What should we teach?: Making higher education curricular choices in an era of rapidly expanding knowledge

• Published in: The Emergent Knowledge Society and the Future of Higher Education: Asian Perspectives
• Main Author: Abdullah H.S.V.
• Format: Book chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor and Francis 2011
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85076957479&doi=10.4324%2f9780203145906-13&partnerID=40&md5=998db51d829db52d509effeceaf2f284

The exponential growth in global knowledge production will continue, perhaps at an accelerated pace well into the new millennium (Bernheim and de Saouza Chaui 2003). The expansion is not merely a quantitative one. In many ways, the trajectory of this production is changing (Nowotny et al. 2003; Gibbons et al. 2004). The rapidity of knowledge production and the consequent realignment of knowledge structures have thrown many traditional ideas of disciplines into debate and disarray. With diverse knowledge producers in the arena previously dominated by the traditional higher education institutions (HEI), the notions of higher education (HE), the purposes of HE and the relative roles of stakeholders have changed. How has the framing and construction of “the curriculum” adapted, accommodated or changed? What are some of the trends and tensions resulting therefrom, and what does the future portend? These are some of the questions this chapter will address, doing so for the most part with reference to the Malaysian experience. © 2012 Deane E. Neubauer for selection and editorial material; individual contributors, their contribution.