR for South Caucasus and Central
Asian countries. In Kazakhstan, the programme involved
a partnership between the Ministry of Emergency Situations,
the Republican Institute for Developing the Qualifications
of Staff in the Education Sector (RIPSKO) and UNICEF, sealed
by Memorandum of Understanding in March 2009 (Ibid, 2-3).
There are two arms to the programme: materials development
and teacher training.
Curriculum Development/Integration
Materials development took place in both Kazakh and Russian
languages, the approach being one of creating materials from
ones that already existed, often from regional and international
agencies, and that had, in most cases, not yet not been aligned
with the Kazakh context and culture. The developments
included: the preparation of two texts of training materials
on safety in the face of natural disasters for grades 4 to 5 and 5
to 11 (What to do During Fire, Earthquake, Flow, Flood
or Landslide?); the preparation of a methodology manual for
DRR teachers; the creation of multi-media sets (including
DVDs, animated cartoons using puppets, videogames) for
use with children by drawing on the available stock of video
footage, supported by accompanying guidance notes for the
teacher; the adaptation of the board game Riskland for use
in Kazakh schools (UNISDR/UNICEF, 2009,48-52).
The student training manuals have chapters on earthquakes,
fire, flows and landslides and floods. Each chapter offers
a description of the natural phenomenon and step-by-step
guidelines on what to do if confronted by the hazard in question.
Proposals in the 2008-9 Country Action Plan for initial pilot testing
of materials in 500 schools in three regions of significant
natural hazard risk was, wisely, adjusted to 12 schools in 2010,
allowing for deeper and richer evaluation.
Pedagogy
The chosen pedagogy for the programme is an interactive ‘peer
to peer’ approach. Guidelines on interactive learning facilitation
are central to the Teachers’ Manual on the Issue of Disaster
Risk Reduction (UNICEF et al, 2009) with emphasis on employing
pair, small group and whole group discussion, board games,
role playing, simulations and on the use of multi-media stimulus
materials. True to the letter and spirit of ‘peer to peer’,
approaches to peer assessment are also itemized in the Manual
(see below). The extent to which the student’s manuals offer
an enriching resource for interactive learning is a moot point.
Disaster Risk Reduction in School Curricula: Case Studies from Thirty Countries