National Consultant - Finalisation of Teacher Education Curriculum Materials

I. Background:

UNESCO, in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MoE), is working to strengthen pre-service teacher education in Myanmar through reform measures outlined in the National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) 2016-21. The project “Strengthening pre-service Teacher Education in Myanmar (STEM)” addresses four fundamentally important aspects of pre-service teacher education. These include:

· formulating a policy framework of pre-service teacher education and identifying standards for quality assurance,

· improving a system of pre-service teacher training institutions - Education Colleges (ECs) by designing the new four-year degree programme of pre-service teacher education and creating good networks to accumulate and share knowledge and experiences of all ECs,

· developing institutional/management and human resource capacities of ECs, and

· mainstreaming inclusion and equity issues in teacher education.

Under the project, UNESCO is supporting the MoE to produce syllabi, student teacher textbooks (TBs) and teacher educator guides (TGs) for the new four-year EC programme, to be implemented in 25 ECs across all states and regions in Myanmar. The first and second years are considered to be foundation years, focusing on preparing student teachers to acquire basic knowledge and develop skills to teach primary and middle schools respectively while the third and fourth years provide primary and middle school specialisation tracks for student teachers to choose to get more in-depth knowledge and experience in teaching students of the particular schooling levels. The curriculum of the four-year EC degree is to train primary and middle school teachers for Myanmar basic education schools and needs to align with the new basic education curriculum, which is being implemented gradually in Myanmar[1].

According to the EC Curriculum Framework, the four-year EC programme will follow a competency-based approach. The focus is not just on subject content but also on the skills and attitudes needed to effectively apply knowledge, skills and values in teaching and learning situations, with specific grade-levels.

The four-year EC programme is also designed as a spiral curriculum. Throughout the four years, student teachers return to familiar concepts, each time deepening their knowledge and understanding. The programme is divided into two cycles. The first cycle (Year 1 and Year 2) is repeated at a deeper level in the second cycle (Year 3 and Year 4) to enable student teachers to return to the ideas learnt from the first cycle, experiment with them, and use a wider range of practices in the classroom. Year 1 and Year 2 are regarded as foundation years for student teachers. Year 1 focuses on giving introduction to primary school curriculum and the related strategies to teach while Year 2 focuses on giving introduction to secondary school curriculum and the related strategies to teach.

In line with this process, UNESCO supports the MoE and its Curriculum Core Team (CCT)[2] in developing EC curriculum and related materials of 11 subjects and four learning areas[3]. The development of Year 2 syllabi, TBs and TGs commenced in early July 2019, with support from the MoE, CCT, UNESCO and other stakeholders. The subjects of the Year 2 EC curriculum are as follows: Educational Studies, Practicum, Reflective Practice and Essential Skills, Myanmar, English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies (History and Geography), Physical Education, Life Skills, Art (Performing Arts and Visual Arts), Morality and Civics, Local Curriculum, and ICT (Information and Communication Technology).

The Individual Specialist is sought to support the finalisation of Year 2 Teacher EC materials for the assigned 4 to 5 subjects (e.g. Mathematics, Science, Myanmar and Life Skills) to ensure quality assurance on the TBs and TGs in both English and Myanmar languages.

II. Work Assignment:

The Individual Specialist will perform the tasks under the overall authority of the Director of UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, the direct supervision of Head of Project Office in Myanmar, the day-to-day guidance of the Senior Education Project Officer and in close collaboration with the STEM project team. The Individual Specialist will be responsible for the effective coordination of the reviewing, translation, copy-editing and proofreading process of 4 to 5 subjects (as mentioned above) and learning areas of syllabi, TBs and TGs, involving various translators, copy-editors, proofreaders and layout designers. The Individual Specialist’s responsibilities include, but not limited to the following:

1. Supporting UNESCO in reviewing draft TBs and TGs to ensure that styles are adhered to across subjects and that feedback received from various stakeholders is incorporated by the curriculum authors;

2. Reviewing if the relevant documents submitted by curriculum authors about art works, such as illustrations, infographics and photographs, and teaching and learning resources follow the UNESCO style guides and requirements and returning the documents with instructions for revisions to curriculum authors if needed;

3. Ensuring the quality assurance of English version TBs and TGs received from the curriculum authors, by reviewing the documents and cross checking them with the UNESCO style guides and the respective documents with previous comments received from various stakeholders;

4. Compiling the subject-specific and across-subject terminology translation input provided by UNESCO and curriculum core team (CCT), and providing necessary documents such as the English version syllabi, TBs and TGs, UNESCO style guides and terminology translation to the translators and copy-editors to ensure the coherence in the final products;

5. Supporting the coordination with curriculum reviewers to review TBs and TGs on the technical content of the subjects and with copyeditors and translators on making sure that the TBs and TGs meet the requirements of UNESCO style guides, are up to standard and are of good quality;

6. Communicating directly with the curriculum authors, reviewers, copyeditors, translators, proofreaders and layout designers on a regular basis, and ensuring that they are submitting the work according to the agreed timeline by closely following up with them. In case of issues such as missing the submission deadlines or work with unsatisfactory quality by the curriculum authors, reviewers, copyeditors, translators, proofreaders and layout designers, reporting to UNESCO immediately to consider how the issues can be addressed;

7. Keeping track of the number of pages of work performed by curriculum authors, reviewers, copyeditors, translators, proofreaders and layout designers and reporting this information to UNESCO on a regular basis;

8. Reviewing the translated and copy-edited Myanmar version TBs and TGs for quality assurance and making sure that they meet the requirements of UNESCO style guides, are up to standard and are of good quality;

9. Proofreading the close-to-finalised draft English and Myanmar version TBs and TGs with layout design applied, and providing UNESCO with comments for final revisions;

10. Applying final check of the finalised English and Myanmar version TBs and TGs so that they are ready for bulk printing;

11. Keeping an up-to-date, daily record of the work online and making it available for UNESCO to oversee the progress; and

12. Organizing all documents, including but not limited to the deliverables by the curriculum authors, reviewers, copyeditors, translators, proofreaders and layout designers and the deliverables checked by the individual specialist to ensure quality, in a systematic way and making them available for the UNESCO team’s use.

III. Deliverables and Timeline:

All deliverables are submitted in English (except the deliverables for the Myanmar language subject), and in editable format (such as MS-Word and MS-Excel format).

1. Monthly progress reports on the achievements and challenges encountered in delivering the outputs related to the work assignment by the end of each month between May and July 2020; and

2. A final report summarising the activities carried out, achievements, challenges and lessons learnt over the contract period by 31 August 2020.

IV. Location and travel:

The Individual Specialist will be based in UNESCO Myanmar Project Office in Yangon (or telework from home due to Covid-19) during the contract period. No travel outside Yangon is anticipated.

V. Fees:

· Middle-level national consultant; and

· The lump sum is established on the basis of a daily or monthly rate based on UNESCO rules and regulations on Level of Assignment and Remuneration and depending on qualifications.

VI. Qualifications:

Education:

A university degree (bachelor's degree or equivalent) in Education, Social Sciences, Mathematics or related field.

Work experience:

Based on UNESCO rules and regulations, at least 5 years relevant professional experience, preferably in the field of education. Experience in teacher education is desirable.

Desirable skills and competencies:

· Excellent knowledge and skills in English language and Myanmar language (read, spoken and

written);

· Proficiency in Microsoft Office package as well as in typing English and Myanmar (Unicode and Zawgyi) languages on computers;

· High sense of responsibility and willingness to take initiatives;

· Work independently on delegated tasks and collaboratively in a multi-cultural environment;

· Ability to work within a team as well as cross-team;

· Ability to meet deadlines;

· Able to handle tense situations and conflicting priorities; and

· Excellent communication skills.

How to apply:

Interested applicants are invited to apply to the UNESCO Myanmar Project Office with:

a) A one-page cover letter (in English), clearly referencing “National Consultant – Finalisation of Teacher Education Curriculum Materials”, indicating how your qualifications and work experience make you suitable for the position;

b) An up‐to‐date CV with contact details including telephone numbers and email address;

c) The contact details of three referees; and

d) A writing sample.

UNESCO places great emphasis on ensuring that the objectives of the work assignment, as described in the Terms of Reference, are met. Accordingly, in evaluating the proposals for the assignment, attention will focus first and foremost on the technical elements. From those proposals deemed suitable in terms of the criteria in the Terms of Reference, UNESCO shall select the proposal that offers the Organisation best value for money.

The application should be submitted by e‐mail to yangon@unesco.org no later than 17:00 Hours (Yangon time) on 11 May 2020. Please note that the size of the email should not exceed 8MB. For large files, please use file‐sharing options like Dropbox or Google Drive.

*Only short‐listed candidates will be contacted.