ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I examine the existing global curriculum and propose guidelines for new global curriculum based on the goals of a long life and happiness. I realize that there are important cultural differences in ways of knowing, which I will explore in chapter 6. Currently, the common global curriculum is based on the historical policy goals of economic and military development, and preparation of citizens to serve the nation-state. In this model, students are treated as human capital. Based on a factory or bureaucratic model, this global curriculum divides knowledge into discrete and separate courses taught in age-based classrooms. Pleas for an integrated curriculum to counter this factory and bureaucratic model, whereby subjects are taught as interrelated components of knowledge, have been advocated in different forms by progressive educators such as John Dewey and Paulo Freire. In contrast to these progressive educators, human rights and environmental educators have adapted progressive methods to specific agendas that do not support the current direction of economic development. In both the current global curriculum and the work of Dewey and Freire, concerns about improving subjective well-being and increasing longevity either have been neglected or have taken a place secondary to economic and military goals. On the other hand, human rights and environmental curricula often touch on these goals without making them a central focus.
