The current version of the draft National Curriculum (1.0.1) remains a document which dis-integrates the subject through its three strands and fails to conceptualise a relationship between these strands. Drawing on curriculum history, I argue that this stands in strong contrast to a curriculum such as the 1971 NSW Syllabus for Years 7-10, which…

Since the United States has National Goals for Education, National Assessment of Educational Progress, a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, a "National Initiative" in reading and the language arts, a National Commission on Excellence in Education, why not have a National Curriculum? Two questions arise: (1) does the…

The speech by the Assistant Secretary of the Special Education Division of the Department of Education and Science explains the options for flexibility possible in meeting the needs of handicapped students under the new British National Curriculum. (DB)

This paper examines, within a framework of the world-system analysis, the process of the nationalization of education in Burma. As a significant part of the nationalist-socialist revolution launched to undermine foreign influences on the Burmese society in 1962, all schools in the country were nationalized and the curriculum…

The first paper, "Pupils--Panaceas and Pragmatism," provides background on computer-assisted instruction and national programs in Great Britain for introducing computers into the schools. The second paper (untitled) looks at the status of computers in education in Great Britain, the effects of the national curriculum on computer use, and…

This paper examines the issue of national curriculum standards within the context of social studies education. The paper explores both the recent "conservative-liberal" consensus in favor of (at least) the idea(l) of national curriculum standards and the nascent opposition movements to national curriculum standards growing within both…

The National Curriculum, introduced under the Education Reform Act of 1988, has influenced the cultural politics of secondary schools in England and Wales. The National Curriculum began a new phase in the role of teachers developing school curriculum that is characterized by centralized control and external accountability. To many it suggests a…

In England and Wales, a National Curriculum initiated in 1988 was designed to ensure that all schools provided a curriculum which represented different areas of knowledge. The past 20 years has increasingly seen more emphasis on the link between the financial amounts spent on education and subsequent return on this money. The impact of the…

This paper outlines the driving forces behind the restructuring movement in the United Kingdom and examines how quality-management approaches are being adopted by some schools as a response to this change. Key elements in the 1988 National Education Reform Act include a national curriculum, a national system of testing and assessment, formula…

A national curriculum in physical education for the elementary and secondary schools will not solve the problems prevalent in current physical education curricula. In terms of feasibility, it is not clear that a consensus could be reached among physical educators or that a national curriculum could change local programs, or that it could be…

The author endorses the approach to teaching phonics set out in recent documents (e.g. Progression in Phonics) that extend and supersede the approach set out earlier in the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) Framework for Teaching. Proposed are minor, evidence-driven amendments to this approach. The assumption that failure to achieve continuing…

This paper addresses recent educational policy developments in England and Wales, focusing on the National Literacy Strategy, National Numeracy Strategy, and the proposed Early Learning Goals. The paper delineates research findings regarding the early mathematics and English learning achieved before entry into formal schooling, effective teaching…

This document discusses the state of science education in primary school before and after the introduction of the National Curriculum in 1989 established science as a core subject. The first half describes research and specific efforts to improve science education in the primary grades. It includes the following sections: (1) "Background to…

Since the 1960s, the world has undergone transformations in trade, industry, and technology. Some assert that the postmodern society needs organizational structures that allow for diversity, instability, unpredictability, and mobility. However, this paper argues that the headlong rush toward such organizational forms may well encourage the…

The British National Curriculum suggests that a range of thinking skills need to be taught. But can children be taught to think? This paper takes the view that all thinking is embedded in a particular context. It gives an account of its author/educators' work with children, draws attention to distinctive features of their approach to teaching, and…