ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by exploring educational landscapes globally, examining education curricular initiatives and/or change in early childhood settings, primary and secondary schools and higher education contexts. This review of literature suggests that without willing and equipped educational leaders and educators, it is difficult to sustain a meaningful curricular change. There have been a number of curricular initiatives introduced in countries around the world which have attempted to address ESE from a transdisciplinary, cross-curricular or stand-alone subject approach. However, despite these initiatives, there are significant policy-practice gaps that make meaningful and long-term change difficult. Contextualised within this global perspective, this chapter then focuses on Australia’s recent policy and curriculum trends, examining to what extent ESE is prioritised in Australia’s early childhood settings and primary and secondary schools. This chapter argues that while well-resourced with infrastructure and ESE resources, many Australian educational contexts are still struggling to implement meaningful and sustainable curricular change.
