Armenian
News Network / Groong
Conversation on Groong: Education Reform
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Introduction
Hello and welcome to Armenian
News Network, Groong. I’m Hovik Manucharyan.
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In this Conversation On Groong episode, Asbed Kotchikian along with two esteemed guests delve into the
norms, educational outcomes, success factors and pedagogy of the controversial
government-proposed reforms of the K-12 educational system in Armenia. Today we
focus specifically in the areas of Armenian history, and literature.
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This Week’s Conversation on
Groong: Education Reform
Overview
In recent months, Armenia’s
government has published its proposal for K-12 curriculum reform in Armenian
schools. The new curriculum, which includes education standards and learning
outcomes, proved to be quite controversial with many individuals and groups
criticizing one aspect or another of the proposed curriculum notably the
segments on literature and Armenian history. These criticisms ranged from
in-depth critique of the content of the proposed plan to outlandish and
sometimes baseless accusations. In order to shed some light on this issue
specifically the history and literature components of the new proposed
curriculum, this week we have invited two scholars who have been following
these debates and the content of the new curriculum intimately.
Asbed Kotchikian
is a senior lecturer of political science and international relations at Bentley University
in Massachusetts where he teaches courses on the Middle East and former Soviet
space. Prof. Kotchikian is also a consultant for
international organizations on issues of judicial reform, ways to combat
radicalization and on ethnic and religious minorities. He discusses the proposed reforms
with:
Prof. Ara Sanjian
is Associate Professor of History and the Director of the Armenian Research
Center at University of Michigan, Dearborn. He received his undergraduate
degree from Yerevan
State University (YSU) in what was then the Soviet Republic of
Armenia, and has been involved in numerous academic projects in Armenia. His
research interests focus on the post-World War I history of Armenia, Turkey and
the Arab states of Western Asia. And:
Prof. Siranush Dvoyan
is a literary studies scholar and associate professor of Armenian and
Comparative Literature at the American
University of Armenia. She is a graduate of YSU and taught there for
over a decade.
Discussion areas:
●
Brief background
●
The background of the current proposed
curriculum: When was it conceived and what has its development process been
like and who were involved in the committee?
●
In terms of content, how does the proposed
curriculum compare to the previous one? What are some of the main changes,
additions, omissions?
○
In literature?
○
In history?
●
About the standards and measurements of the
proposed curricula: How realistic and feasible are the norms, standards and
measurable outcomes as defined by the new curriculum?
●
About the implementation (pedagogy) of the
proposed curricula: how feasible is it? Is there a trained and knowledgeable
workforce of teachers and instructors with mastery of the proposed content, to
deliver it with excellence to students?
●
Rating of the current AND the proposed
curricula.
Sources
● Հանրային
քննարկման է ներկայացվում առարկայական չափորոշիչների և ծրագրերի նախագիծը -
ESCS.am
● «Մարտահրավեր՝ թշնամական կերպարներին». թուրքական հայեցակարգ՝ ԿԳՄՍՆ-ի չափորոշիչներում -
Yerkir.am
●
Maria Karapetyan’s response
on FB to Yerkir’s article.
●
Lilit
Mkrtchyan interview
on Horizon
Shant TV, also
post-Yerkir article.
●
5
TV's coverage
of the history component of the curriculum.
●
Պատմաբանները՝
պատմության գրքերի չափորոշիչների մասին.
- YerkirMedia.
● Հարցազրույց Լիլիթ Մկրտչյանի և Դավիթ Թինոյանի հետ. - Լուրեր
●
History
Education in Schools in Turkey and Armenia: A Critique and Alternatives -
Caucasus Edition
●
Հայոց Պատմություն՝
Թուրքական ձեռագրո՞վ. Դիմում ԱԱԾ-ին
● Հանրակրթության չափորոշիչներ․
որտե՞ղ է մանիպուլյացիան.-
A1+
● New
Roads - Unpacking
Armenian Studies with Dr. Philip Gamaghelyan
● Արայիկ Հարությունյանի՝
ոլորտին չտիրապետելը շատ ծանր հետևանքներ
է ունենալու քաղաքական թիմի համար -
1in
TV
Wrap-up
That concludes this week’s Conversation On
Groong on Armenia’s debate on Educational Reform. Despite some of the
rhetoric, we’re encouraged that so many segments of society have become engaged
in this national discussion and are bringing their input into the mix. We’ll continue following this discussion
and keep you abreast on the topic as it progresses.
We hope this Conversation has helped your
understanding of some of the issues involved. We look forward to your feedback,
including your suggestions for Conversation
topics in the future. Contact us
on our website, at groong.org,
or on our Facebook Page “ANN - Groong”,
or in our Facebook Group “Groong - Armenian News Network”.
Special thanks to Laura
Osborn for providing the music for our podcast. I’m Hovik
Manucharyan, and on behalf of everyone in this
episode, I wish you a good week. Thank you for listening and talk to you next
week.