Following upon their September-December 2011 UNICEF/UNESCO Mapping of Global Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Integration into Education Curricula consultancy, Fumiyo Kagawa and David Selby acted as consultants to a follow-on UNESCO/UNICEF initiative focused on preparing technical guidance for ministries and educational jurisdictions globally on integrating DRR into education policies, curriculum, assessment and teacher professional development.
In keeping with UNESCO and UNICEF approaches to DRR in education, the guidance identifies Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as the framework for teaching DRR at both the primary and secondary school levels.
The guidance tool:
• Offers a rationale explaining the benefits of introducing DRR into the curriculum within an ESD frame
• Includes a typology and discussion of different approaches and strategies for integrating DRR in the curriculum
• Gives guidance on the formulation of DRR curriculum goals and grade-related learning objectives
• Demonstrates alternative teaching approaches, alternative ways of sequencing knowledge, skills and attitudinal development, and different ways of progressing learning materials development
• Provides benchmarks and reference standards for monitoring and evaluating student progress
• Develops relevant planning, assessment, review and discussion tools relating to DRR curriculum development
• Provides case study examples of successful integration of DRR into school curricula and practice
• Develops links and synergies with worldwide DRR in education initiatives
• Offers guidance and advice to teachers and learning communities on the development of curriculum materials
• Offers guidance on scaling up of DRR curriculum initiatives within education systems
The consultancy involved working with the DRR in education community globally and in case studied countries in particular.
The first draft guidance tool was presented to a reference group meeting at UNESCO headquarters, Paris in July 2012. It was then finalized as Towards a Learning Culture of Safety and Resilience: Technical Guidance on DRR in School Curricula to be co-jointly published by UNESCO and UNICE in 2013 after pilot testing in several countries in four pilot regions.
The tool was presented at the Fourth International Disaster and Risk Conference (IDRC), Integrative Risk Management in a Changing World – Pathways to a Resilient Society, in Davos, Switzerland, 26-30 August 2012.