Taylor, Peter

This journal article presents a case study of the Social Forestry Support Programme in Vietnam, in which Participatory Curriculum Development (PCD) plays a fundamental part. Beginning with stakeholder identification and analysis, PCD provides an overall framework for educational development. Recognising constraints associated with the process, the paper describes strategies aimed at capacity building, management of stakeholder involvement and planning and evaluation.

This paper aims to share experiences from a programme which focuses on improvement of approaches for teaching and learning at university level, through a novel approach to the development of forestry education in Vietnam.|It first makes some general and theoretical observations on the nature of learning and change in education and training institutions in order to raise some key issues, which may influence the change process in any setting.|It then moves to a specific context, describing the historical background and the setting of the Social Forestry Support Programme.

This paper outlines the concept and experiences of Participatory Curriculum Development. It offers an introduction to the subject using case examples from the Social Forestry Support Programme (SFSP) in Vietnam and explains what is meant by participatory curriculum development. It addresses the following points:
À Bringing about change in forestry education through curriculum development
À The PCD process in SFSP
À Encouraging a collaborative approach
À Improving the delivery of the curriculum through teaching and learning methods

This paper addresses some of the key issues arising from Helvetas' experience of Participatory Curriculum Development (PCD). These include:|Costs of PCD|Benefits of PCD| Constraints to PCD|Factors which facilitate the PCD process|It may be best viewed with reference to paper 4302 and 4303 by the same author which looks at the issues of PCD in Vietnam.

This guidebook, produced by the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) and the Southeast Asian Network for Agroforestry Education (SEANAFE), aims to provide the foundation for guiding agroforestry learning in Southeast Asia. It is meant to serve as a tool for educational institutions to address the rapidly changing area of integrated natural resource management. The guide is the result of a collaborative process where members of SEANAFE have drawn on their experiences from agroforestry education and curriculum development as well as agroforestry research and development.

This paper describes the process of a workshop, held in Hanoi, Vietnam, which used a participatory curriculum development (PCD) methodology to create an agroforestry curriculum development guide. The paper introduces the underlying concepts of PCD and reflects on some lessons learned about the process. It also discusses some possible reasons behind the success of the workshop in terms of the participatory process applied, the content, and the final product.|By the end of the workshop, participants had, together, written a draft guide.

Much time and money is devoted to training - but courses do not always produce the outcomes desired. As a result, many training organisations need to rethink the way they plan, design, deliver and evaluate their courses. This book, based on the experiences of VSO and other development aid organisations and research institutions, shows teacher trainers, development trainers and course developers how to design training courses by actively involving potential course participants and stakeholders.

The articles in the theme section describe experiences of teaching and learning participation in a range of higher education settings. From social work in India, to a law faculty in Peru, to national agricultural research institutes in East Africa, revealing many similarities but also differences in approaches to teaching and learning. The papers draw on an international workshop held at the Institute of Development Studies, UK in April 2003 on learning and teaching participation in higher education.

This brochure describes the participatory methodology used by Helvetas, the Swiss Association for International Cooperation, which intends to help improve the quality of education and training. It introduces and describes the basic principles and approaches of curriculum development and the learning process, and presents a case study of the Social Forestry Support Programme in Vietnam. Other Helvetas experiences are also presented, from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Lesotho, Kyrgyzstan, and Bhutan.

This article reports on research carried out in case study schools from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and India, to investigate the use of agriculture as a medium for the development of young learners' basic skills of literacy, numeracy and other life skills. The findings were aimed to provide decision-makers at national and international level with information for future planning and implementation of primary education programmes.