This paper will present a brief overview of the recent shifts within English and EAL/D (English as an additional language/dialect) curriculum documents and their focus on critical literacy, using the Queensland context as a case in point. The English syllabus landscape in Queensland has continued to morph in recent years. From 2002 to 2009,…

In educational research, emotion has attracted substantial attention since the mid-1990s. While there are many studies of teacher emotion in educational change in the West, there is a remarkable dearth of such studies in China. This qualitative study attempts to address this issue by examining teachers' emotional experiences in the national…

This article examines the complex development and contradictory current state of affairs of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Finland. Rather than presenting a harmonious picture of the Finnish ECEC system, the authors have chosen to look at the problematic way in which national policies concerning ECEC have been interpreted and…

This article attempts to map the business and economics curriculum and explain some of the reasons for it being as it is; and to examine the number of students choosing to study the subjects and the "perceived relative value" of studying economics and business studies. In 1988 a National Curriculum was introduced for all 5-16-year-olds…

High stakes testing in Australia was introduced in 2008 by way of the National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). Currently, every year all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are assessed on the same days using national tests in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation) and Numeracy. In 2010 the…

New Zealand has recently released a new national curriculum presented as the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) (Ministry of Education, 2007). This document has significant implications for the future redevelopment of both the compulsory school curriculum and the non-compulsory senior secondary school curriculum. After a general introduction, this paper…

The comprehension of multimodal texts is now a key concern with the release of the Australian National Curriculum for English (ACARA, 2010). However, the nature of multimodal texts, the diversity of readers in classrooms, and the complex technological environments through which multimodal texts are mediated, requires English teachers to reconsider…

While universal human rights frameworks and democratic models of government have gained global support and even adherence, they often exist in tension with local cultural and religious practices. In Kuwait, tensions arise between its constitution, legal system and Islam, with several groups consequently marginalised. These tensions extend into the…

Is there validity to the claim that national standardized curriculum and testing will bring about the necessary education reform in the United States? To answer this question, the author has looked at and learned from Singapore, a country that has traditionally excelled and outperformed U.S. students in the international comparative studies. This…

The revised New Zealand Curriculum became mandatory for use in New Zealand schools in February 2010. The ongoing reform agenda in education in New Zealand since 1989 and elsewhere internationally has had corrosive effects on teacher professionality. State-driven neo-liberal policy and education reforms are deeply damaging to the mental and moral…

This paper explores the potential of "blurring the boundaries" between art and design and design and technology with specific reference to "improving creativity" in design and technology, as recommended in an inspection report of secondary and primary schools in England by Ofsted (2008: 7). The paper explores the evolution of…

This study assessed student activity levels, lesson contexts, and teacher behaviours within the revised English National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE). Fifteen Year 7 (age 11-12 years) PE lessons were systematically observed for each gender using SOFIT (System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time). Boys engaged in moderate-to-vigorous…

Based upon focus groups with 12 secondary school physical education (PE) teachers working in north-west England, this paper examines: (i) how young disabled people and pupils with special educational needs (SEN) were assessed in National Curriculum Physical Education (NCPE) 2000; and (ii) how teachers managed the constraints on them to assess…

The introduction of a National Curriculum to England and Wales in 1988 provided the first compulsory framework for music education. Writing in 1996, Mills suggested that in ten years time the impact of this change would result in primary school student teachers needing refreshment, and not development, of their musical knowledge. This five-year…

Contemporary art is a popular feature of the cultural landscape in the United Kingdom, and recent research has recommended introducing its practices into state education. Yet these practices are still rare in schools, and this paper argues that the many difficulties that arise from attempts to introduce them are indicative of their socially…