ERIC Number: EJ1474909
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1363-6820
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Responsive Curriculum Development: Which Factors Support Breaking through Institutional Barriers?
Joyce Vreuls1,2; Marcel van der Klink1; Mieke Koeslag-Kreunen3,4; Slavi Stoyanov2; Henny Boshuizen2; Loek Nieuwenhuis2,5
Journal of Vocational Education and Training, v77 n3 p582-610 2025
To meet society's changing demands, the responsive development of curricula is vital, and curriculum developers need to increasingly foresee and incorporate changes into their curricula in a timely manner. However, responsive curriculum development is a complex problem for curriculum developers in vocational and (higher) professional education, and comprehensive research on this theme is scarce. This study focused on responsive curriculum development processes in a Dutch higher professional education institution (N = 77 experts). A group concept mapping study into the supportive factors of this process revealed six factors: (1) "a vision of education and learning," (2) "a continuous and iterative development process," (3) "teamwork," (4) "involving stakeholders," (5) "a conducive environment and conditions," and (6) "agency." Participating experts highlighted the importance of ensuring that equal attention is devoted to each of these factors. However, the results also reveal the challenges that curriculum developers face. To deal with these, a framework of factors is suggested to facilitate curriculum conversations in which developers can negotiate -- and give meaning to -- the desired change in the curriculum context.
Descriptors: Curriculum Development, Barriers, Professional Education, Higher Education, Foreign Countries, Teamwork, Stakeholders, Personal Autonomy
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Research Centre for Professional Education, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Heerlen, The Netherlands; 2OUHeerlen, The Netherlands; 3Research Group for Working in Education, Research Centre for Learning and Innovation, University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; 4Department of Educational Research and Development, School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; 5HANArnhem, Nijmegen, The Netherlands