Cultural Change as Systems Change: Supporting and inhibiting deep learning in Vietnam

• In Event: Compararative approaches to higher education strategies of teaching and learning

Proposal

International development organizations and scholarly literature have increasingly focused on systems change in education. A common approach in the literature aims to determine ‘what works’ in education policy implementation to achieve certain outcomes (e.g., Glewwe & Kremer, 2006). Another perspective examines education policies and systems through a political economy approach (Edwards et al., 2015). Anthropological and qualitative case studies of education reforms, in contrast, have illustrated cultural processes of change (Anderson-Levitt, 2003). Despite the research on systems change, there is less attention as to how cultural change happens within education systems, particularly in efforts to create change toward deep learning, defined as meaningful and relevant learning.

This study is informed by Rincón-Gallardo's (2020) model of education system transformation which posits that cultural changes need to occur at the pedagogical and school space, and within social and political spaces. He argues that educational transformation should be oriented toward meaningful learning for students, examining the purpose of education and what is valued as learning rather than focusing primarily on pedagogical practices or achieving on tests. In this paper, we aim to understand what educators in Vietnam regard as purposes of education and what is valued as learning, especially as they undergo curriculum reforms toward competency-based education.

Vietnam presents an interesting case to study education system transformation because the country carried out an education reform in 2002 and has been implementing competency-based education reform since 2020. However, students’ achievement on tests is still the major focus of the system. Taking Rincón-Gallardo’s model to understand Vietnam’s education reform, this paper addresses the questions: Which cultural practices in the education system contribute to, or inhibit, the transformation toward deep learning in Vietnam? How do those cultural practices take shape in the school and pedagogical space, and in the social arena?

We draw on qualitative data from interviews with 40 key policymakers and educational experts, 20 school principals, 91 teachers, and classroom observations from 20 secondary schools. Our interviews asked policymakers to look back over the past two decades to explain the education system change. Our analytical approach involves the interpretation of societal discourses, including identifying the narratives, norms and everyday practices (through school and classroom observation) to understand coherent narratives and practices related to the purposes of schooling and how change takes place. We also used specific practices of change, such as the interaction and relationship between policy and practice, that Rincón-Gallado suggested to identify the forms of cultural practices supporting or constraining educational system transformation.

Our preliminary findings suggest that education reforms do not necessarily lead to changes in learning in Vietnam. While our participants referred to numerous reforms since 2002, the changes to curriculum and pedagogy were not often seen as transforming the system. Changing teachers' practices is viewed as central to improving learning, but most policymakers and educators said that teaching has not substantially transformed in ways that deepen learning. We saw in classrooms that the process of teaching a particular lesson was often very similar across schools. While teachers interact with each other to improve their pedagogical practices, they did this in ways that still aligned with expectations to teach certain content knowledge in particular ways.

There are recent reforms aimed at changing learning including the Vietnam Escuela Nueva (VNEN) program, emphasizing competency development and changes in pedagogy that include authentic learning experiences and connections across the curriculum. Yet, VNEN has now been considered a failed reform and was stopped after three years of pilot implementation. While acknowledging that students were more communicative and more involved in their learning, participant teachers felt these students needed to be “re-educated” to do well on exams. The resistance to VNEN begs questions about what different actors regard as the purpose of education and what learning should be, and for whom.

While there is considerable public discussion of some aspects of the education system, we found that there is little discussion on addressing the overall purpose of education and how learning can be achieved. The importance and purposes of formal education are commonly shared in public discourse. However, the vision and pathways to foster these purposes diverge when the specifics are discussed, and when we examine what is happening in schools. There is also a disjuncture between what policymakers and teachers think is necessary for changing the education system for deep learning.

Finally, there is insufficient deliberative dialogue among actors toward deep learning. Education reforms in Vietnam tend to be deliberated through long-term development and debates among policymakers and educational experts. However, a deliberative dialogue that includes diverse educational actors to share what the purpose of education should be and how to achieve deep learning has not been part of these debates. Interactions among certain actors in the system are regarded as too hierarchical, which hinders “real change”. Teachers, while being key actors in implementing reforms, were regarded by policymakers as passive actors in the process, and their input was not sought when developing new curriculums.

By examining cultural practices contributing to and inhibiting educational change in Vietnam, this study contributes to the literature on educational systems transformation. The paper seeks to show the specific forms of cultural practices for change in Vietnam as possible entry points for future work toward change. The cultural practices that support or inhibit changes in the system can serve as heuristics to examine discourses and practices around learning in other settings.

Authors

• Joan Dejaeghere, University of Minnesota

• Bich-Hang Duong, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Vu Phuc Phuong Dao, University of Minnesota