Curriculum Design and Transformation Workshop at the University of Zululand
In May 2025, Angela James, Macdonald Kanyangale, and Cecile Gerwel Proches from Work Package 3 (WP3) of the DECART Project facilitated a Curriculum Design and Transformation Workshop for the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
During the workshop, participants actively engaged with the Curriculum Canvas tool to collaboratively design curriculum frameworks. This exercise was dynamically enhanced by the unexpected introduction of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) cards, which challenged participants to reflect on the impact of unpredictable events on curriculum design. These activities emphasised the importance of building adaptability and resilience into both curricula and the broader higher education system.
The session also incorporated the use of rich pictures, a systems thinking tool, to help participants visually identify key stakeholders involved in curriculum transformation, along with their specific interests, concerns, influence, and power dynamics. This holistic analysis deepened the participants’ understanding of stakeholder roles in shaping effective, relevant, and future-proof curricula.
Participants described the workshop as highly relevant, innovative, and refreshing, noting that it encouraged interdisciplinary teamwork and collaboration among colleagues from various fields within Education. Feedback underscored the necessity of recognising the dynamic nature of the educational environment and highlighted that successful curriculum transformation requires input and engagement from all stakeholders.
This workshop reflects the ongoing commitment of the DECART Project to foster inclusive, resilient, and future-oriented curriculum development practices in higher education.