Curriculum Development: Complexity and Challenges in Shaping the Future

Abstract

All educational enterprises use a curriculum that must be designed and developed by one person or group and immediately, issues of complexity and challenge arise. From an outsider viewpoint curriculum development appears simple and straightforward, but it is not what it appears. Rather, it is complex, full of twists and turns, and requiring significant thought and input from curriculum developers. This article identifies and investigates significant influences on the process of curriculum development and locates these in the context of developing a component of the recently completed Australian Curriculum.