New school model in secondary school has higher requirements

This school year, the Ministry of Education and Training directed the expansion of the new school model at the secondary level, after successfully implementing this model at the primary level.

Along with this new implementation, there are many concerns from teachers, students and parents as the characteristics of the two levels of education have many differences.

A lesson following the new school model at Ta Thanh Oai Primary School, Hanoi. This model will continue to be applied at secondary level in 1,600 schools nationwide this school year - Photo: Vinh Ha

Discussing the above issue, Dr. Vu Dinh Chuan - Director of the Department of Secondary Education, Ministry of Education and Training said:

- The new school model, whether at primary or secondary school, is similar in the way it organizes pedagogical activities in schools, creating a democratic, friendly, and open educational environment, providing an opportunity to apply active teaching methods, taking student learning activities as the center; students are self-reliant in acquiring knowledge and skills to meet the requirements of the educational program.

The difference, if any, is that in secondary school students have to study more subjects, the level of knowledge required is deeper, increasing quantitative, decreasing qualitative. Therefore, lesson design at secondary school level must pay more attention to the suitability of each subject.

The qualities and abilities that students acquire through the new school model at the primary level are not only an important foundation and premise, but are also continued to be developed at a higher level in the new school model at the secondary level.

* With the characteristics of each level of education, is there any difficulty in implementing the new school model at the secondary school level compared to the primary school level? Specifically, there are more subjects, teachers teach each subject independently, and assessment requirements have also changed. So how can this model be implemented to achieve the expected goals?

According to you, with the current general level of secondary school teachers, can they handle the requirements of teaching according to this model?

- Every teacher has been equipped with theories about active teaching methods, but because they have not applied them regularly, the difficulty lies in the limited skills of many teachers in applying active teaching methods and techniques. The new school model is a good opportunity for teachers to overcome these limitations.

In the new school model, each lesson is designed as a series of student learning activities: Warm-up - Knowledge formation - Practice - Application - Extensive exploration.

That series of activities is consistent with the active teaching methods that teachers have been equipped with at teacher training colleges, as well as during their annual regular training.

The new school model requires teachers to change their roles to become orienters, monitors, motivators and guides of students' learning activities; and also to create the most favorable conditions for teachers to implement active teaching methods, gradually improving their skills and pedagogical expertise. The implementation in primary schools and experiments in secondary schools in recent years have proven this.

In order to regularly and practically support teachers in innovating teaching methods in general and implementing the new school model in particular, the Ministry of Education and Training has increased online training.

Currently, the Ministry of Education and Training has issued a training process as well as posted illustrative lessons according to the new school model for teachers nationwide to refer to on "Connected School" at http://truonghocketnoi.edu.vn. It is a close, friendly space, creating a forum to help teachers improve and do their job well.

Along with training forms, schools can change the form and content of professional activities; arrange and assign labor so that teachers in a school and between schools in the same area can support, help, and learn from each other's experiences.

* At the secondary school level, grade 9 students will have to face an entrance exam to grade 10. Currently, many localities use the method of admission to grade 10 as a combination of exams and consideration of academic results and training at the secondary school level.

So what direction does the Ministry of Education and Training have to unify the assessment between students who have not studied the new school model and students who are studying this model, aiming at the goal of fairness among students and convenience for schools in recruiting students to grade 10 and recognizing junior high school graduation?

- The new school model implements the current general education program with the rearrangement of knowledge into appropriate lessons, along with active teaching methods and techniques.

In the chain of students' learning activities, in each lesson, the "Knowledge Formation" and "Practice" activities ensure that students meet the requirements of the current program on knowledge and skills.

All students must complete the "Practice" activity, meeting the levels of recognition, understanding and application; while the "Application" and "Extended Exploration" activities create conditions for students to achieve a high level of application in the exam matrix and tests according to the current general education program.

The Ministry has issued guidelines for assessing students according to the new school model at the secondary level, in which it is necessary to emphasize that regular assessment throughout the teaching and learning process is aimed at helping students learn better and achieve good results in periodic tests.

Students who have been well-guided, regularly evaluated, and have good results on periodic tests... will have good results in the 10th grade entrance exams, including the entrance exams to specialized high schools.

In addition, students, whether studying under the new school model or not, must ensure the general requirements of the current general education program; in addition, students studying under the new school model, who are more active, self-reliant, and creative, will have more opportunities to develop comprehensive capacities.

As for the regulations on admission methods to grade 10 of the Departments of Education and Training, including consideration of learning and training results in secondary school, must ensure consistency according to the general requirements of the general education program.

Different school models, using different sets of textbooks... must all meet that general requirement, to ensure consistency and fairness for all students.

* Last school year, the Ministry of Education and Training implemented innovation in primary school student assessment according to Circular 30. So at the secondary school level, apart from schools implementing the new school model, what instructions does the Ministry of Education and Training have for the remaining schools to continue this spirit of innovation, to avoid students being disappointed when transferring to another level and having to return to the old assessment method?

- As I said above, the innovation of student assessment at any level takes student progress as the main goal. For secondary school level, the Ministry has provided guidance in that spirit.

However, there are also differences compared to Circular 30 to suit the higher and more quantitative requirements of knowledge and skills at secondary school level; and to suit the greater development of sense of responsibility, learning obligation, and maturity in thinking of secondary school students compared to primary school students.

As in primary schools, innovation in teaching methods and student assessment methods will be implemented first in places implementing the new school model, then spread to schools following other traditional models.

Dr. Vu Dinh Chuan - Photo: N.Khanh

The Ministry has drawn common experience on the new school model.

Because teachers are limited in skills and experience in guiding students to study in small groups, in many cases only the good students in the group are active, while other students are not properly encouraged or motivated, leading to passivity and not understanding the lesson (like the case just mentioned in Buon Ho, Dak Lak).

Through monitoring and direction, during the past summer, the Ministry has drawn common experiences and organized filming of some good lessons of teachers and primary and secondary school students in Lao Cai province, clearly showing the self-study activities of individuals in groups, to use in the teacher training process, as reference materials for teachers nationwide.

Many teachers jokingly commented that these were really group lessons, not “group meetings” as sometimes happens in reality.

In addition, the new school model places special emphasis on close ties with parents and the community, in which family members are involved in the educational process and learning activities in the community.

The experience of some places is to organize introductions for parents to understand the main characteristics of the new school model, participate in decorating classrooms, observe classes or participate in learning activities with students in the class, to understand and coordinate with the school to support students' learning at school and at home.

Dr. VU DINH CHUAN

At the end of the 2014-2015 school year, there were 1,447 primary schools nationwide with students completing grade 5 under the new school model. In the 2015-2016 school year, there were more than 1,600 secondary schools in 62 provinces/cities nationwide voluntarily registering to implement the new school model from grade 6.

In order to meet that reality, especially the wishes of students who have studied primary school under the new school model, since the 2014-2015 school year, the Ministry of Education and Training has directed six provinces to successfully pilot the model in 48 6th grade classes of 24 secondary schools.

(Source: Ministry of Education and Training)

New school model in Vietnam

The new school models at primary and secondary levels all have in common the promotion of initiative, self-study, and self-reliance.management of students in groups in a class or in pairs in a group. The role of the teacher changes from explaining and imparting knowledge to organizing and guiding students to learn individually, learn in groups...

Student assessment will be based on the spirit of closely following the learning process, encouraging progress and promoting individual student strengths, diversifying assessment channels: teachers assessing students, students assessing students and parents assessing students...

According to Tuoi Tre Online