Why should we assume systematic comparative research on state-based curriculum-making to be possible at all, given the high complexity and large variety of institutional forms of educational and political systems across nation-states? On the other hand, how can we explain the significant endeavour of nation-states all over the world to align their…

This article surveys the state of the humanities in English primary schools drawing on evidence from serving head teachers, current literature and policy documents. The findings suggest that whilst the humanities are highly valued in schools, there are serious challenges which threaten the "broad and balanced" curriculum. It is suggested…

Purpose: In the present paper we describe how civic and citizenship education takes place in Italy, trying to identify strengths and weaknesses, with the aims both of understanding the situation and of identifying possible measures for improvement. Methods: The methodology implies an analysis of the official guidelines by the Ministry in this…

Sustainability education is increasingly practiced in early childhood, but a previous review of the literature suggests that there is little empirical research to provide the necessary foundation and critique. The current paper addresses the question of whether there has been an increase in empirical research in the field since this review, and if…

Textbooks are the only available source/s of teaching and learning English in Pakistani public education system. Whether the textbooks serve their intended purposes as mentioned in the National Curriculum of English, the researchers conducted a mixed methods teachers'-led evaluation to investigate the effectiveness of English textbooks. The study…

The development of standards, or indicators, for global/international education has lagged behind that of the national curriculum. To address this, we developed a set of core concepts and competence indicators of global/international education for Taiwan's "Grade 1-9 Curriculum Guidelines" and revised these through three rounds of Delphi…

This article reports on the results of a survey of Australian primary pre-service teachers' experiences, conceptions and perceptions of geography. Research was conducted with two cohorts of undergraduate primary pre-service teachers; one group in second year and another in the final year of a four-year teacher education course. The findings show…

This paper reports on a study investigating the effectiveness of a new professional learning development (PLD) initiative in New Zealand, The Sir Paul Callaghan Science Academy (The Academy). The Academy is designed to provide primary and intermediate (students aged 5 to 13) classroom teachers with the knowledge, materials and support needed for…

This paper presents findings from research on students' general environmental concerns, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, worldviews, values, and actions relating to climate change. Data was gathered from a sample of 646 seventh-grade students. The findings indicate that students identify climate change as a consequence of modern life. They…

The study aims to gain a better understanding of the national large-scale curriculum process in terms of the used implementation strategies, the function of the reform, and the curriculum coherence perceived by the stakeholders accountable in constructing the national core curriculum in Finland. A large body of school reform literature has shown…

This paper attempts to identify the nature of formal environmental education in Bangladesh at school level with particular reference to the national curriculum. The main objective of the study is to assess the contents of the school textbooks for each standard, and to see whether the diversified themes covered are a good representation of…

The Australian Government has recently introduced a national based curriculum, known as The Australian Curriculum. This new curriculum is intended to provide quality education for all students (Australian Curriculum, Reporting and Assessment Authority, [ACARA], 2013). This article considers some of the possible implications of the Australian…

In this paper, we report on an investigation into initial teacher education students' (ITES) understandings of sustainability and the Australian National Curriculum Sustainability Cross Curricular Priority (CCP). We also explore their willingness and capacities to embed the CCP into their own teaching practices. The ITES (N = 392) completed a…

In Indonesian primary schools, sex education is implicitly integrated into various related subjects, such as science, biology, social studies and religion. The technical facts of ovulation and sperm are mentioned in biology, although little or no connection is made between this process and sexual intercourse. By the end of primary school,…

In 2008 it was agreed by the Australian Education Ministers that a national curriculum be implemented with the rationale that it would help to ensure high quality education for all young Australians (ACARA, 2012b). One reason for the shift to a standardised national curriculum is so that "School and curriculum authorities can collaborate to…