Comparative Analysis of the National Curriculum Frameworks of Five Countries : Brazil, Cambodia, Finland, Kenya and Peru

Abstract

Within the SDG4-Education 2030, the IBE-UNESCO sees curriculum as a key component for building robust education systems. The curriculum leads all core aspects of education that are known to determine quality, inclusion and relevance, such as content, learning, teaching, assessment and teaching and learning environments among others. It is through the curriculum that we can understand the goals, the social imaginary and the aspirations that a country wants to achieve. In this sense, the curriculum is the foundation for an effective education system that ensures quality learning for all learners and the preparation of active glo-local citizens. Flexibility is the key for the curriculum to be effectively implemented throughout the education system and a well-designed curriculum framework serves this purpose. Based on the idea that education reforms that have achieved positive outcomes are grounded in solid curriculum proposals, this report proposes an in-depth comparative analysis of the curriculum frameworks of five countries, namely, Brazil, Cambodia, Finland, Kenya and Peru. This exercise was carried out to understand the extent to which countries present and discuss the scope of their education systems, new pedagogical approaches as well as teaching and learning methodologies and assessment techniques, among others. The results of this document has allowed to have a clearer picture of the implications that a curriculum framework has for countries that are or have recently undergone an education reform as well as to understand what are the current education trends in terms of curriculum reform that are happening worldwide.