Changes to the National Curriculum in England in 2014 placed a stronger emphasis on children working scientifically while developing a range of science enquiry skills. As science subject leaders, the authors noticed that colleagues in their schools were only confident when teaching enquiry as a fair test, which the authors now know is not always…

This paper presents an account of a new place-based education initiative using both the mathematical construct of hypothetical learning trajectory and the 3D printing technology or Projection Augmented Landscape Models (PALM), as a tool for learning. The goal of the pilot study is to create bridges between Aboriginal and Western ways of knowing…

As plants and seed dispersal are common themes in primary science, the author thought that she would share an enquiry challenge activity that addresses many of the "working scientifically" objectives of the National Curriculum for England. Year 3 and 4 children had a whole afternoon made up firstly of "playing", planning and…

Materials are all around us and the importance of supporting children to understand the vast array of different types of materials is recognised at all key stages in the science National Curriculum for England. Ensuring that children connect concepts taught in key stages 1 and 2 (ages 5-11) is the starting point in helping children to comprehend…

Mathematics curriculum documentation currently presents important information and messages for New Zealand teachers. Mathematical processes are not explicitly set out but embedded in different locations and there are multiple sources of proxy official curriculum information for the primary school. This article identifies and discusses examples of…

The article outlines ways that teachers could use the content in Biomes and Food Security unit in the Australian curriculum, and its state and territory versions, to encourage their students to engage with higher order thinking. It first briefly discusses how to describe and classify higher-order thinking and argues that concepts are central to…

This paper gives a brief summary of Halliday's theory of how children learn to talk, illustrating the development of children's language from the microfunctions through the macrofunctions and into the metafunctions of adult language. The paper points to a possible source of the misinterpretation of Halliday's theory in the work of Frank Smith…

Educators in South Korea have been adapting textbooks and related activities to meet the increasing need for national-level curricula for teachers of special and general education for students with disabilities at the elementary school level. The underlying aim is to create inclusive educational environments. There are four steps in adapting…

As South Africa transitioned from apartheid to democracy, changes in the political landscape, as well as educational agendas and discourse on both a national and international level, shaped successive waves of curriculum reform over a relatively short period of time. Using South Africa as a germane example of how curriculum and pedagogy can…

As we move further into the digital age, the acquisition of digital literacy (DL) and computational thinking (CT) skills is emerging internationally as an essential goal for students in contemporary school curricula. As the world becomes more uncertain and volatile due to impacts of artificial intelligence (AI), international unrest, climate…

Gap reasoning is an inappropriate strategy for comparing fractions. In this article, Patrick Sullivan and Joann Barnett look at the persistence of this misconception amongst students and the insights teachers can draw about students' reasoning.

Differentiating instruction can be difficult, however, when higher performing students yearn to be stretched and lower performing students benefit from scaffolded support. One way to meet these students' learning needs and everyone in-between is to embrace the notion of novel exploration in support of critical school mathematics concepts. Novelty…

This viewpoint article discusses the growing threat to human rights in Brazil, specifically on gender and political ideologies. Brazil has a progressive Constitution that guarantees basic human rights to all Brazilians, including that of choice of gender. In the last few years, pressure groups, particularly religious groups, have increasingly…

In this discussion of global citizenship education (GCED) in Aotearoa, I will be drawing upon my experiences teaching in international education, teaching the "New Zealand Curriculum," and my research in the field of citizenship-and social-justice education in Aotearoa New Zealand. I advocate approaching GCED as part of a broader…

The United Kingdom (U.K.) offers excellent safety policies and resources from which Technology and Engineering (T&E) educators across the world could benefit. In the U.K., Design and Technology (D&T) is taught in most primary (elementary) and secondary schools. D&T has origins related to crafts and domestic skills; however, D&T now…