Education (Im)Possible: An Exploration of the Vulnerability of the Business Curriculum

Authors

  • Japie Heydenrych Milpark Business School (Johannesburg, South Africa) japie.heydenrych [AT] milpark.ac.za

Keywords:

Curriculum, policy, knowledge, learning, teaching, complexity, postnormal

Abstract

Contemporary curricula are blamed for the many crises of today’s world. The perception is that with improved curricula, better-equipped, more competent and responsible candidates will take their position in society. However, in this discussion it is pointed out that the curriculum is inherently imperfect and that it cannot possibly address all expectations. Any curriculum may turn out to be something very different from what it was intended to be. Every graduate will enter the world with a different curricular experience, inadequate understanding and partially relevant knowledge. The curriculum can never be perfect if we recognize the uncertainty, unpredictability and complexity of human systems. The curriculum is vulnerable by default.

References

• Andrews, M. 2013. Why our students need co-curricular, not extra-curricular, activities. The Guardian, 22 January. Accessed at https://www.theguardian.com/ higher-education-network/blog/2013/jan/22/student-development-university-curriculum-design on 12/9/2016.

• Apple, MW. 1993. The politics of official knowledge: Does a national curriculum make sense? Teachers College Record, 95(2): 222–241.

• Belbase, S. 2011. Radical versus Social Constructivism: Dilemma, Dialogue, and Defense. Accessed at http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED525159.pdf on 15/07/2016.

• Bloom, J. 2006. Selected Concepts of Curriculum. Accessed at http://www.jeffbloom.net/docs/SelectedConceptsOfCurriculum.pdf on 25/04/2014.

• Carsetti, A. 2013. Epistemic complexity and knowledge construction: Morphogenesis, symbolic dynamics and beyond. Berlin: Springer.

• Casey, C. 2010. Some Masters of the Universe have MBAs but end up with feet of clay. Irish Independent, 13 May.

• CHE. 2015. Qualification standard for Master of Business Administration. Pretoria: Council for Higher Education.

• Cortes, C. 2002. The making and remaking of a multiculturalist. New York: Multiculturalist Education Series, Teachers College Press.

• Cuban, L. 1992. Curriculum stability and change, in Handbook of research on curriculum (A project of the American Educational Research Association). New York: MacMillan.

• Evans, R. 2013. Does practice itself know nothing? Probing teachers’ felt experiences of mandated practice. In Irby, BJ; Brown, G; Lara-Alecio, R and Jackson, S (eds), The Handbook of Educational Theories. Charlotte (NC): Information Age Publishing.

• Freebersyser, W. 2014. A narrative of one teacher’s journey toward conscientization. Journal of Philosophy & History of Education, 64(1): 149–163.

• Glatthorn, AA, Boschee, FA, Whitehead, BM & Boschee, BF. 2011. Curriculum Leadership: Strategies for Development and Implementation. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

• Henriksson, C. 2012. What did you learn in school today? Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, 12 (May).

• Handler, B. 2010. Teacher as Curriculum Leader: A Consideration of the Appropriateness of that Role Assignment to Classroom-Based Practitioners. International Journal of Teacher Leadership, 3(3): 32–42.

• Henriksson, C. 2012. What did you learn at school today? Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, 12 (Special Edition): May.

• Heydenrych, JF. 2016 Education (im)possible: is content to blame for the state of the MBA, in proceedings of 10th International Business Conference, Club Mykonos, Langebaan, South Africa. 25–28 September.

• Holstein, WJ. 2013. The multipolar MBA. Strategy and business, 21 January. Accessed at http://www.strategy-business.com/article/00164?gko=093cf&utm_source=itw&utm_medium=20160901&utm_campaign=fixed on 12/09/2016.

• Humes, W. 2005. Never discount the hidden curriculum. TESS, 25 February. Accessed at http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=2076639 on 01/03/2014.

• James, A. 2009. Academies of the apocalypse? The Guardian, 7 April.

• Koutselini, M. & Agathangelou, S. (2014). The gap between teachers’ understanding of their teaching and students’ experiences, In: Sandra Chistolini (ed). Citizenship education in five countries. Saarbrücken: Lambert.

• Kumari, S. & Srivastava, DS. 2005. Curriculum and instruction. Delhi: Isha Books.

• Letshekha, T. 2013. Revisiting the debate on the Africanisation of higher education: an appeal for a conceptual shift. The Independent Journal of Teaching and Learning, 8.

• Levin, B. 2009. Curriculum policy and the politics of what should be learned at schools. In The Sage Handbook of Curriculum and Instruction, Conelly, FM, Fang, M & Phillion, J (eds). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

• Liao, JM, Thomas, EJ & Bell, SK. 2014. Speaking up about the dangers of the Hidden curriculum. Health Affairs, 33(1): 168–171. Accessed at http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/33/1/168.full on 24/04/2014.

• Mahood, SD. 2011. Medical education: Beware the hidden curriculum. Canadian Family Physician, 57 (September): 983–985.

• Makgoba, M. 2015. Higher education crisis: We are our own solution. City Press (10/11/2015). Accessed at http://city-press.news24.com/Voices/higher-education-crisis-we-are-our-own-solution-20151110 on 4/05/2016.

• Martell, Janette. 2008. Socially responsible business schools: Collective stakeholder voices demand urgent actions. Journal of the World Universities Forum, l(6).

• Martin, J. 1983. What Should We Do with a Hidden Curriculum When We Find One? In The Hidden Curriculum and Moral Education, edited by H Giroux & D Purpel. Berkeley, California: McCutchan Publishing Corporation (122–139).

• Muneja, M. 2013. Evaluation of Tanzania curriculum: An analysis using Ornstein’s view on education philosophy. Studies of Changing Societies: Educational Integration: Theory, Practice, Cases, 1(11).

• Nkomo, S. 2015. Challenges for Management and Business Education in
a “Developmental†State: The Case of South Africa. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 14(2): 242–258.

• Null, JW. Nd. William C Bagley (1874–1946) — Early Career, Teachers College. Accessed at http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1780/Bagley-William-C-1874–1946.html on 24/04/2014.

• Ono, Y. 2010. Bridging the Gap between Intended and Implemented Curriculum: Japanese Education Development from Curriculum Implementation Perspective.

• Papers presented at the Africa-Asia Experience Sharing Seminar in Ghana, Efforts towards improving the quality of education, 19–21 January, Accra, Ghana.

• Ornstein, AC. 1982. Curriculum Contrasts: A Historical Overview. Phi Delta Kappan, February.

• Ornstein, AC. 1995. Philosophy as a Basis for Curriculum Decisions. In Ornstein, A & Behar, L (eds), Contemporary Issues in Curriculum. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

• Ornstein, AC & Hunkins, F. 2014. Curriculum: Foundations, principles, and issues. New York. Pearson.

• Osberg, D., Biesta, G. & Cilliers, P. 2008. From representation to emergence: Complexity’s challenge to the epistemology of schooling. In Complexity theory and the philosophy of education, M. Mason (ed.) Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.

• Podolny, JM. 2009. The buck stops (and starts) at business school. Harvard Business Review, June.

• Parkay, FW, Anctil, EJ & Hass, G. 2014. Curriculum leadership: Readings for developing quality educational programs. New York: Pearson.

• Patrizi, C, Ice, P & Burgess, M. 2013. Semantic mapping of learning assets to align curriculum and evidence learning effectiveness in business education. Business Education & Accreditation, 5(1): 117–128.

• Rayment, J & Smith, J. 2010. The current and future role of business schools: Research report. Cambridge/Chelmsford: Anglia Ruskin University.

• Sardar, Z & Sweeney, JA. 2016. The three tomorrows of postnormal times. Futures, 75: 1–13.

• Sheikhzade, M. 2011. Intended, applied and experienced null curriculum. Paper delivered at the 7th Global Conference of Inter-Disciplinary.Net: A Global Network for Dynamic Research and Publishing, Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom.

• Accessed at http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/at-the-interface/education/creative-engagements-thinking-with-children/project-archives/7th/ on 24/04/2014.

• Shay, S. 2016. Urgent strategy needed to decolonise university curricula. The Mail & Guardian, 20 June. Accessed at http://mg.co.za/article/2016-06-20-00-urgent-strategy-needed-to-decolonise-university-curricula-no-longer-a-luxury-but-a-necessity/ on 12 September 2016.

• Sweeney, S. 2013. Close reading. Harvard Gazette, 20 December. Accessed at http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/12/close-reading/ on 14/05/2016.

• Tanner, D & Tanner, L. 2006. Curriculum development: Theory into practice. New York: Macmillan.

• Watkins, D & Kritsonis, A. 2008. Developing and designing an effective school curriculum: Enhancing student achievement based on an integrated curriculum model and the ways of knowing through the realms of meaning. Focus on Colleges, Universities, and Schools, 2(1): 1–15.

• Wilkinson, MLN. 2014. The concept of the absent curriculum: The case of the Muslim contribution and the English National Curriculum for history. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 1(22): 1–22.

• Yuksel, S. 2005. Kohlberg and Hidden Curriculum in Moral Education: An Opportunity for Students’ Acquisition of Moral Values in the New Turkish Primary Education Curriculum. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 5(2): 329–33

Downloads

Published

2017-06-15

How to Cite

Heydenrych, J. (2017). Education (Im)Possible: An Exploration of the Vulnerability of the Business Curriculum. Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies, 5(3). Retrieved from https://ajouronline.com/index.php/AJHSS/article/view/4811

Issue

Section

Articles