Curriculum matters: building capacity for strategic change in UK higher education

Abstract

Substantial increases in undergraduate tuition fees, likely in 2011, might prompt universities in England to evaluate educational strategies to ensure a high-quality student learning experience and maintain competitive advantage. In this paper the author reflects on trends, policy directions and innovative practice and provides a rationale for curriculum to take centre stage in educational decision-making. The paper concludes with three fundamental dimensions to underpin a future learner-centred higher education curriculum. These curricula should be ability-based, so that undergraduates can increase their opportunities for employability; more creative, so that students engage with subject matter, each other and the wider community in collaborative ways; and multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary, so that students are able to learn from multiple perspectives and take advantage of all the resources that research-intensive universities have to offer. Initiating fundamental educational reform at department level – within wider institutional academic priorities – is an important condition for evolving future learning environments.