Analyzes some policy-practice lessons learned from Britain's Technical and Vocational Education Initiative as its influence diminishes. Considers how TVEI affected the culture of teaching, learning, and curriculum in unintentional ways. Although TVEI's social effects have been limited, the program's legacy is evident; education policy that fails…

The background of practice and ideology that led to the national curriculum and national assessment in England and Wales is traced, along with the development of national assessment policy. The breakdown, which has resulted in teachers who refuse to conduct the prescribed testing, is described. (SLD)

Stresses key areas of political conflict in the certification of a national curricular content and explores trade-offs a national-standards approval group must make. The article analyzes left-wing support for explicit opportunity-to-learn standards and right-wing objections to educational outcomes and focuses on initial approval stages, not…

Reports results of a study of curriculum continuity across the primary/secondary divide in one subject, history, in light of the British National Curriculum's supposed resolution of the problem. Includes findings indicating that teachers continue to define the divide as a problem, and that there are instructional inconsistencies across and within…

Repeats a mid-1980s project as part of the Economic and Social Research Council project, "Pupil's Approaches to Subject Option Choices," allowing comparison of approaches before and after the National Curriculum implementation. Shows across-time and between-school differences in subject preference, but little instability in perceptions…

Compares the 1989 National Curriculum implemented in Great Britain with the National Agenda for Curriculum Reform in Australia. Reports some of the concerns about early childhood education (heavily subject-dominated curriculum and formalized assessment) the curriculum caused in Britain. Urges Australian educators to learn from Britain's experience…

As the assessments mandated by the British National Curriculum have come into use, teachers have found the core concern to be how to manage the assessment of each student's progress within the framework of the statutory requirements. This book focuses on the assessment of students of ethnic minority backgrounds and presents a collection of…

The implementation of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) began in English primary schools at the start of the autumn term, 1998. The purpose of the strategy is to improve standards in literacy. This is the fourth report on NLS by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). It provides a detailed account of the implementation and impact of…

This book examines the effects of reforms in some countries' national education systems, noting that far from improving education, they have often made it more difficult for teachers to do a good job in the classroom. It focuses on how teaching has changed and continues to change in England's educational reform climate. The book argues that many…

National education goals are admirable, but achieving them democratically will be challenging, in the face of growing child poverty and current standardization efforts. Contributors to this special issue are "transformationists" advocating new definitions of school curriculum; new organizational arrangements to promote diversity;…

Analysis of the first government inspections of Jewish schools in England by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) shows mismatches between the schools' declared aims for Jewish Studies, and their practices, as well as problems in the teaching of Hebrew. (SLD)

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…

At the turn of the twenty-first century a paradigm shift in economic development is taking place in the world. This is reflected in the transition to what goes by the name of the new economy. Given birth by the information and communications revolution, this economy is developing under the conditions of globalization and competition while…

This paper explores a participatory process of Environmental Education (EE) networking in Mafeteng primary schools. It gives an overview of the existing EE efforts in Lesotho, particularly the models schools of the National Curriculum Development Centre. It also provides information about Lesotho Environmental Information Network as the body that…

In previous studies of educational systems, Markov chains have often been used in simulations in which history played no role because all events were described as independent of each other. Mono-level dynamics (i.e., the social context in which learning occurs is ignored) have also been applied to simulations. Educational theories, however, are…