Developing a Competence-based Curriculum for the 21st Century: The Case of Kuwait

In the context of designing a new curriculum, the paper addresses the tension between integrating all subjects in an exploring- theme approach and a subject-based approach. Given the complexity of a curriculum reform, this opposite tension, faced by most current day change processes, cannot and should not be addressed by a firm option for one of the solutions, rather the balance between extremes should be adopted by well informed decisions at conceptual-curricular, institutional and strategic levels. We discuss a solution that keeps the subject-based approach but creates a set of internal organizers and mechanisms aimed at ensuring the integration as well as the vertical and horizontal coherence within a competence-based curriculum.