Education for Social Justice: An Integrative Framework for Inclusive Curriculum Redesign to Enable Fair Outcomes and Promote Social Change

Abstract

Key challenges currently facing Higher Education (HE) in the UK are the continuing dominance of curricula by West-centric knowledge traditions which reinforce normative Whiteness and undergird racism, and glaring disparities in student outcomes. Seeking to address these challenges and promote fair access and educational opportunities aimed at enabling a more equitable, just and life-enhancing society, London Metropolitan University has launched its Education for Social Justice Framework (ESJF) (2020) as an integrative framework for inclusive curriculum redesign.

This chapter explores the context and moral imperative of the ESJF, its integrative elements, its pedagogical challenges and its transformative potential, through critically reviewing its application during a pilot phase of implementation in 2020–2021, based on the perspectives of six academics involved as course leaders of the participating programs from various disciplines, as well as the authors. Data from individual interviews with the course leaders are used to throw light on key themes concerning the importance and character of the ESJF, challenges and enabling factors in implementing the ESJF, resulting course changes, and the role of students in curriculum development. This chapter concludes with some general implications of adopting an ambitious, integrative approach to curriculum and pedagogical transformation.

Citation

Warren, D. and Khan, Z. (2023), "Education for Social Justice: An Integrative Framework for Inclusive Curriculum Redesign to Enable Fair Outcomes and Promote Social Change", Sengupta, E. (Ed.) Integrative Curricula: A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Pedagogy (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Vol. 50), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 25-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120230000050003