Chapter 11: Curriculum Connections: Lessons from Post-Compulsory Vocational Education and Training

Lindsay Parry,James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia;R. E. (Bobby) Harreveld,CQUniversity Australia; Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia;P. A. Danaher,University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

Curriculum, as one of the three educational message systems (with pedagogy and assessment), can be understood as potentially complicit with disconnections and missed opportunities for creating connections in teaching and learning. This is particularly the case if the curriculum is removed from the lived experiences and situated aspirations of groups of learners. At the same time, curriculum can function as the vehicle for creating and sustaining meaningful connections in teaching and learning, if it engages respectfully with those experiences and helps to fulfill those aspirations.