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Outline

National curricula and their relationship to social cohesion

2025, Journal of the Educational Association for Social Studies

https://doi.org/10.21608/PJAS.2025.426024

Abstract

Social cohesion preserves the spirit of society and provides its members with a unified identity. With the increasing social challenges of differing values, norms of behavior, and the spread of cultural globalization, national curricula have become an effective role in consolidating social cohesion among learners and providing them with the skills necessary to confront social challenges. This is because national curricula reflect society's philosophy of educating young people and contribute to shaping learners' personalities. Hence, this research aims to identify the ability of national curricula to enhance social cohesion and their relationship to the skills within the areas and elements of this cohesion. The research aimed to clarify the role of national curricula in confronting social challenges based on supporting the skills within the areas and elements of social cohesion. It also aimed to clarify the relationship between these curricula and national curricula. The researcher examined the research problem according to the axis of how to build educational curricula at standard levels by defining common objectives and competencies in the "General Framework" document. The axis of social cohesion identified the importance of preserving identity and citizenship, as well as the number of its fields and elements. The axis of the relationship between national curricula and social cohesion clarified the role of curricula in defining a collective identity and promoting the values of citizenship. In addition, the axis of global transformations that support social cohesion was also addressed. The researcher used the descriptive approach to describe national curricula and their relationship to social cohesion. The research concluded with proposals for designing national curricula, such as establishing a "general framework" for curricula based on the principle of comprehensive sustainable development, unifying the value system to support cultural identity and citizenship, and focusing on the history curriculum due to its common denominators that enhance social cohesion. Keywords: Educational Curricula, Social Cohesion