ABSTRACT
If we want to prepare learners for a fast-changing world – what is often termed a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) society – then we need curricula in schools and universities that foreground the development of capabilities such as critical thinking and problem-solving, and hence teacher education that produces teachers who are adaptable and responsive in supporting the development of thinking skills rather than the acquisition of information. This is challenging! Curriculum reform at the school level must be synergistic with a revolution in teacher education. One of the barriers to the development of more open-ended curriculum plans is the linear nature of most curriculum documents. In this chapter, concept mapping is presented as a sound approach to producing branched curriculum documents that can foreground the conceptual relationships in the curriculum and allow for adaptation of learning activities to suit individual learning needs. We give examples of how concept-mapping activities can provide visual curriculum documents and learning designs to correct unhelpful conceptions in science, support collaborative work in all disciplines, and enable interdisciplinary teaching and learning.
