Strategic Approaches to Lead Curriculum Change for Sustainability and Quality Enhancement
Presentation
The UK funded a unique national project to open dialogue and test responses to this challenge. ‘Leading Curriculum Change for Sustainability: Strategic Approaches to Quality Enhancement‘ was funded by the higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to meet the need for sector-wide innovation and leadership in Education for Sustainability. The Project is distinctive internationally, as the first initiative to work strategically on educational practice and curriculum quality for sustainability.
Objectives
The Project is led by the University of Gloucestershire and involves a partnership of five English universities, with Aston University, University of Brighton, University of Exeter and Oxford Brookes University. The partners are working on pilot projects at their institutions, to integrate Education for Sustainability into curriculum quality systems. The core team is also working with the UK Quality Assurance Agency as well as external advisers and key stakeholders.
Main activities
The Project operates at three levels, to produce outcomes and findings that can guide institutional practice, professional development and policy responses on Education for Sustainability:
- Sectoral – building capacity and engagement with key agencies; developing national guidance and links with policy frameworks, curriculum benchmarks and professional accreditation.
- Institutional – examples of five institutions at different stages of progress on Education for Sustainability, with professional learning, insights into change processes and useful materials.
- Individual – input from academic leaders and educational developers across the sector and in universities, producing guidance on innovation, leadership and professional development.
Innovative aspects
The Project will produce a toolkit that bridges two worlds: Education for Sustainability and quality assurance and enhancement in the curriculum. This provides a framework for dialogue and strategic guidance for future work in this area; examples of entry points and successful practice for institutions; adaptable resources and valuable insights from the institutional projects and their journeys.