New Normal Curriculum Instructional Guides
The New Normal Curriculum (NNC) is not just a mere response to the pandemic but a culmination of the curriculum reform work for the last four years by the Royal Education Council. It is an attempt to transform education from the teaching of “what” to learning of “how” and “why” towards empowering learners with the transversal competencies and the 21st century skills to facilitate deep learning and preparing them to be lifelong learners. The change may be also perceived as a paradigm shift from the academic knowledge-based “factory model” of education to a “humanism model”, which emphasizes the discovery of individual’s inner values, draw out the innate potentials and master them. It is also to empower learners with the intellectual, social, behavioural and digital competencies towards nurturing nationally rooted and globally competent citizens.
The NNC is grounded on the principles and practices of Competency Based Education vital in fostering resilient capabilities in learners. The competency-based approach driven by digital technologies lends greater opportunities for experiential learning contextualized to the learner’s physical, social, political, economic, spiritual and cultural setting. In essence, the NNC is to inspire youths as socially and morally responsible, and enterprising and productive with rigour to compete and succeed at the national and international levels.
The New Normal Curriculum Instructional Guide (NNC IG) is the means to translate the transformation of textbook knowledge based to process, competency based and experiential learning. It is imperative that teachers change their roles of knowledge transmitter to that of facilitators, guides, evaluators, researcher, and motivators. The NNC IG adopts blended learning and flip classroom methods of learning to facilitate learning anytime anywhere, cognizant of learner’s individual learning differences and situation.
The guides are available under the Instructional Guides section on our website.
Dzongkha
If NNC is ‘not just a mare response to the pandemic’ but a reformed curriculum which will be implemented henceforth, I am NOT comfortable with the title, New Normal’. After years and decades, we will be still associating our education system with the pandemic.
Why not just ‘New curriculum’?
Teachers yet to understand NNC 2021
Yangchen C Rinzin
Today is the third day after schools reopened but teachers are unsure as to how and what they should teach.
Teachers have been asked to adopt new normal curriculum for Classes PP-XII from 2021 academic session.
Many teachers were shocked when they learned about the New Normal Curriculum (NNC) 2021. Others are confused about what to make of the new curriculum.
Although many support the idea of a new normal curriculum, teachers say that the approach is not appropriate. Teachers, they argue, were not consulted for the development of the curriculum.
While a few teachers were involved in developing the curriculum for different subjects, many questioned selection of teachers who were involved in the development of NNC 2021.
“I feel that our curriculums are moving at the whims and fancies of our curriculum developers,” a teacher from Zhemgang said. “Teachers will find it challenging unless they are thoroughly oriented and the objectives of the curriculum are clearly communicated.”
The NNC, according to the Royal Education Council, is aimed at going beyond textbook, using websites and reference books for conceptual knowledge and information and for the intellectual, physical and emotional engagement of learners.
The department of education said that the framework for NNC for each subject was available on its website. It also mentioned that NNC is an attempt to direct education to competency-based learning.
The department has directed schools to begin teaching and learning using the draft copies of the framework document. Hard copies would be delivered to remote schools. Soft copies of the framework for Classes IX-XII will be delivered by March.
The framework would inform the design, content, pedagogical approaches, and assessment system of the NNC instruction guide for all subjects.
A teacher from Wangdue said that many schools did not have adequate resources to pull through and teachers were not ready without enough ICT rooms or facilities.
“We already have many issues with the internet, which was vivid last year when conducting online education,” a teacher from Trashigang said. “We’re worried as to whether we would be able to handle the curriculum appropriately.”
Many teachers say that while a change is needed, such drastic change could only invite problems. They recommend proper consultation and review before implementing the curriculum.
“Both adapted and priority curriculum were developed in an emergency, which we can understand, and we had to deliver. They do everything and decide to plonk in everything for teachers to implement. When it fails, teachers are blamed,” a teacher from Punakha said.
A teacher from a private school in Thimphu said that it was not clear whether the NNC had contents that would address the Royal concern on education quality.
Some teachers said that many schools faced problems related to class size and student number. In the public schools especially it is difficult to manage more than 30 students even with the prescribed curriculum, they say.
“It’ll be difficult to deal with NNC that will require personal guidance for each student,” a teacher from Chukha said. “Going textbook-less is a good decision, but we must first have resources and infrastructure to support the change”
The education ministry is preparing to train trainers to orient teachers on the NNC instructional guide.
Sir/madam
Bit confused with grade XI economics,we discovered there is a mismatch between the NNC framework and NNC instructional guidelines regarding topics.
can any specialists drop me a number of sir sangay tshering ( english department)
la
sir/madam,
is there new normal textbook la.
sir/madam,
Is the Bhutan History and Civics &
Citizenship Education, class VIII, 2021 (draft) uploaded.
Sir/madam,
Are we going to get the Instructional guides for classes ix and x?
sir,
Can you please mail me the NNC Guide for class viii English. I am not able to download from REC web page la. My mail address is ambikahomagai@education.gov.bt.
Thank you
Ambika
Teacher
Sir/Madam,
This is to clarify that are we going to receive a hard copy of NNC for each grade or an individual school required to print it. Especially small school like our is having problem resources like printing facility, computer so on.Please welcome clarification la
Hi