عصور الظلام في أوروبا و النور في الشرق في عشر دقائق

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Dark Ages, Time for Light – عصور الظلام أزمنة للنور

A companion piece to the previous video: the same period, the same story of knowledge moving East to West through scholarship and translation.

Declared, Hidden and Operational: Three Curriculum Cultures

University curriculum practice has largely replicated the traditional curriculum development paradigms of primary and secondary schooling, above all the rational, theory-based approach. Its focus is content and academic knowledge, with at best an average and often a marginal place for vocationally or professionally oriented content and competencies.

In Gulf and Arab higher education (North Africa and Morocco, for example), this traditional approach has become standard practice (Atari, 2012; Gabr, 2001, 2007).

Three curricula in every department

Curriculum development recognises three predominant types of curriculum practice:

• The declared curriculum: the official, announced curriculum of the institution. It is what is on paper, usually produced by a committee that undertakes no exploratory or experimental research before making curricular or pedagogical decisions.
• The hidden curriculum: the internal departmental politics surrounding particular tracks or programmes and their constituents (content, courses and faculty).
• The operational curriculum: what actually takes place in the department or the college at large.

Competencies first

Today's curriculum approaches, even in academic university settings, rely fully or partly on the competency model instead. Competencies, meaning an integrated set of knowledge, skills and behaviours, come first. Then content and textbooks, if available. If not, competent faculty draw on their pedagogical skills to design appropriate learning and teaching environments for the newly chosen content.

This model answers national visions that link outcomes to the job market, and it delivers sustainable outcomes and performance. It is an arduous, time-consuming process. But its practicality, and its responsiveness to international accreditation standards and requirements, cannot be denied.