National Consultancy to Support the Curriculum Alignment for Primary and Secondary Schools as Well as Teacher Education to Strengthen Climate Change Education in Countries Supported under the Climate Smart Education Systems Initiative (CSESI)

UNESCO is seeking the services of two national consultants proficient in curriculum development to collaborate with the Ministries of Education(MoE), Environment (MoEnv), Malawi Institute of Education (MIE), partners in Malawi and with a global support team led by UNESCO. The consultants will assist in the review and alignment of curricula and syllabi for primary and secondary schools, as well as teacher education programmes, with the aim of enhancing climate change education in Malawi as part of the GPE-Save the Children- UNESCO’s Climate Smart Education System Initiative (CSESI).

General Background on CSESI

The Climate Smart Education System Initiative (CSESI) was launched in early 2023 by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) in partnership with Save the Children, UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development Section and UNESCO-IIEP and is implemented in around 20 countries. The initiative seeks to enhance countries’ capacities to mainstream climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability into education sector plans, budgets, and strategies as well as to enhance education ministry capacity for cross-sectoral coordination on climate and environment-related policy and programming.  This involves developing scalable models for this integration and fostering collaboration across all levels to create an environment conducive to building resilience among children and within the education sector.

The UNESCO ESD Section leads the work related to the component related to on curriculum, pedagogy, and teachers, and supports the ministries of education specifically with integrating learning of climate change and sustainability into teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools.  This entails reviewing and, where required, adjusting, and revising the curricula and syllabi for primary and secondary schools as well as teacher education curricula based on each country’s needs and opportunities. The Section also collaborates with UNESCO-IIEP and Save the Children on developing a climate smart school model in Malawi, by reviewing various school models and school networks that exist and develop a workplan for Malawi to implement green model school.

UNESCO uses a holistic learning approach of ESD to addresses climate change from the economic, social, and environmental perspectives, and supports the acquisition of knowledge, values, and attitudes to underpin practical actions by learners to contribute to climate mitigation, adaptation, resilience and sustainable development. In addition to the resources available in the countries, UNESCO will use a set of global reference documents including the Greening Curriculum Guidance (UNESCO, 2024) and ESD for Sustainable Development Goals (UNESCO, 2017) as well as other guidance on curriculum alignment produced by UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE). For the climate smart school model, UNESCO will use reference documents on whole-school approach to ESD, including Green School Quality Standard.

To this end, UNESCO will engage national curriculum specialists in CSESI beneficiary countries and a few international experts to support curriculum review and alignment processes and engage school networks as the basis and potential partners of the climate smart school models.

Work in Malawi

Malawi is one of the beneficiary countries, and as approved by the Ministry of Education of Malawi, UNESCO will support the curriculum alignment work to undertake with the aim of integrating and layering the competencies related to climate change and sustainability into curriculum at primary and secondary levels, as well as supporting establishment of climate smart model school to ensure climate-readiness of schools.

In this connection, UNESCO plans to recruit 2 national experts who are specialized in curriculum development, climate change education & education for sustainable development, and teacher education. The present terms of reference are set for this purpose.

Terms of reference

The main objective of the consultancy is to support the revision, and alignment of the curriculum, pedagogy and teacher education and establishment of climate smart model school to ensure climate-readiness of schools to strengthen climate change, DRR and ESD for primary and secondary levels in Malawi.

The national consultants will provide technical contribution in undertaking the following steps in close concertation with a working team composed of the MoE, Malawi Institute for Education (MIE), Ministry of Environment, UNESCO-ESD, Save the Children and UNESCO IBE. They will be supported by a global support team composed of UNESCO and the international consultants hired by UNESCO.

More specifically, based on the global reference documents produced by UNESCO ESD Section and IBE, including the Greening Curriculum Guidance, Green School Quality Standard, and the 10 steps for curriculum alignment[1] and other national or regional resources to be identified in consultation with the Ministries of Education and education stakeholders in Malawi, and in concert with the CSESI project team and the international expert consultant and partners the national consultants shall implement the following tasks:

• Step 1 – review of the existing framework, curricular documents or any equivalent documents: through desk review and consultations with key curriculum stakeholders and beneficiaries (in particular teachers, students, parents) to identify what specific CCE competencies are needed in Malawi, and to identify gaps and opportunities for further consolidation based on the identified competencies; as well as mapping of existing school networks.
• Step 2 – 3-day workshop 1) to review the curriculum and select priority learning outcomes to be integrated through the project, identify gaps and opportunities; and 2) to discuss model school approach.
• Step 3 – documentation of 1) existing and potential classroom activities in key carrier subjects (e.g. science, technology, agriculture, art, language…) and extracurricular activities (e.g. tree planting; essay competition; field trip, etc.); and 2) existing school networks and the possibility of establishing a new school network.
• Step 4– identification of opportunities of those activities in curriculum, teaching, assessment and schools.
• Step 5 –Draft recommendation 1) on updating the curricula based on the outcomes of the Steps 1-4; and 2) on the model schools in Malawi.
• Step 6 – two-day validation workshop on the updated curricula and model school.
• Step 7 – update existing teaching and learning materials
• Step 8 – 3-day workshop for 15 Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs)

Deliverables 

The deliverables for this consultancy shall be the following:

1. A report on the literature review of existing curriculum framework against the learning outcomes of the Greening Curriculum Guidance for the primary and secondary schools and teacher training. The report will include a review of national documents including competency frameworks, curricular frameworks syllabi, assessment frameworks and teaching and learning resources as well as classroom and extracurricular activities and identify gaps and opportunities for strengthening the CCE/ESD/DRR. The report will also include recommendation for the ongoing and future curricula reforms to update curriculum framework and subject level curricula on where and how to strengthen CCE/ESD/DRR in curricular documents.
2. A report on climate smart model school, including review of existing and potential approaches and recommended plan of action.
3. A kick-off workshop designed and conducted with key stakeholders and submit a report on the workshop.
4. A 1-day validation workshop on the recommendations and submit a report on the workshop.
5. Updated/adapted Teaching and learning material for primary and secondary levels based on existing materials.
6. A 3-day workshop for all 15 TTCs in the country and curriculum developers and submit a report on the workshop.

Proposal Submission

Interested candidates should apply on https://careers.unesco.org/job-invite/21250/   and also submit their most updated CV; a technical proposal indicating approach for the assignment and on a seperate document financial proposal with the costs (quoted in US dollars); sample of recent work in English by email  to: vacancies.harare@unesco.org  no later than 04 September, 2024. Email subject should read ‘Application for National Consultancy under CSESI. Email attachment size should not exceed 20MB

Profile of candidate:

 The consultant should have the mandatory qualifications and skills:

1. A minimum of a Master’s degree in Curriculum Development or other related areas of education.
2. Extensive professional knowledge and a minimum of 10 years’ experience in curriculum development at the country or international level.
3. Excellent knowledge on education for sustainable development, climate change and disaster risk reduction
4. Excellent knowledge on the education sector in Malawi and the Sub-Saharan Africa.
5. Excellent writing skills in English. Working proficiency of Chichewa is an advantage.