Interaction of Vietnamese teachers with a social constructivism-based primary science curriculum in a framework appropriate for a Confucian heritage culture

Abstract

This paper describes the perception of a social constructivist approach to teaching and learning among Vietnamese teachers in a Confucian heritage culture and the changes these teachers undergo through their interaction with a new science curriculum that was designed culturally appropriate. A framework of teacher professional development combining state-of-the-art knowledge on professional development and knowledge on curriculum design was adapted and applied to the establishment of a learning community with a facilitator and the teachers as critical co-designers. Through the spiral approach of the development programme, the teachers showed certain changes from a traditional way of teaching to a more social constructivist way of teaching. The teachers proposed concrete teacher activities that can be applied to complete the design of the curriculum and make it a better teaching guideline. The teachers perceived the challenges for applying the newly designed science curriculum in primary education in Vietnamese Confucian heritage culture. This study reveals opportunities to improve the curriculum design and emphasises the need to facilitate teachers in applying the designed curriculum into practice with the stress on the roles of teacher input and professional development.