Hope and ambiguity: returning curriculum to humanism

Among contemporary predicaments of war, political populism, truth and communication, climate change, and the collapse of welfare states - partly because of them - we face a crisis in curriculum. The inertia of a content-based curriculum diverges ever-further from a volatile world and the major issues of the day. More importantly, it denies young people the tools they need to negotiate a complex world of ambiguity, uncertainty and responsibility for their self-determination. This article argues for a reaffirmation of European Humanistic principles in curriculum as a political strategy to bring the education of young people into closer alignment with lived realities, and to encourage them to act as informed citizens. The starting point is a research-based curriculum. We can look to the New Science of Consciousness and mind for methodological support for an enquiry-based curriculum.