New perspectives, new curricula A Case study of participatory curriculum development in forestry education in Vietnam

Major shifts in education are difficult to achieve, and usually are lengthy processes. Hawes, in 1973, suggested that major educational change may take as long as twenty-five years. More than twenty-five years after this was written, there is little evidence to suggest that his comment does not still hold true, especially in the case of universities. In comparison with other elements of formal education systems, universities seem particularly resistant to changes in organisational and educational strategies, processes and methodologies, even when functioning in dynamic external environments. The university sector in many countries seems to maintain a safe distance from theorising about teaching and learning, except in some Faculties of Education where such activity is tolerated. Being at the cutting edge of technological research and development, acquiring research funds and publishing articles in learned journals often attracts greater credence than making improvements in the way in which teaching and learning is facilitated. With a basis in Platonic or Confucian thinking, many universities and their teaching staff still appear to believe that they are repositories of expertise and knowledge which can be transferred effectively to learners through the process of telling and, occasionally, demonstrating. Few university teachers receive, or are required to undertake, training in pedagogical or androgogical concepts and methods. In particular, it is rare to find evidence from the world of natural resources oriented education (although the work of Bawden and his colleagues at Hawkesbury University (Bawden and MacAdam, 1991) is a notable exception) of conscious efforts to develop and apply approaches in teaching and learning which actually prepare learners to lead effective and productive professional lives.