AT UNESCO Exemplary Curriculums Cross National Borders Richard Halperin UNESCO is developing a new tool to share information about exemplary curriculum resources from around the world. dducators across the globe are looking for curriculums that help students to think critically and to be socially responsible Many seek curriculums that are accessible to different leamers and would help to improve the rates at which girls and other underserved or excluded groups participate in formal education. Yet ithas been surprisingly difficult for educators from different countries and cultures to have a ‘constructive dialogue about these needs, and to begin to share ideas and curriculum resources. Not only are there different ways of defining “curriculum,” but it's also difficult to agree on a suitable translation of the term from one language to another! At the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), we believe that such difficulties ane worth confronting. For example, for the past wo years, we have been collecting exam- piles of curriculums in general secondary education from around the world, These curriculums are desig nated by their developers as exemplary, either because they reflect a new approach or because they are appro- priate for adaptation by another country. (No qualita- tive judgments were made on the relative ments of the ‘materials from one country in relation to those from another, because the goal was to encourage communi- cation among nations rather than to make direct recommendations.) ‘What do these curriculums look like? In fact, they are a comucopia of curriculum policy statements, text books, syllabi teaching-leaming kits, and videos. A few of the more than 100 entries are From Austria: “Violence at School, Violence Against Girls, Gender Aspects and Prevention” and “Falling Out of the Role: Practical Help for Gender Education in School.” From Swaziland: “Developmental Studies,” a program intended “to integrate concepts of history, geography, health education, sociology anthropology, civies, environmental education, and economics.” From Indonesia: “Sekola Menengah Pertama (SMP) Terbuka,” which translates from Bahasi Indonesian into “The Open Junior Secondary School,” describes the use of distance Ieaming to expand the number of rural children participating in secondary education From Belarus;"“A Forcign Language Teacher's Handbook” and “Communicating While Teaching/ Learning English: A Handbook for Teachers of English.” Curriculum areas unique as snowflakes. But educators wio struggle with similar problems can lear much by studying the approaches of others. To that end, we have collected these curriculum materials in a curriculum repository. Enries have been surmma- rized in English and in French, and a person or office to contact has been designated for each entry, In many cases, the curriculums are free of charge from their contributors. ‘The deadline for entries to the curriculum repository has just passed, and we will review and summarize all entries this year Late tis year, UNESCO will publish the document and prepare a Micro-ISIS database version. Eventually, the cuticulum repository will go om the Internet, mt os Author's note: About 100 copies of a draft document entitled “Examples of General Secondary School (Curricula and Teacher Training Materials” are available at the address below. Richard Halperin is Chief, Secondary Education Section, UNESCO, 7, Place Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France.Copyright © 2002 EBSCO Publishing