Abstract

MENON, Kirti  and  CASTRILLON, Gloria. Reimagining curricula for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. IJTL [online]. 2019, vol.14, n.2, pp.6-19. ISSN 2519-5670.

If higher education is to deliver education to students that prepares them for the demands and challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), new flexible curricula and teaching approaches for diverse contexts and a move away from a teleological view of 'skills' are required. The 2009 establishment of a dedicated Ministry for Higher Education and Training led to a (then) new perspective in terms of the organisation of the post-school education and training landscape which has had as its aggregated effect a heightened government focus on the link between education, the economy, and skills development. New approaches to curricula specifically and to programme types essential for a more empowering pedagogy for the 4IR are needed. Curricula to serve these ends are not supported by the current focus on predefined categories and types of learning. The changes in teaching technologies and tools have not been matched by flexibility in the processes and policies designed to ensure quality in higher education which increasingly frustrate attempts to respond effectively. The existing framework requires imaginative rethinking about curriculum to address the current and future needs of students.

Keywords : 4IR; flexible curricula; higher education; transformation; pedagogies; learning programmes.

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