ABSTRACT
In the introduction to this book we pointed out that it was originally intended to address changes to the Key Stage 3 curriculum in September 2008 which introduced seven key themes or cross-curricular dimensions. These dimensions were designed to ‘reflect the major ideas and challenges that face individuals and society’ (QCDA 2009: 1), including the global dimension and sustainable development, the focus of this book. Cross-curricular approaches are not new, but until more recently they have struggled to become established in secondary schools where discrete subject teaching remains the norm. However, the introduction of the cross-curricular dimensions reflects growing recognition that the ability to make connections between subjects both enhances young people’s learning (Belgeonne and Chambers 2009) and helps them to make sense of a world which is at once more diverse and interconnected, more complex and changing.
