New Upper Secondary Curriculum Full analysis

The 2012 Education Reform in Mexico has an important focus in the development of 21st-century skills. It included a new education model (NEM) and a new curriculum (NC)- I study how the upper secondary school NC aligns with the 21st-century skills framework using the Core Skills (CS) model. The alignment analysis values how the curriculum succeeds in providing a balanced framework to develop 21st-century skills, as “balance”(Barrot, 2018) or “harmony” (Mishra & Mehta, 2017) is crucial for successful implementation. I create matrices listing each of the NC aspects at upper secondary school: graduate profile descriptions and education plans descriptions by discipline: Mathematics, Experimental Sciences, Communication, Social Sciences, and Humanities to compare them with the CS model. To do so, I list the NC descriptions as rows at each matrix and use the CS categories as headings (columns). The analysis consists of observing whether each item of the NC corresponds, relates or answers the description of what has to be developed within the 21st-century skills Core Skills model. This methodology provides an alignment (misalignment) analysis matrix with a weighted sum of values (Hernández-Fernández & Rubio, 2017). Each of the matrices are evaluated as a whole using a color scale, where the areas with the highest value (i.e., the most aligned) are marked in “green”. Likewise, the areas that have lowest values (i.e., the least aligned) are marked in “red”. As such, there is a scale in between which shows three intermediate colors that go from lighter green, yellow and orange. It is important to highlight that the allocation of colors in the table is wholly based on the weighted values at each matrix. In other words, neither the values themselves nor the assigned colors can be used as a means of comparison between the graduate profile and the different disciplines. Data Analysis. The alignment analysis is completed when observing each matrix as a whole. The more balance is observed when a matrix is mostly green; which means that the NC includes a good deal of strategies to develop the six areas of the CS. A matrix does not show balance when it has a mix of colors, as it means that the development in particular areas do not reach balance with all of the strategies that should be in place to foster 21st-century skills. Hence, for the analysis purposes the more aligned/balanced the NC at each level (graduate profile and education plans) the better it is to foster 21st-century skills as it has a balanced set of strategies to develop each 21st-century skill in full.墨西哥2012年教育改革将发展21世纪技能作为核心重点，推出了全新教育模式（New Education Model, NEM）与全新课程体系（New Curriculum, NC）。本研究运用核心技能（Core Skills, CS）模型，分析墨西哥高中阶段新课程体系与21世纪技能框架的契合度。契合度分析旨在评估课程在构建均衡的21世纪技能培养框架方面的成效，因为“均衡性”（Barrot, 2018）与“和谐性”（Mishra & Mehta, 2017）均是保障改革顺利落地的关键要素。 本研究构建多组矩阵，梳理高中NC的两大核心板块：毕业生培养规格描述，以及数学、实验科学、传播学、社会科学与人文科学各学科的教育计划描述，并将其与CS模型进行对比。具体操作中，以NC的各项描述作为矩阵行，以CS模型的各个类别作为矩阵列。分析过程为逐一核验NC的每一项内容是否对应、关联或契合21世纪技能核心技能模型中规定的培养目标。本方法将生成契合度（失配度）分析矩阵，并通过加权求和量化分析结果（Hernández-Fernández & Rubio, 2017）。 所有矩阵将整体采用色阶进行可视化评估：数值最高（即契合度最强）的区域以“绿色”标注；数值最低（契合度最弱）的区域以“红色”标注；二者之间设置浅绿、黄色、橙色三种过渡色阶。需强调的是，矩阵内的颜色分配完全基于各单元格的加权数值，换言之，无论是原始数值还是配色结果，均不得用于对比毕业生培养规格与不同学科之间的契合度差异。 数据分析环节以单组矩阵为整体分析单元。当某一矩阵整体以绿色为主色调时，代表其均衡性更强，即NC设置了较为充足的策略以覆盖CS模型的六大技能领域。反之，若矩阵内出现多种颜色混杂的情况，则说明该板块在特定技能领域的培养策略未能与21世纪技能培养的整体要求达成均衡。因此，从分析视角而言，各层级（毕业生培养规格与学科教育计划）的NC与21世纪技能框架的契合度越高、均衡性越强，则越有助于开展21世纪技能培养，因其已形成一套均衡的培养策略，可全面覆盖各项21世纪技能的发展需求。