Tactical Solutions (Action plans)

What’s the big picture?

STRATEGIC

ISSUES

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

I WANT TO REMIND YOU HOW FAR WE HAVE TRAVELED TOGETHER…THE VICTORIES YOU ACHIEVED AND HOW MUCH MORE YOU CAN DO

NOW THAT WE HAVE CROSSED THE IMPOSSIBLE!

From BIG PICTURE to detailed discussion/from STRATEGY to TACTICS…

THIS IS OUR STORYJOEL WAYNE GANIBE,

DEPUTY TEAM LEADER FOR COMPONENT 2 ,BESDP

The BIG WHY…

remember

Component 2 BESDP

MOES’ Strategic objective under BESDP:

TO IMPROVE THE RELEVANCE AND QUALITY OF FORMAL LOWER SECONDARY EDUCATION

Ok…remember how?

The BIG HOW(the strategy)

For those who forgot…

UPDATE,IMPROVE,DELIVER!

CURRICULUM DESIGNLEARNER-CENTERED,OUTCOME/COMPETENCY-BASED, WITH CLEAR MEASUREMENT STANDARDS & PROCEDURES

QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION

TEACHER TRAINING

IN-SERVICE

PRE-SERVICE

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS DESIGN & AVAILABILITY

IMPROVE THE TOOLS for learning

Improve HOW TO TEACH

WHAT TO TEACH: update standards/outcomes

Strategy to Improve Quality of Education

In short…

The mission of RIES and PARTNERS isto help make this happen by

producing improved instructional materials on time, based on a new,

outcome/competency-based curriculum that is learner centered

REMEMBER HOW EASY?!!!!!

OBVIOUSLY:

RECOVERY OF DELAYED MILESTONES

CANNOT BE DONE IN THE USUAL “NORMAL OPERATIONS” MODE.

LESS THAN A YEAR!

HOW MANY EXPERIENCED BOOK DESIGNERS WE HAVE ? HOW MANY CONTENT-EXPERTS?

INSTEAD OF ORIGINAL PILOT PROVINCES:WE HAD TO IMPLEMENT NATIONWIDE

INSTEAD OF JUST A FEW TITLES, OUR TARGET WAS 100 TITLES!

INTEAD OF ORIGINAL 5 YEARS TIME, WE ONLY HAD--

WHO AND HOW MANY REALLY UNDERSTOOD THE TRUE MEANING OF LEARNER-CENTERED APPROACH?

WHO REALLY HAS ENOUGH EXPERIENCE AS PROFESSIONAL EDITOR?

Produce 100 TITLES in less than a year!

Nyahaha! Bo dai--

You cannot do!

IMPOSSIBLE! IT’S NEVER BEEN DONE!

You will not finish! YOU WILL FAIL! You will be put to shame! HEHEHE!

Hahahahahahahah HAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA HEHEHEEHE HOHOHOHO!

Many people laughed--…

Many people cried--…

Including you and me!

But still we worked anyway!!!

So we asked for LAO PDR power…

PDR: • THE POWER • TO DELIVER • & RESPOND

(rapidly)

License to

Act

Out of the box

GO!GO!GO!GO! PAISUSU PAISUSU PAISUSU! HAHAHA HEHEHE HOHOHO!

The LITTLE HOW(the tactics)

I KNOW THIS IS HISTORY ALREADY BUT LISTEN CAREFULLY TO MAKE SURE WE LEARN FROM PAST MISTAKES SO THEY WONT BE REPEATED. THIS EXPLAINS WHY WE ARE STILL HERE TODAY TO DO THIS WORK.

For those who forgot…

WE BRING IN EQUIPMENT;WE RECRUIT THE PEOPLE;WE TRAIN THE PEOPLE;WE TEST THE PRODUCT BY USER (STUDENTS/TEACHERS)

For those who forgot…

PROPOSED CONFIGURATIONTEXTBOOK PLUS TEACHER GUIDES TEACHER GUIDES only

CACIM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM 9 PMsCCR EIC EIC EIC EIC EIC EIC EIC EIC EIC 9 EICs2 WRITERS 1 GRAPHIC

ARTIST/LEVEL

9 MAJOR SUBJECT AREASLANGUAGES M

ATH N

atu

ral

Scie

nce

Social Studies

Info

rma

tio

n &

C

om

mu

nic

ati

on

s Te

chn

olo

gy

PR

AC

TIC

AL

AR

TS

Phy

sica

lE

du

cati

on

MUSIC & ARTS

26 art

directorsCiv

ics/

C

ult

ure

His

tory

GE

OG

RA

PH

Y

LAO

LA

NG

UA

GE/

LI

TER

AT

UR

E

FOREIGN

ENG

FRENCH

1 M

AN

AG

ING

ED

ITO

R P

ER

/

LSE

le

vel

M1

LL 1

L Li

t 1

E1

FR 1

MA

TH 1

Na

tSci1

CC

1

His

tory

G1

ICT 1 PA1 PE 1Team Sports

MUSIC & ARTS1

13 Managing Editors

M2

LL 2

L Li

t 2

E2

FR 2

MA

TH 2

Na

tSci2

CC

2H

isto

ry2 G2

ICT 2 PA2 PE 2Team Sports

MUSIC & ARTS2

13 Managing Editors

M3

LL 3

L Li

t 3

E3

FR 3

MA

TH 3

Na

tSci3

CC

3

His

tory

G3

ICT 3 PA3 PE 3Team Sports

MUSIC & ARTS3

13 Managing Editors

M4

LL 4

L Li

t 4

E4

FR4

MA

TH 4

Na

tSci4

CC

4H

isto

ry

4

G4

ICT 4 PA4 PE 4elective

MUSIC & ARTS4

13 Managing Editors

IDEAL IS 18 Person -TeamPER SUBJECT: 1 PM 1 EIC 4 MANAGING Editors 4 Graphic/Layout

artists 8 WRITERS

18 PAX EXTERNAL

ILLUSTRATORS PAID PER PLATE

4 T

ITLE

S

4 T

ITLE

S

4 T

ITLE

S

4 T

ITLE

S

4 T

ITLE

S

4 T

ITLE

S

4 T

ITLE

S

4 T

ITLE

S

4 T

ITLE

S

4 T

ITLE

S

4 T

ITLE

S

4 T

ITLE

S

4 T

ITLE

S

42 managing

editors

44 textbooks + 44 teacher guides + 12 teacher guides 100 titlesDeploying CACIM/CCR and RIES domain specialists, plus external contributors, to produce 44

textbooks and 56 teacher guides (100 TITLES), means we need to deploy 86 Editorial Board members and 104 writers or a total 190 able professionals with a dedicated pool of 36 desktop PCs to churn out

content and final artworks within the allotted time

FIRST, WE ORGANIZED THE SUBJECTS, TITLES AND REQUIRED PEOPLE— We even analyzed the best number of pages that can

actually be used in a school year; the desk size; the students’ size, etc.

OK, NO PROBLEM!

CURRICULUM EXPERTS

CONTENTEXPERTS

PROCESS EXPERTS

Publishing Manager

Editor In-Chief

Writer 1Writer 2

Graphic Artist

Writer 1Writer 2

Graphic Artist

Writer 1Writer 2

Graphic Artist

Writer 1Writer 2

Graphic Artist

M1Managing

Editor

M2Managing

Editor

M3

Managing Editor

M4

Managing Editor

PROPOSED EDITORIAL TEAM PER SUBJ ECT

And for the first time, we encountered and fought with a creature called “EDITOR”

What is an “editor”• Not just subject expert but Process/Instructional design expert who

more fully understands curriculum objectives— (understand how the student and teacher will use the book)

• Understands the production process, how to meet the deadline and with quality standards

• S/he makes the sentences shorter and the statements more precise and easy to understand so that the material is less wordy. (so even if the writer "writes" in long complicated sentences, the editor is authorized to cut it down to size.

• the editor is thus more powerful, more expert than the writer. The writer KNOWS his topic, but the editor KNOWS his audience/reader better.

OK, NO PROBLEM!

• no writer is EVER greater than the editor. If this is not clear in the contract or agreement with the writer and the writer insists that his work not be touched by the editor, he must be reminded that the material belongs to RIES not to the writer because it is a commissioned work and the writer must create the material according to the specs of RIES and not the other way around.

• If not, then we know we have picked the wrong person or that we failed to clarify expectations from the start.

• This is then the responsibility of the EIC and Managing Editors who personally picked/chose the contributors in his/her team and had a chance to change this after the first workshop.

• as far as the project is concerned, the editors are expected to "edit" meaning to cut the rough manuscripts into crystal clear/diamond like gems FOR THE EASY USE OF STUDENT AND TEACHER.

OK, NO PROBLEM!

• THE EDITOR, “EDITS”– NOT “RE-WRITE”!!!! (AT THIS POINT, WE NEED EDITORS, NOT WRITERS)

• THIS IS WHERE THE DELAYS HAPPENED, FROM A BASIC MISUNDERSTANDING OF ROLES: • Writer was late in submitting manuscript• Editor was late in editing manuscript• Maybe did not know how—maybe tried to re-write• Maybe editor did not have time because busy doing other

important/urgent things OR MAYBE AFRAID OF WRITER • Maybe the “editing” was just talk during workshop, no formal

“marks” and signature on the material• Maybe corrected directly on e-copy and forgot to save as

different file name like, “version 2” and so cannot trace which version they hold.• Wrong export process to pdf• Did not use the “dummy board” effectively to track such danger

signs

OK, 2 issues: technical + process

can fix now!

LESSONS LEARNED:

PROCESS:MISUNDERSTANDING OF ROLES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

EDITORS VS. ART DIRECTORS • EDITORS PLAYING ROLE OF “VISUAL DESIGNER”• DESIGNERS LACKING EXPERIENCE/RESOURCES• DESIGNERS EXPECTED TO BE “ENCODERS” FOR WRITERS WHO DON’T

KNOW HOW TO USE COMPUTER• DESIGNERS ASKED TO PROOFREAD OR EVEN “EDIT”

EDITORS VS. WRITERS• CONTENT/SUBJECT EXPERTISE VS. TEACHING EXPERTISE• UNDERSTANDING USER CONTEXT/LIMITS• LIMITED AUTHORING SKILLS OF WRITERS

• CONFUSION BETWEEN “GROUP OF WRITERS TRYING TO EDIT”VERSUS SPECIALIZED EDITORS (WITH LIMITED EXPERIENCE)

AFTER WORKSHOP…EVERYONE LEFT…WHO WAS LEFT BEHIND TO CARRY THE WORKLOAD? (BECAUSE NO CONTRACT, ONLY WORKSHOP ATTENDANCE)

LESSONS LEARNED:

TECHNICAL:

VERSION CONTROL• FILING SYSTEM (START WORKSHOP FILE VERSION 1) WITH HARD COPY

(PROOF 1)

• GROUP EDIT FOR CONSISTENCY WITH CURRICULUM, RIGHT POSITION OF GRAPHICS, CAPTIONS, GRAMMAR, USER-FRIENDLY TERMS, CLEAR ILLUSTRATION, SEQUENCING (RIGHT ORDER SAME WITH TB/TG)

• MANAGING EDITOR’S SIGNATURE WITH MARKS ON HARD COPY (PROOF 1). USE HIGHLIGHTER AND RED PEN. MAKE IT EASY TO FIND, ALL PAGES WITH CORRECTIONS.

• ART DIRECTOR ADJUSTS LAYOUT/TEXT/GRAPHICS BASED ON THE AUTHORIZED MARKS ON HARD COPY. PRINTS CORRECTED FILE AS HARD COPY (PROOF 2)

• MANAGING EDITOR’ CHECKS PROOF 2 AND CORRECTS FINAL FILE AND SUBMIT TO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.

• EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S (REPRESENT CACIM) PUTS HIS/HER SIGNATURE ON FINAL APPROVED COPY. S/HE NOW RESPONSIBLE TO MINISTRY FOR ANY ERROR. GIVES ORDER TO ART DIRECTOR TO EXPORT FINAL FILE AS PDF. KEEPS COPY OF ALL MARKED VERSIONS AS PROOF.

• PUBLISHING MANAGER RECEIVES FINAL FILES ON CD, FOR TURNOVER TO PRINTER.

But look at the big picture

again!

Ok, now we understand more and have experience

The mission of RIES and

PARTNERS isto help make

this happen by producing improved

instructional materials

ON TIME, based on a new,

outcome/competency-

based curriculum

that is learner

Centered

How long will the child have to wait before the plant grows and fruits and

then he can eat?

How long will the Lao students wait for a very perfect textbook to be printed and

delivered to his school?

Despite the many challenges:

Delivered the textbooks & teacher guides from design, writing, layout, user-testing, final approval, printing to delivery… within 300 days!!!

Students and Teachers now using…

No matter what people say, they received the “bread” they “taste” it and they are nourished. Maybe salty to some, too sweet to some, “new taste” to others—but definitely BETTER than the old bread.

Now we have experience…Now we have tools…

Now we have equipment…Now we have proof:

Nothing is impossible!It can be done!

GOOD LUCK!CONGRATULATIONS!

YOU JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER AND BETTER!