Chapter 8: The Role of the Curriculum in Developing Twenty-First Century Skills for a Sustainable Society

At the heart of ESD is the belief that education offered to the populace must effectively contribute to intellectual, psychological, social and economic development. Education is therefore important to the development agendas of any country. The curriculum of a school is the formal and informal content and processes by which learners acquire knowledge and skills and shape attitudes, appreciations and values under the guidance of that school (Doll, 1996). The curriculum is therefore the cornerstone of education and represents the link between education and development. When well-designed and effectively executed, a curriculum determines the quality, inclusiveness and development-relevance of education (UNESCO, 2015b). This places the curriculum at the core of ESD, hence its crucial role in developing the skills necessary for a sustainable society. The curriculum is the hub for developing in learners the cognitive, socioemotional and behavioural outcomes necessary for lifelong learning. In other words, curriculum leads the content, the teaching and learning experience and the assessment, among other things in education that are known to determine quality and inclusion (UNESCO).