Curriculum And Syllabus.

Curriculum and syllabus refer to different features of the learning environment:

Curriculum:
A curriculum is a broad term that encompasses the entire educational program of an institution, school, or even a specific education system. It refers to the overall structure of planned learning experiences and intended learning outcomes within an educational institution or programme. A curriculum includes various elements, such as educational goals, learning objectives, teaching methods, assessment strategies, and often guidelines for individual courses. Therefore a curriculum is a very comprehensive term referring to the entire educational program, including multiple courses, their interconnections, and the overall educational goals of an institution or system.

In Wales four general purposes of a school’s national curriculum are the starting points and aspirations for schools to design their own curriculum. The four goals are to support students to become:

ambitious, capable learners, ready to learn throughout their lives;

enterprising, creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work;

ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world;

healthy, confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.

Syllabus:
A syllabus is a document specific to a particular course in the curriculum, outlining the content and themes for that course. It is a detailed outline of a specific course and typically includes information such as the topics or units to be covered, a schedule of classes, reading materials, assignments, assessments, grading criteria, and sometimes, the learning objectives. In essence, a syllabus provides a roadmap for students and instructors, outlining what will be taught in a particular course. It is specific to a single class and provides a detailed view of the course content and requirements.

A national curriculum for schools is set out in the Welsh Government’s document entitled ‘A Common Understanding’, where ‘Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship’ (ESDGC) is a syllabus to give learners, at all stages of education, an understanding of the impact of their choices as consumers on other people, the economy and the environment. In this context, ESDGC defines Wales’ Syllabus Of Radical Hope, where every school has the opportunity to design and implement their own body of knowledge about living sustainably within the educational framework of ‘circularity’.

Circularity, or the circular economy, is an economic model that follows the three Rs of consumerism: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. It means that products are created, each with its own end-of-life taken into account. In a circular economy, once the user is finished with the product, its material goes back into the supply chain instead of the landfill or the incinerator.

This Common Understanding has been developed from the experiences of Welsh teachers and practitioners who were already involved in addressing seven themes of Wales as an economic island, which, in terms of its carbon footprint, is living beyond its planetary limits.

Unlike a standard jigsaw the themes can be put together in a variety of ways within the circularity syllabus. Therefore, the starting points of individual students may be different, but in time a student’s picture of circularity will contain all the themes of ESDGC, as a personal body of knowledge, and these will be interrelated and interdependent.

Towards a syllabus of radical hope

Circularity in the context of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) refers to the promotion of a circular economy within these unique and often vulnerable environments. Circular economies focus on minimizing waste, reusing and recycling materials, and promoting sustainable consumption patterns. This approach is particularly relevant for SIDS due to their limited resources, susceptibility to climate change, and vulnerability to environmental degradation. In this connection Wales as a devolved administration of the UK may be regarded as modeling a SID. This is because its Well-being of Future Generations Act requires public bodies in Wales to think about the long-term impact of their decisions, to work better with people, communities and each other, and to prevent persistent problems such as poverty, health inequalities and climate change. The Act is unique to Wales, attracting interest from countries across the world as it offers a huge opportunity to make a long-lasting, framework change to current and future generations. In particular, Wales has a new education system which complements the Act by allowing students to compose their own curriculum within the educational framework of circularity and a syllabus of radical hope. This means they can become grassroots players in the development of their small island.

SIDS and LIDS: Sociological Islands

The common element of the governance systems of small and large island developing states (SIDS and LIDS) operate within collections of similar sized communities that are arrangements of social goods and living beings at specific places. Thus, space and place are associated in governance. Spacing is an act of synthesis described as the positioning of human beings, social goods, and cultural signs for the purpose of forming spatial sociological arrangements. Space is therefore a set of sociological islands, with or without being bounded by water.

Sociological Islands are an outcome of the interplay of human action at a community level, where the relatively small size of the grassroots component can benefit from local actions. These initiatives are directly connected to the local environmental issues and the people living in need. These grassroots groups are the first responders of SIDS and LIDS to an environmental crisis and critical witnesses to which solutions are a better fit to the local context.

This act of community synthesis describes the ability of people to perceive, imagine, and remember the spatial placing of human beings and social goods around them as being coherent and reliable. The reproduction of sociological islands occurs through repetition in everyday routine and they are held together by cultural notions of class and gender. People no longer experience space as being all enveloping, but rather they are socialized in space islands that can be linked to multi level top down governance in various ways.

According to the perceived criteria of good leadership, a multi-level leadership system, strongly recognising and empowering grassroots leaders, was developed within the Vanuatu-Networked Governance System. This example of multi-level leadership is mainly enabled by the set of networks bridging across levels. More particularly, to remain effective, grassroots leadership needs to evolve within a flexible, non-binding and informal system in order to prevent the politicisation and fear of commitment of potential grassroots leaders. The set of networks, and their role as flexible venues to link grassroots leaders with authorities, is the main asset for SIDS and LIDS to build an effective governance system. It allows the different groups of grassroots leaders across the different communities to have access to all resources and knowledge developed by international, regional, national and local stakeholders often involved in SIDS and LIDS development, without binding engagement.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305572705_Grassroots_Leadershi…

While the combined forest cover of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is insignificant in global terms, forests and trees on these islands are extremely important for the wellbeing of the inhabitants. For most of the larger islands, forests also contribute significantly to the national economy and to international trade in wood and non-wood forest products.

In addition, forest resources on several islands are of global importance in terms of their role in the conservation of biological diversity, in particular endemic species and genetic variability. As a group, SIDS are well endowed with forests but the extent of forest cover varies greatly among island states.

Despite variations in size, location, population density and climatic, geological and topographic conditions, these states share many characteristics which impose particular constraints, but also some which offer unique opportunities, for the sustainable management of their forests and trees.

Indigenous peoples

Many SIDS and other small islands within larger states are populated by indigenous peoples who have been traditional stewards of their biological and cultural diversity, and the various ecosystems found in their lands and waters. When these lands and resources disappear; or are gravely altered due to these disasters and climate change crisis, the local populations suffer the first and the worst impacts; and their survival is at stake.

While the combined forest cover of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is insignificant in global terms, forests and trees on these slands are extremely important for the wellbeing of the inhabitants. For most of the larger islands, forests also contribute significantlyto the national economy and to international trade in wood and non-wood forest products. In addition, forest resources on several islands are of global importance in terms of their role in the conservation of biological diversity, in particular endemic species angenetic variability. As a group, SIDS are well endowed with forests but the extent of forest cover varies greatly among island states.

Despite variations in size, location, population density and climatic, geological and topographic conditions, these states share many characteristics which impose particular constraints, but also some which offer unique opportunities, for the sustainable management of their forests and trees.

International Community Understandings (ICU)
https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/fp/fp_sepoct02_ank01.html

“We are supported by the collective will of the world,” declared U.S.President George W. Bush as he launched the war against Afghanistan’s Taliban regime in October 2001. For many people, that collective will has a name: the “international community.” This feel-good phrase evokes a benevolent, omniscient entity that makes decisions and takes action for the benefit of all countries and peoples. But invoking the international community is a lot easier than defining it.

“When governments, urged by civil society, work together to realize the long-held dream of an International Criminal Court for the prosecution of genocide and the most heinous crimes against humanity, that is the international community at work for the rule of law.

When an outpouring of international aid flows to victims of earthquakes and other disasters, that is the international community following its humanitarian impulse.

When rich countries pledge to open more of their markets to poor-country goods and decide to reverse the decade-long decline in official development assistance, that is the international community throwing its weight behind the cause of development.

When countries contribute troops to police cease-fire lines or to provide security in states that have collapsed or succumbed to civil war, that is the international community at work for collective security” Kofi A. Annan

The collective will of the world is already part of many lines of work within UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, that impact on SIDS, such as activities to tackle fossil fuel and fisheries subsidies. Although tourism dominates their economies, SIDS are part of a world where most trade happens in parts and components moving within highly globalized value chains. Then the international community looks at per-capita income, and says, ‘These guys are rich, and they live in paradise. Why should we give development assistance to them?

But it’s not all paradise in the SIDS. Economic and environmental vulnerability are universal across the board—even the richer SIDS could be wiped out by a single natural disaster. In this context, the international community puts an inordinate weight on income when it should be emphasizing environmental vulnerability as it debates whether island nations are worthy of preferential treatment.

“International community” is a dangerous reference point for the naive. Its connotation of sociability and commitment invites unwise reliance by those who must ultimately fend for themselves. Its diffusion of responsibility excuses countries that have no intention of lending a hand. The concept amounts to a moral hazard, inspiring imprudent behavior by leaders who expect that someone else will pull their fat out of the fire. Ruth Wedgwood

Designing Communities for Survival

Design thinking brings together what is desirable from a human point of view with what is technologically feasible and economically viable. It allows those who aren't trained as designers to use creative techniques, methods, and mindsets to address a vast range of SIDS challenges. These start with desirability: what makes sense to people and for people? Then there is feasibility: what is technically possible within the foreseeable future. Finally, there is viability: what is likely to become part of a sustainable community model?

Design thinking as a process begins with understanding the right questions, which is largely a matter of leadership, and taking action by embracing simple mindset shifts and tackling problems from a new direction.

Design thinking about the goals of small island developing states are to: improve human health and social development through food security and nutrition; improve water and sanitation; reduce the incidence of non-communicable disease; and promote gender equality and women's empowerment.

Partnership among SIDS, UN Agencies, development partners and others are necessary to achieve these goals.

Regarding education for design thinking, it should be aimed at managing the hundreds of environmental issues, large and small, that are impeding the development of SIDS. In this context, mind mapping is the essential pedagogical process to produce a flexible interdisciplinary, personalized knowledge framework for learning about world development. This has been the goal of educational reform in Wales for half a century. There is a link from this post to a mind map that is being created by ICOL to consolidate and continue the Welsh work. The challenge for The Green Forum is to take a lead in defining holistic models of sustainability and human well-being. The objective is to support SIDS as they combat the effects of climate change and forge new pathways between schools and the communities they serve towards sustainable and inclusive development. ICOL is creating interlocking mind maps to guide deep thinking about islands as harbingers of an international syllabus of radical hope aimed at designing islands for survival.

Leptospirosis in the Seychelles : geographic, molecular
and epidemiological investigations of a zoonotic disease
in a tropical insular environment

Artisan Circular Ecologies

Since 2009, the Ethical Fashion Initiative has provided vulnerable artisans with market access and training. It acts as a bridge, connecting marginalized artisan communities in challenging and remote locations with global lifestyle brands. Linking international brands with a network of SIDS-based artisans would give their communities access to the international marketplace. So the EFI creates an employment model for artisans and an opportunity to improve their lives. An artisan economy with meaningful work, and fair and decent working conditions, employing traditional skills, can foster the development of local design talent. In this context, SIDS offers a blank sheet to establish closed cycle manufacturing with community artisans that supports the development of export capacities in a global waste-free circular economy.