Primary science has rightly been recognised as one of the great successes in UK education over the last 20 years--a jewel in the National Curriculum crown. Its successes are evidenced by the high numbers of pupils achieving the target levels in national tests and by the rising number of science lessons rated as good or better in school inspections…

Japan has often been criticized for allegedly teaching its schoolchildren about the history of Imperial Japan 1895-1945 in selective and misleading ways. Is this criticism justified, and how does it compare with the record of another former colonial power in East Asia: England? International criticism of history teaching in England has been…

Our means of assessment might pose a problem. History teachers regularly set specific targets, with implicit or explicit reference to National Curriculum Levels, which are designed to move our pupils on and make them better historians. How, though, are we to prevent them from achieving their targets in a rather mechanistic way, ticking the boxes…

Two heads of department in contrasting schools explain why they do not use Level Descriptions at all, other than at the very end of Key Stage 3. Influenced by "assessment for learning" principles, Sally Burnham and Geraint Brown develop a case for using assessment to help pupils grow in understanding of how the discipline of history…

The 2002 restructuring of the national curriculum in all Japanese public elementary and secondary schools includes a reduction and reallocation of instructional hours, and the addition of a new "integrated studies" course, with an emphasis on more individualized, cross-curricular thematic projects. This reform comes at a time when a…

The last 30 years have witnessed ongoing calls for the reform of post-14 education, to make it more responsive to the needs of employers and the economy, and overcome the academic-vocational divide. This article maps out recent proposals and changes in 14-19 education to remind us that they are rooted in a complex past, and while they might appear…

The establishment of the UK government's OFSTED (school inspection service), published league tables, standardised testing, the literacy and numeracy strategy, imposed external targets for improvement, performance related pay and the gifted and talented programme, show the present government's concerns with educational improvement. Schools have…

This paper reports the findings of a case study aimed at investigating the forces influencing curriculum policy in one Catholic school in Western Australia (WA). The student-outcomes' focused Curriculum Framework was released in 1998 and is mandated to be implemented in all WA schools by 2004. This has made non-government schools answerable to the…

As a result of curriculum changes at Key Stages 3 and 4 the place and status of history and geography in the English secondary school curriculum are being progressively undermined. Using evidence derived from small-group interviews with Year 8 pupils during the summer term 2002, this article reports pupils' perceptions of their learning…

A class of unmotivated inner city secondary school children were introduced to an innovative, new, dedicated physical environment where computers and multimedia software were seamlessly integrated and which was served by a socio constructivist learning pedagogy. In this environment they were taught English as prescribed in the UK national…

The Swiss national curriculum for upper secondary schools requires geography to be taught according to new paradigms concerning subject contents and learning methodology. Today, nearly 10 years after the new curriculum was enacted, the question arises whether the paradigmatic changes were acknowledged by geography teachers and integrated into…

The role of Design and Technology in schools in England is changing. These changes were heralded by the Government Green Paper "14-19: Extending Opportunities, Raising Standards" (Department for Education and Skills [DfES], 2002), which proposed that education and training of 14-19-year-olds should be delivered by a more flexible…

This study investigated questioning as practiced in Malaysian secondary school classrooms, to determine teachers' rationale for adopting certain techniques of questioning, and to use the findings to inform teacher education. Questioning is a central aspect of any classroom interaction as it serves so many functions but it is still an…

The main aim of the Organisational Committee of the international scientific colloquium Mathematics and Children is to encourage additional scientific research in the field of mathematics teaching in Croatia. The development of science and education is a part of a long-term Education Sector Development Plan 2005-2010. Following the example of…

This best-selling textbook offers a sound and practical introduction to the skills needed to gain Qualified Teacher Status, will help to develop the qualities that lead to good practice and a successful future in education, and covers the range of situations and potential problems faced by student and newly qualified teachers. Updates to this…