Curriculum Development in the Twenty-First Century

Today, education has become a more structured and institutionalized process that often consists of years of schooling or a lifetime of learning, and that serves as a means to different ends, depending on the specific environments in which we live. But while it may have evolved into a more systematic experience over time, education still forms the basis of much thought, communication, and interaction, and can be expected to continually adapt to meet the needs of people. As we encounter the challenges of the 21st century and negotiate the complexities of the Information Age, these needs will only become more demanding as we are influenced by technology and the greater interconnect-edness of nations and their peoples. Our new knowledge societies require more flexibility in their educational structures to adapt more readily to new styles of learning and teaching, new intellectual and social needs, and new levels of skill development and productivity. The present volume provides a comprehensive analysis of challenges faced by education systems in the 21th century. It describes the processes that need to be considered in this changing context, at all levels of education.