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The concept of integrating curriculum is being advocated in many institutions of higher education to solve problems that present-day curriculum development is facing. Several models of integrating curriculum can be found in the world of academia. However, there is little consensus among academics as to how we can define the concept and what would be the correct approach to implement integrative curricula. The concept ranges from traditional lecturer-driven discipline-based content to object-driven interest-based student exploration of the pedagogy. In the global context, curriculum needs to be sustainable in nature that would replace the rote method of learning and enhance the problem-solving and critical thinking skills of the students. There is a need to differentiate between reliable and relevant information and suggest alternative facts to create innovative thinkers in a world that offers open access to knowledge. Education in the present century is profoundly impacted by technology and globalization and students need all the skills to navigate through a challenging and ever-changing environment. Yet, concerns remain as to how to implement teaching–learning methods that address the multidimensional needs of the students and at the same time maintain a quality standard. Educators are now determined to impart knowledge that is exploratory, relevant, integrative and meaningful, and are anchoring content across disciplines. The approach is more focused on integrating students’ experiences across teaching and learning activities of academic programs, construction of knowledge, and a range of competencies and capabilities in a meaningful and student-centered manner. This book volume will speak about interventions and case studies that are transforming learning from simple classroom learning to learning that can impact the sustainable development of society with a human dimension and creating a caring culture.

Our awakening to the curriculum being made by children and families in home and community places grows out of a theoretical background that informs our current inquiry into the tensions experienced by children, families, and teachers as they compose diverse lives on school landscapes, contexts increasingly structured by achievement testing. Our understanding of curriculum is grounded in Clandinin and Connelly's (Clandinin, 1986; Connelly & Clandinin, 1988) earlier attention to curriculum making as the expression of a teacher's personal practical knowledge. They described this knowledge as “that body of convictions and meanings, conscious or unconscious, that have arisen from experience (intimate, social, and traditional) and that are expressed in a person's practices” (Clandinin & Connelly, 1995, p. 7). Dewey's (1938) notions of continuity, situation, and experience, shaped Clandinin and Connelly's (1992) understanding of the “teacher not so much as a maker of curriculum but as a part of it and to imagine a place for contexts, culture (Dewey's notion of interaction), and temporality (both past and future contained in Dewey's notion of continuity)” (p. 365). By bringing together their understandings of teachers’ knowledge as personal practical knowledge with Dewey's notion of experience and Schwab's (1969) four curriculum commonplaces – teacher, learner, subject matter, and milieu – Clandinin and Connelly (1992) suggested that curriculumbe viewed as an account of teachers’ and children's lives together in schools and classrooms … .[In this view of curriculum making] the teacher is seen as an integral part of the curricular process … in which teacher, learners, subject matter, and milieu are in dynamic interaction. (p. 392)

Chapter 1 builds a shared understanding of the definition and role of curriculum in learning. The attributes of a curriculum are presented and described with the research literature. The role and function of these attributes in the design of an effective learning experience are examined in detail.

As there are multiple meanings of the word “curriculum” in use, it is necessary to define this term as used in this work. This definition is not meant to suggest that this is the “one,” “true,” or “only” way to conceive of the term, but instead to suggest a useful and practical conceptual framework for curriculum as a multidimensional, dynamic, and causal component of the instructional system. This definition provides the conceptual framework for curriculum as used in this work.

The term derived from a Latin word (currere) denotes “a race course” (Etymology Online, 2018). Educators in the sixteenth century borrowed this denotation for what is now higher education to increase “order” in the learning processes and enhance learning (Hamilton, 2013). The term now describes the collection of learning experiences in a prescribed instructional unit of study, leading to a defined outcome.

The purpose and function of the curriculum in the learning process are to organize, order, and structure the learning process to facilitate learning. In this system of design, three global dimensions are differentiated to promote and enhance the learning of all individuals who pursue it. These global dimensions determine a learner’s ability to engage with, learn from, and demonstrate authentically the intended learning articulated in the curriculum.

The attributes of an effective curriculum are extracted from the educational literature and converted into criteria with which to evaluate a completed curriculum. These criteria include externally valid content, coherence, alignment, interconnectedness, complexity, and the inclusion of opportunities to demonstrate the expected outcomes. Additionally, the structure of the course groupings is evaluated by the criteria of structure, integration, sequence, and consistency. Each of these standards is discussed and explained as it applies to the design of effective curricula.

The purpose of this qualitative, single-case study was to explore the development of Jamaica’s maritime education and training (MET) curriculum within the local education context. In this research, the story of the development and sustainability of the local MET curriculum in its 40-year journey from 1980 to present (post 2020), as communicated by various maritime stakeholders and archival documents, is chronicled.

The study utilized a qualitative orientation and was an embedded single-case study in its design. The entire local MET institution community and those legislatively and operationally allied to its sustained viability constituted the general population of this study. Non-probability sampling techniques were used to arrive at a maximum variation sample. Three sources of data were used in this study: individual interviews, focus group discussions and documents.

The Jamaican (local) MET curriculum was the brainchild of local perspicacity that was empowered by international benevolence. It was developed to satisfy market demands that existed at the time of its inception. These market requirements of the maritime industry are what impacted the development of the local MET curriculum over four decades. Several other factors led to the sustained viability of the local MET curriculum. These included the ability of the local MET curriculum to meet direct market needs and maintain its fitness for purpose.

It is the view of the researcher that the findings of this study were limited by the fact that the voices of current students and employers from the four decades of the curriculum's existence are not represented in this initial study. The perspectives from these two sources would have broadened the description presented in this study.

This research has shown that specialized higher education (HE) institutions are better served in their business when they maintain a symbiotic relationship with the industry for which they are producing graduates.

The treatment of HE as a service industry has gained traction globally. This would suggest that ‘product placement' in specialized HE is important to the growth, development and longevity of that course of study within the society in which it exists.

There is a dearth of national research on Jamaica's four-decades-old MET curriculum and the elements that lend to the sustained viability of same. This discussion of sustainability of the MET curriculum will benefit maritime educators and policymakers, who must continue to hone this curriculum so that it is fit for purpose. The study will also identify some of the elements of a sustainable, specialized HE curriculum. The elements identified herein can serve as exemplars and conceptual starting points for other contexts where the discussion of the sustainability of curriculum needs to be had.

One key aspect of European curriculum reforms is to empower students with the skills needed to engage actively in the pluralistic and multicultural global society of the 21st century. This study aims to examine the extent of multicultural education within the national core curricula of three European countries: Hungary, Finland and Ireland, focusing on its role in fostering social acceptance through education.

A qualitative research applying discourse analysis was conducted to identify key multiculturalism concepts within the curricula. The analysis concentrated on understanding how multiculturalism is portrayed through various perspectives, emphasizing situational meanings and frameworks. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the findings was carried out.

The research found that all three curricula contain the concept of multicultural education, although the extent of emphasis varies. The Hungarian National Core Curriculum (NCC) primarily emphasizes national values and sporadically addresses multicultural issues, often from a local perspective. In contrast, the Irish NCC is tolerance-oriented, stressing not only the understanding of different cultures but also the importance of accepting them. The Finnish NCC reflects a global perspective and emphasizes respect for different cultures and minority groups, with a pluralistic approach.

This study enhances our understanding of the discourse of multiculturalism within the curricula of three European countries, emphasizing both their similarities and differences. Additionally, it underscores the crucial role that curricula can play in effectively implementing multicultural education.

The study explores diverse and critical understandings of “international” in a higher education curriculum context, situated in a curriculum review of a postgraduate taught programme entitled “International Education” at a university located in England. Our study problematises and decentres some dominant, normalised notions of “international”, exploring critical possibilities of engaging with the term for higher education internationalisation.

We examined a set of programme curriculum documents and conducted a survey exploring teaching staff’s uses and interpretations of “international” in their design and delivery of course units. Through a thematic analysis of the dataset, we identify what “international” might mean or how it may be missing across the curriculum.

Our findings suggest a locally-developed conceptualisation of “international” beyond the normalised interpretation of “international” as the inclusion or comparison of multiple nations, and different, other countries around the global world. More diverse, critical understandings of the term have been considered, including international as intercultural, competences, ethics, languages and methods. The study provides an example approach to reflective scholarship that programmes can undergo in order to develop clarity, depth and purposefulness into internationalisation as enacted in a local curriculum context.

The study provides a first step towards establishing clearer guidelines on internationalising the curriculum by higher education institutions and individual programmes in order to challenge a superficial engagement of “international” within internationalisation. It exemplifies a starting point for making purposeful steps away from normalised notions and assumptions of international education and facilitates development towards its critical, ethically-grounded opportunities.

The library and information science (LIS) profession experienced drastic changes in its job requirements due to emerging digital scholarship trends, especially the growth of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). As a result, there is a discrepancy between the job market and the LIS curriculum. This study addresses this gap by looking into incorporating digital scholarship into the LIS school curricula in South Africa. This may have implications for other contexts as well, because digital scholarship is becoming pervasive.

The study adopted a constructivist paradigm using a qualitative approach and a multiple case study design. Primary data using semi-structured interviews were collected from 10 academics at LIS schools and 10 librarians from both academic and special research council libraries in South Africa.

The study revealed that LIS schools did not have content on digital scholarship such as research data management (RDM), digitisation, metadata standards, open access, institutional repositories and other related content. Stakeholders who needed to be consulted included librarians, information technology (IT) and information and communication technology (ICT) specialists, computer scientists, humanists, the South Africa Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and LIS professional bodies. There were gaps and redundancies in the curriculum as far as digital scholarship was concerned. Digital scholarship presented opportunities for librarians and academics to acquire emerging jobs and to collaborate more in the digital space.

The article advances knowledge on the importance of incorporating digital scholarship in the LIS curriculum in South Africa. Furthermore, it provides guidance regarding stakeholders to be consulted when incorporating content into the LIS curriculum with the intention of closing the gaps and curbing or removing discrepancies between job requirements and graduates’ skills and competencies.

Purpose ‐ Curriculum development is a vital component in the educational process. Its scope is exceptionally broad, and it involves nearly everyone who is involved with teaching and learning, including teachers and librarians. Curriculum development resources offer guidance for lesson plan preparation that meets the educational standards set by each state. Resources for curriculum development for both teachers and librarians are abundant, with resources being offered both electronically and in print, freely available and for purchase. The purpose of this paper is to provide a selection of resources offered for teachers and those offered for librarians, electronically, in print, freely available, and for purchase. Design/methodology/approach ‐ Curriculum development resources were chosen based on the selection criteria included in the article, including: authority, accuracy, scope, appropriateness, and treatment. There were many resources for both teachers and librarians available, but only a few were selected. Those selected met the selection criteria and were outstanding and beneficial resources for curriculum development. Findings ‐ Resources for curriculum development for both teachers and librarians are abundant, with resources being offered both electronically and in print, freely available and for purchase. There are many resources for both teachers and librarians; however, teacher resources outnumber those for librarians. Perhaps in the upcoming years, as information literacy instruction becomes part of more institutions, further resources will be made available. Originality/value ‐ The function of curriculum development is to research, plan, and prepare the content and methods that will be taught during instruction to achieve the desired outcomes. State curriculum standards currently play a major role in schools and how the curriculum is developed. Curriculum development resources provide the necessary resources for teachers and librarians to plan and prepare curricula that can meet the standards set by each state.

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).

In 1993 the Ministry of Education in New Zealand identified health education, jointly with physical education, as one of the seven essential learning areas of the country’s national curriculum. This article takes a critical look at some of the emerging issues during the construction and implementation of the new curriculum. Consultation is one of the vital ingredients for successful curriculum construction. It might reasonably be assumed that the views and opinions of children and young people would be sought, and that their issues and concerns might be taken into account during the process. Indications are that this does not happen; this article addresses the question of whose knowledge and what knowledge counts. The new curriculum identifies health with physical education as a single learning area. The author considers that it would be more suitable to position health with social studies, as the two subject areas have more complementary similarities between goals, processes and content.