In the face of what has been characterised by some as a "crisis" in curriculum--an apparent decline of some aspects of curriculum studies combined with the emergence of new types of national curricula which downgrade knowledge--some writers have been arguing for the use of realist theory to address these issues. This article offers a…

Education is never a passive, autonomous, or static activity. It manipulates, as much as it is manipulated, and reflects specific contexts. Education histories document continuities and changes over time, and are able to throw light on and inform contemporary practice. Prompted by perspectives on curriculum as a social and cultural construction,…

The author cites the popular distinction between "traveler" and "tourist", noting that the latter has come to signify someone less enlightened, less conscientious and less distinguished than the former. Discussing critical pedagogy in terms of this paradox, she draws upon her experience in designing and teaching an…

The article critiques the innovative policy documents constructing New Zealand early childhood pedagogies since the advent of the first curriculum "Te Whariki" (1996) and argues that the two most compelling of these reflect the consumerist experiences of childhood today. The acclaim which followed the publication of "Te…

This paper argues that the current skill strategies of New Labour (in England) and the Labour-led Coalition (in New Zealand) are part of a broader project to construct contrasting markets in education and training. On one hand, the skill strategies are helping to construct open education and training markets through creating institutional-based…

Includes "Introduction" (Chitty); "Political Parties, Ideology, and National Curriculum" (Lawton); "First Three National Curricula and Millenium" (Graham); "Politics of Curriculum in European Perspective" (McLean); "Curriculum Scene in the United States" (Holt); "Similar but Different"…

This monograph on international disability issues offers three main papers giving English, Australian, and New Zealand viewpoints. The first paper is by Len Barton from England and is titled "Disability and the Necessity for a Socio-Political Perspective." Barton attacks the medical model of disability and argues that people with…

This paper is concerned with the teaching of undergraduate university courses on "women and education" or "the sociology of women's education" in the 1990s to pre-service and practicing teachers, some of whom are fearful of, or even hostile to, feminism. The paper consists of four parts: the first part presents the feminist…

This collection of papers investigates change and compares university education experiences worldwide, looking at it from the perspective of numbers of students, range of institutions, funding, institutional functions, boundaries, and directions, orientation of students and staff, and institutional change. After an introduction by Tom Schuler,…