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The study was conducted to assess the extent of readiness of higher education curriculum in Nigeria in meeting the demands of the 21st century, to identify the possible challenges facing higher education institutes in Nigeria in meeting the demands of the 21st century and to suggest ways of restructuring higher education curriculum in Nigeria to make it responsive to economic social and political demands of the 21st century. The sample for this study consisted of two hundred (200) respondents drawn from the stakeholders in the education industry which includes curriculum planners, lecturers and students. The study employed the descriptive survey design. The instrument for data collection consisted of structured questionnaire and focus group discussion. The findings from the study revealed, among other things, that higher education curriculum in Nigeria is not yet ready to meet the demands of the 21st century. The reasons for this include poor funding, poor infrastructural facilities, corruption, poor technological/ICT knowledge, lack of collaboration between higher education curriculum planners and labour force, etc. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that funding higher education in Nigeria should be given priority, and the stakeholders in the labour force and industry should be involved in curriculum planning. Higher education curriculum should encourage practical hands-on experience for graduates of higher education in Nigeria to make them relevant in the 21st century.

This chapter provides a critical and comprehensive review of internationalisation models and strategies in higher education and offers a conceptual model for internationalising the curriculum, taking educational administration and leadership as an example of its implementation. The chapter starts with an introduction and overview of globalisation and how higher education institutions respond to its increasing effects by adopting different internationalisation strategies. This is followed by a discussion on the different forces and rationales involved and the various models and strategies adopted by higher education institutions as well as the many challenges and obstacles they encounter when implementing these strategies. The third section focuses on ways of internationising the curriculum and how it is a complex, dynamic and developmental process that requires the implementation of most internationalisation strategies. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the IHEC model which is created for internationalising the higher education curriculum, focusing on educational administration and leadership as an example. The IHEC model aims to provide students with a universal and holistic learning experience that prepares them for the increasingly competitive and diversified working environment. It also attempts to overcome the Westernisation indigenisation debate by adopting a holistic approach to knowledge and cultural practices that appreciates and integrates different perspectives, knowledge traditions and work practices into the curriculum.

In the light of recent debates on the possible issues in curriculum studies, formulated particularly in the field of sociology of education, this chapter discusses the role and the importance of curriculum theories in higher education. Focusing on the historical and the conceptual roots of curriculum theory approaches, the argument is that the dispute and the separation between normative and critical roles of curriculum theories are important to overcome in today’s competency-based and outcome-focused context of higher education. Basil Bernstein’s ideas on the vital role of knowledge are discussed in relation to the origins of the so-called crisis in curriculum theories. It is suggested that in the debate between normative and critical curriculum approaches, a danger is that the focus on the educational importance of curricula may be neglected and silenced in the midst of the pressure to renew curricula in higher education.

Introduction: Public administration has always been at the forefront of promoting sound and ethical values in society. The myriad of events that are shaping our world, such as global warming, deforestation, poverty and economic instability, calls for a shift from government to governance. This change demands a collaborative type of governance on the quest to implement sustainability. Collaborative governance can be initiated by its workforce, who are the individuals closest to the structures of public administration and can act as agents of change in this mission. Thus, personnel need to be equipped with the required knowledge, attitudes and skills, about and for, sustainable development. This can be addressed through education for sustainable development (ESD), a lifelong tool which requires adaption to national requirements, but most importantly to societal needs.

Aim: This research focusses on a longitudinal case study from the Maltese islands, the smallest state of the European Union. Since enacting the Sustainable Development Act in 2012, through which sustainable development has been mainstreamed in the Maltese public sector, never was the need felt to educate public officers for sustainable development. Hence, this research aims at shedding light on the curriculum design process of an education module called ‘Public Administration and Sustainability’ as part of a Bachelor of Art’s programme at the University of Malta.

Method: Framing an educational module in a tertiary institution requires tact in aligning the syllabus, not only to the pedagogical requirements, but also to the place of work. In this exploratory study, two research questions, each linked with a set of original hypotheses are tackled through a pool of data obtained from a variety of methodological tools employed, by analysing two important variables – the curriculum and the student. The former is reviewed through a content analysis exercise whereas feedback from the latter is scrutinised through a questionnaire.

Findings: Data triangulation demonstrates that the curriculum design of the educational module promotes a holistic learning experience, since it integrates effectively the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of the Bloom’s Taxonomy. Furthermore, the different student cohorts share common positive views about this module.

Originality of Study: Previous studies indicate that there is a lacuna in research regarding curriculum design and review, especially regarding sustainable development. This research is significant as it attempts at filling this void by scrutinising closely curriculum design in higher ESD.

Implications: Drawing upon the results, a number of recommendations are provided, among them is ‘The Multiplier Transformation Triad Model’, which portrays the institutional, educational and individual transformations needed to promote sustainability. Moreover, this research might provide more insights about governments’ commitment towards sustainability but should also serve useful to researchers or practitioners in various fields such as public administration, governance, sustainability and even higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the degree to which a compulsory induction program for Vietnamese higher education teachers influences participants’ perceptions of curriculum and course design.

This case study uses a qualitative, interpretive approach to data collection. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 program participants before they started the program and immediately after they completed the program. Five program presenters also were interviewed and documents related to the program were analyzed.

The findings reflect the influence of Biggs’ (2003) constructive alignment approach on participants’ curriculum perceptions, although this approach was not explicitly stated in the program guidelines. Upon the completion of the program, participants realized the importance of their voices in curriculum construction and course design, which was absent from the pre-program findings. However, students’ agency in co-constructing the curriculum and the “being” of curriculum were not perceived.

The paper adds to the growing literature on induction programs and their relation to curriculum perceptions.

The paper provides examples of the changes in participants’ perceptions of curriculum and accentuates, what is neglected in the construction of curriculum.

The paper invites reflection on the design and implementation of curriculum from academic developers, education practitioners and researchers in similar contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to test the validity of the curriculum auditing tool Sustainability Tool for Auditing University Curricula in Higher Education (STAUNCH©), which was designed to audit the education for sustainability and global citizenship content of higher education curricula. The Welsh Assembly Government aspires to incorporate sustainability across all sectors and required an audit of all higher education curricula within Wales. The paper also discusses responses to the auditing process, findings at an institutional and national level and proposes recommendations for improvements.

The University of Wales, Newport, provides the case study to test the validity of the STAUNCH© software.

The quality and effectiveness of the curriculum content was not identified by the audit. The audit identified what the curriculum offered but did not necessarily reflect that studied by students. Modules offered on more than one course were awarded credit within the “cross‐cutting” criteria of the audit and this distorted the final results. The audit enabled curriculum managers to identify programmes of study which exhibited strengths and limitations in this area. Utilising a common auditing tool across the Welsh higher education sector allows for future developments to be collective and collaborative.

A general consensus of opinion from a network of Welsh higher education institutions regarding any future use of this auditing tool is currently one of uncertainty as far as any validity the tool may bring to driving the sustainability agenda forward. Alterations to the STAUNCH© software and auditing process are proposed if possible future audits are to be more effective. Nevertheless, within a relatively short time span education for sustainable development and global citizenship within Welsh higher education is gaining momentum. Amendments have been made to university documentation, staff‐training initiatives developed and the potential impact of curriculum development in this area is beginning to be realised.

This paper discusses the application of a new sustainability curriculum‐auditing tool and the validity of the tool in progressing sustainability within the higher education sector.

The purpose of this study is to determine the degree of attention to and the nature of sustainability issues in the curriculum of the Higher National Diploma (HND) Purchasing and Supply Management programme of Ghana.

Documentary research is the approach used to analyse the curriculum document for the programme of study.

Findings of this study reveal a low presence of sustainability in the curriculum, and most of the sustainability sub-topics address issues of social justice, while economic sustainability issues feature the least.

Deliberate and greater efforts should be made to integrate sustainability in the curriculum; all three dimensions of sustainability need to be well represented in the teaching and learning experiences; and there should be training and sensitisation of all relevant stakeholders in issues of sustainability.

This study provides an analysis of a higher education curriculum in terms of attention given to sustainability and the nature of sustainability issues addressed therein. It sets the research agenda for the study of curricula of other programmes for sustainability, as research literature on higher education curricula for sustainability in Africa, especially Ghana, is scarce (GUNi et al., 2011).

This chapter presents a reflective study on the role of leadership in curriculum changes in Indonesian higher education. It was based on case studies carried out in 2012 and 2014 at Politeknik Negeri Jember (POLIJE), a vocational higher education institution (HEI) that was selected by the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of Indonesia as a pilot project implementation of the newly established Indonesian Qualification Framework. It describes the theoretical and contextual background of the study that was inseparable with the growing concern on globalization, internationalization, and democratization of HEIs worldwide. Meanwhile, curriculum changes since 1961 demonstrated the dynamic of the curriculum, which signified either the development of national education or instabilities in the individual HEIs. These signify the breadth, depth, and the contexts of ESD curriculum development in Indonesian HEIs, which confronted the leaders or managers with the complexity. This requires effective functions related to the change strategy and shared roles between the top and middle leaders in coping with the leadership, managerial, and academic issues within an interdisciplinary setting. In this top-down change, the intention to adopt the transformational leadership model was obvious in the level of top leaders, while in the middle leadership, practices were less hierarchical. The leaders both in the top and the middle levels had complemented to each other with low attention on the notion of organizational learning. In light of sustainable education, the notion of organizational learning gives the foundation for successful change and sustainable organizational development. It is because the best performance of an institution will strongly be influenced by the quality of investment in the capacity development of both the leaders and staff.

This paper aims to outline the global research landscape of sustainability curricula implementation processes in higher education. The focus is twofold and investigates where research that aims at integrating sustainability into the curriculum is happening and how the research area of curriculum change for sustainability is developing.

A systematic review of peer-reviewed case studies published in English in selected journals and edited volumes between 1990 and 2017 was carried out. Data (n = 270 publications) were analyzed via descriptive statistics and bibliometric analysis.

The study demonstrates that research on sustainability curricula implementation processes in higher education has produced a growing output in a broad range of journals. Nevertheless, the cross-country distribution is imbalanced, with most cases coming from the USA, Europe and Asia, but with the relatively highest density in Oceania. A citation network analysis revealed that the “Western world” is quite well interlinked, whereas other countries are not, indicating that sharing information between and learning from other cases is limited.

The exclusion of non-English publications likely skewed the global distribution of the research landscape included in this study.

These findings demonstrate the need for more research and funding for case studies in countries that have not yet been adequately examined.

This study offers the first systematic reflection on the current global research landscape in sustainability curricula implementation and can guide further research endeavors.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the extent to which universities’ strategic plans affect the level of incorporation of sustainability within the curriculum design and property portfolio.

This research adopted a case study approach. The case study institution was Deakin University in Australia. This paper used a qualitative research method. Desk-top study included the review of the University’s Strategic Plan, policy agenda on sustainability and the documents on sustainability courses and units. Semi-structured interviews were held with academics who have course development and management responsibility within the university, colleagues who have a sustainability-focused role on estate management and colleagues whose roles are to manage sustainability initiatives at the institution level. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Content analysis was used to analyse the interview data.

Despite the University having clear strategic aims and initiatives on the incorporation of sustainability within the curriculum design and property portfolio, there is disconnection between policy development and policy implementation. As a result, the incorporation of sustainability varies largely between curricula within the institution. The incorporation of sustainability within the property portfolio is clear and effective. However, within the curriculum, it is polarised. The level of incorporation depends on the nature of the course or unit and is largely driven by the initiatives of the individual academic. Good practice identified in the incorporation of sustainability within the curriculum is to use a problem-based approach supported by real life projects to enhance the students’ authentic learning experience. A good practice for successfully incorporating sustainability into the property portfolio is to have clear vision of what it has planned to achieve and to ensure that there is a balance between sustainability and value for money.

This is pioneering research to investigate the incorporation of sustainability into higher education in a more comprehensive way. This paper considered the impact of strategic planning on the incorporation of sustainability within a higher education, on both curriculum design and property portfolio management.