Teaching and Learning: Concerning Observational Research on School Subjects

Conducted by the National Institute for Public Education

By Zoltán Kerber

Research Goals

The Centre for Program and Curriculum Development at the National Institute for Public Education (OKI) launched its research on the current situation of school subjects in the spring of 2001. The project aimed to examine 16 separate subjects taught in the Hungarian educational system (primarily for students in the 10-14 age group) in order to determine how these had been affected as a result of modernisation and content regulation taking place during the 1990s, and also to identify areas in need of further development. One reason that our observation focused mainly on individual subjects was that central efforts to modernise Hungarian public education over the previous decade have mostly occurred on the level of curricular regulation. There have been numerous development initiatives related to school subjects, but these have not had a general influence on all schools to the extent that national curricula have. The National Core Curriculum (NAT) attempted to loosen the traditional structure by designating broader areas of knowledge, and also prescribed the ratio of each subject within the structure, but this did little to change the traditional system, while the subsequent Framework Curriculum once again reinforced the position of individual subjects, in essence preserving the old system. In reality, the goal of subject observation is to provide an overview for the analysis and assessment of recent problems as well as to give educators and professionals dealing with education policy suggestions regarding subject development. The resulting data may act as a continuous source of useful background knowledge in the course of improving content.

In the spring of 2002, we conducted a survey among 2,185 educators working on the upper levels of primary school, the results of which were used as a comparative supplement to the already completed individual studies. Elements stressed in the questionnaire included the following: textbooks, teaching aids, questions of methodology, ICT, harmony between subjects, post-graduate training, attempts at subject integration, cross-curricular references, and the issue of applicable knowledge. The questionnaire consisted of two parts: a common section related to all areas of training (with the exception of separate lessons held by class supervisors and subject modules) and a section containing questions that could only be interpreted in connection with specific school subjects. Analytical studies concerning each subject are posted on the OKI home page.

This text comprises a final summarisation of the studies that came about as a result of the subject observations completed in 2002 as well as an analysis of the data compiled from the primary school surveys conducted in the same year. One year later, it can be said that the authors were accurate in their view of problems related to individual school subjects, and the survey only served to confirm their diagnoses.

Structure

Research consultants responsible for analysing each school subject conducted their work according to a uniform set of guidelines. The following is a list of main themes emphasised in the course of observational research and also outlines the structure of the resulting analytical studies:

1. The situation of the given subject in the process of modernisation

• Changes in content and methodology in light of content regulation during the 1990s (NAT to Framework Curriculum)
• What changes in approach have come about as a result of the Framework Curriculum?
• What further changes and development are necessary in the area of curricular regulation?
• What developments has the given subject gone through in recent years?

2. What challenges does the subject currently face?

• Content
• Structure
• Teaching approach and issues of methodology
• Adaptation of new subject-specific content
• Innovation
• Motivational factors (current standing and level of importance)
• Role of the subject in learning career (continued education, mechanisms for selection)
• Professional issues and infrastructure
• Disadvantaged students; socio-cultural issues in connection with the subject

3. The situation of textbooks and teaching aids

• A brief overview of textbooks and teaching aids in connection with the subject
• Analysis of data on the textbook market

4. Harmony between subjects

• To what extent is there harmony between related subjects?
• Examining cross-curricular aspects
• How does the study of native language, mathematics and IT serve the needs of “user-oriented” subjects?
• Attempts at integration

5. International comparison

• International teaching trends (mainly European) in connection with the given subject
• As compared to the situation in Hungary

6. Issues related to assessment and requirements

• Regarding the focal points of the given subject, what pre-assumptions are contained in the assessment system and the expectations of higher education?
• What elements are more important and less important in the process of assessment – how do these affect the given subject?

7. Common aspects

• Transmission of applicable knowledge – the requirements of life-long learning (the needs of client groups)
• The situation of skills-development and opportunities for improvement
• Theoretical knowledge vs. practical orientation

8. What developments are necessary in the coming years?

• Based on observational research, what areas are problematic and what sort of improvement is needed?
• Action plan

Our consultants contacted experts in the field and also reviewed professional literature recently published in connection with the given subject. Although the studies written in light of this research cannot be regarded as independent of the professional opinion and personal conviction of the authors themselves, the uniform structure of each study nevertheless ensured a common basis for comparison. We strongly wished to avoid examining each subject only from an isolated perspective (having already experienced the damaging influence of various subject lobbies during the time that both the NAT system and the Framework Curriculum were being prepared). Consequently, our efforts also concentrated on pinpointing problems common to all school subjects as well as identifying points of integration between them. After all, the division of subjects is in fact a “necessary evil” – a solution that for reasons of content is justified primarily because of the function it performs in educational administration. At the beginning of the 21^st century, it has become increasingly difficult to find elements of knowledge that do not overlap on some “>

Thematic points of intersection – common problems

The observational studies shed light on difficulties in several main areas, which reinforced our assumption that despite central curricular regulation intended to enhance modernisation, problems related to the teaching of school subjects have remained the same for many years. This also indicates that if efforts to modernise content continue to take place on a curricular level (more specifically, if curricula are constantly altered in accordance with changes in government), then we cannot hope to achieve genuine change in the way subjects are taught in Hungarian public education. Problems defined in each observational study appear in conjunction with the following major themes:

Contradictions in curricular regulation

One of the most significant common elements in all of the studies concerning the current situation of school subjects was the level of uncertainty surrounding curricular regulation, including numerous problems in connection with both the NAT system and the Framework Curriculum:

• Attempts at modernisation should also be carried out within the internal system of each subject i.e. curriculum, textbook, teacher training/post-graduate training.
• There is no time to draw conclusions about the experiences of even one particular system.
• Problems in connection with the reduced lesson framework – educators have difficulty accepting reductions in the amount of lesson time they can devote to teaching their area of specialisation (in theory, they agree with the intent to reduce the volume of teaching material, but only if this does not affect their own subject).
• Problems related to the restructuring of teaching material; it has become almost impossible to keep track of what is being taught in each grade and according to which curriculum.
• Some subjects have experienced a loss in prestige (especially in the case of natural science).
• Final exam regulation vs. curricular requirements: which one regulates the other?
• The significance/insignificance of curricular regulation; the effect of curricula in daily practice.

The demand for new approaches to teaching subjects

Major changes taking place over the last 15 years have fundamentally altered our daily lives, and these changes should also be influencing the structure, content and methods of education. What we teach today should be different from what we taught two decades ago – and we should also be teaching it differently. Our level of adaptation to the current circumstances is unsatisfactory, not only from the standpoint of educational policy and central regulation, but also in terms of teaching practice. Various surveys (e.g. PISA 2000 and the MONITOR surveys conducted in Hungary) have warned us that one of the major tasks of public education is to teach applicable knowledge and skills – it should not be different mechanisms for selection that determine what we teach, where and how – but as long as the assessment mechanisms of Hungarian public education regulate on the basis of a top to bottom approach, it will be impossible to achieve this task. In addition, Hungary will soon be a member of the European Union, and although we have also gained membership in a growing number of international organisations (e.g. CIDREE) and are participating in various international surveys, our teaching practice reflects that we have yet to place an appropriate emphasis on becoming acquainted with international trends in education. There are a host of noteworthy things occurring all over the world in connection with subject structure, curricula, textbooks and teaching methodology, but with a few refreshing exceptions, we hardly pay attention to these developments. The main problems in this territory are as follows:

• It is difficult to get rid of old routines that we have been using for decades.
• The ratio of skills development is still low compared to that of knowledge-centred teaching.
• Scientific-theoretical orientation is still the determining factor; the practical application of knowledge is not yet a priority.
• The role of educators has changed: teachers are no longer the main source of information.
• The emphasis is still on teaching as opposed to learning: flexibility, analytical skills, learning to learn, creative thinking and group work are elements that do not yet appear in practice on a general basis.
• There is a lack of harmony between subjects and subject content.
• Problems remain in connection with integrating modern content (media, social studies, dance and drama etc.)
• Lobbying for subjects is inflexible.
• Knowledge of teaching practice abroad is lacking and adaptation only takes place on a sporadic basis.

The improvement of methodological culture

General experience shows that the methodological approach used by teachers has remained behind in terms of meeting the requirements dictated by the changes of the last decade. Neither teacher training, nor post-graduate education provide an adequate basis for teachers to renew their methods, and in several studies, the authors indicate a need to establish a kind of centre for methodological development. Improving methodological culture would involve nothing less than reconsidering the entire system of post-graduate education as well as methodological instruction and practice lessons conducted in the course of teacher training. Major problems include the following:

• Explanation by the teacher and a frontal approach are the dominant forms of classroom activity; knowledge of differentiated learning arrangements is lacking.
• Educators have difficulty choosing up-to-date textbooks and teaching aids because this forces them to do extra work – they would rather stick to “tried and true” methods.
• There is no compulsory post-graduate training in methodology.
• Teacher training does not transmit up-to-date methodological culture effectively.
• Teachers in training rarely meet with children.
• The system of practice schools and lessons must be reconsidered.
• There are excellent practicing teachers and innovative ideas do exist on an isolated basis, but this will not change the entire system.
• Educators lack knowledge of how to apply information technology.
• “Chalkboard pedagogy” dominates in the classroom.

The situation of teachers

From a professional standpoint, educators felt they had been left to fend for themselves in recent years. An infinite variety of reforms were launched in the area of content regulation during previous decade, but teachers often sensed that everything was taking place over their heads – sometimes too much was expected of them and sometimes too little. Moreover, the general concept has changed every four years; whenever a given system was accepted and teachers tried to adapt to the given requirements, political changes usually gave birth to a new central concept. The 1990s was a decade of interrupted reforms and implementations, and this made possible an absurd situation in which the 1978 curriculum, the NAT system and the Framework Curriculum could exist side by side within a single school. In the meantime, “free competition” on the expanding textbook market had its own effect on this set of critical circumstances, and not always in the service of better quality. We have only a vague picture of what is happening at the teachers’ level, even though this is one of the most decisive elements of education. Problems that appeared in the observational studies are:

• Uncertainties in the work of educators
• Heterogeneous faculties – tension between ambitious and indifferent colleagues
• The issue of improving and checking the work of teachers: problems with regards to the quality of professional advice and the lack of professional supervision
• Communication between teachers is not intensive enough; there is a need to visit each other’s lessons.
• Educators need assistance in their work, especially concerning methodological issues.
• There is tremendous lack of teaching aids at the school level
• Existential problems

The situation of schools and subjects that require special equipment

Poor financial circumstances and deteriorated condition in schools are a general problem. In many cases, even the most basic equipment is lacking, and unfortunately, this does not only mean computers (multimedia tools, projectors etc.), but also tools of experimentation and general supplies (the physical condition of school buildings is a separate problem in itself – but our research did not concern this). In addition to such equipment, other teaching aids that could foster effective work in the classroom are also missing. The 2002 survey yielded extremely interesting results in this area.

Coordinating subject development – What needs to be done?

In the final section of each observational study, the authors attempted to summarise tasks that need to be carried out in order to modernise teaching in the given subjects. Naturally, experts on each of the 16 areas of training examined in the studies (including subject modules, which in themselves comprise several areas of learning) often indicated a diverse range of development needs. There are, however, a few general issues that are mentioned in all cases:

• Under ideal circumstances, development in each subject should take place simultaneously; it cannot be done separately.
• It is imperative that educators regularly take part in methodological training.
• There is a need to establish centres for methodological training, with central development as a basis for broadening the services offered.
• The system of tenders needs to be reconsidered i.e. the ratio of individual initiatives vs. that of central development.
• Public critique of textbooks and teaching aids; re-assessment of existing materials
• Organising appropriate forums to ensure the effective exchange of personal experience among teachers (and also with regard to different subjects!)
• Strengthening professional consultation
• Broadening the scope of performance testing
• Strengthening skills development
• Organising regular professional conferences for educators
• Incorporating new scientific content in teaching
• Clarifying the system of assessment
• Renewal in teacher training
• Broadening the scope of practice teaching – teachers in training should not be exposed only to elite students
• Utilising the relationship between subjects; strengthening cross-curricular themes
• Tracking and adapting international trends in education
• Pinpointing the kinds of knowledge and competencies necessary for employment
• Strengthening practical orientation

Connections between subjects; cross-curricular elements¹

Altering the subject structure is difficult because of many internal and external factors; after all, the entire structure must be transformed if we attempt any kind of change. One of the main lessons to be learned from our observational research is that the connections between individual subjects have yet to be taken advantage of in Hungarian public education. On the doorstep of the 21^st century, almost every kind of important knowledge and competency should be geared toward searching for such connections – life does not function according to individual subjects, but rather in keeping with a complex “inter-relationship of subject matter”. At present, we can best enhance common relationships by examining cross-curricular elements.

In Hungary, changes in content and efforts to modernise public education during the 1990s also determined the place of cross-curricular elements in content regulation. The National Core Curriculum indicated a set of common requirements to be included as part of the modern knowledge integral to education in schools. In this context, it was these elements that actually comprised cross-curricular themes. The curriculum defined the following areas: native studies, connections with Europe and the world, environmental education, communications culture, physical and mental health, learning, career orientation. It is worth noting that only one among these themes searches for connections with the past; all of the others are oriented towards the present and define issues pertinent to everyday life. The Hungarian subject structure and much of its content, however, are in many cases designed to conserve some sort of obsolete, 19^th century principle of scientific classification.

Framework curricula contained no separate regulation of cross-curricular themes. Some elements appeared as new areas of knowledge prescribed for specific subjects and presented in the form of so-called subject modules. Training for a healthy life was designated as the task of class supervisors while career orientation was emphasised in the case of vocational schools and specialised secondary schools; the original NAT text remained decisive with regards to other cross-curricular elements. The NAT 2003 system in large measure adapted the requirements of the 1995 version and supplemented these with one new element: self-identity.

In OECD countries, cross-curricular elements (CCC) are defined in terms of general competencies that are to be addressed in the course of teaching all subjects.² In so far as new concepts in content regulation move in the direction of a competency-oriented NAT system, the same will have to done with framework curricula. The following conditions must be met for cross-curricular requirements to appear in local curricula:

1. They must appear directly in the teaching material and among development requirements prescribed at the local level.
2. Their incorporation in the content of the given subject must have professional credibility.
3. They should be balanced proportionally throughout the entire subject program of the given school.
4. Cross-curricular content must be coordinated at the local level by school faculties.
5. Local curricula must clearly stipulate how cross-curricular requirements are to be realised.

Obviously, different subjects will not handle all common requirements with the same level of intensity. Content in some areas of study is more closely related to certain cross-curricular themes, and naturally these subjects will deal with such themes on a broader scale while others will not touch upon them in great detail. We are planning to conduct research in connection with cross-curricular applications within the next few years.

We must step beyond the limited interests of a given subject!

Only a few of the results gleaned from our research have been summarised here (the detailed studies mention numerous other aspects specific to individual subjects). The most important lesson to be learned is that although innumerable efforts have been made over the last 15 years to facilitate modernisation in Hungarian education (curricular regulation, various innovations and different tender systems), very little has changed in the area of everyday teaching practice in terms of achieving a variety of methodologies and differentiated learning. Subject specialists and professionals in the field of public education still have a great deal to accomplish in the way of tracking and adopting international trends, realising strategies for the transfer of applicable knowledge, and strengthening cross-curricular ties. As long as the public education system continues to reinforce the current structural division of school subjects (as in the case of framework curricula) and tolerates the present isolation of individual areas of study, we cannot hope for essential change. A primary role of research in this situation is to shed light on these issues and create a foundation of background knowledge for further development. While our observational research dealt with the current situation of school subjects, professionals taking part in the project agree that results can only be achieved if development affects the entire subject system, along with all of the related consequences. After a decade of developing curricula, it is now time for Hungary to launch a decade of coordinated program development and the renewal of teacher training.