Panama – Curriculum Development in Tourism
In 2018, Edinburgh College, working in partnership with People 1st and a consortium of UK colleges, designed and developed a curriculum plan for a 2-year tour guiding course to be delivered at a new technical and vocational institute in Panama – the Instituto Técnico Superior del Este (ITSE). The project saw Edinburgh College utilise its expertise in designing and delivering travel, tourism and hospitality courses to develop a holistic curriculum that adapted international best practice to the Panamanian context.
The finished programme included a detailed Instructor’s Guide (including a summary of assessment methodology, a scheme of learning for each programme module, 2 sample lesson plans per module, 2 sample assessments per module), a detailed Student guide, sample handouts, sample skill building exercises, sample projects, and a list of resources.
The first year of the course began in 2019, and will play an important role in helping to develop the career-focussed skills needed within the tourism and hospitality sectors in Panama.