Successful curriculum development in any school subject requires a clear and established set of elements: agreed and widely appreciated goals; effective criteria for the selection of important knowledge content; and an explicit and well-integrated explanatory base for authentic problem-solving related to the subject goals. The article shows that…

In 2005, Peter Stearns wrote, "The ongoing debate between partisans of Western civilization surveys and fans of world history continues with no signs of any abatement." No one can deny that the rise of world history has been a phenomenon in American higher education over the past 30 years. Most high school students now take some version…

The world has changed rapidly since the end of the Cold War. Globalization demands a much higher intellectual standard of people in a country. At the same time, the trend toward pluralistic cultures in many countries has lessened confrontations among peoples of different ideologies. Compared with the twentieth century, in this new era, the peoples…

This article explores how teaching about identity in Australia has been framed by the recent historical and political context. It analyses the influential characterisation of Australian identity during John Howard's period in office between 1996 and 2007. The findings of Australian education researchers relating to young people's sense of what it…

In this article, Julian Vasquez Heilig, Keffrelyn Brown, and Anthony Brown offer findings from a close textual analysis of how the Texas social studies standards address race, racism, and communities of color. Using the lens of critical race theory, the authors uncover the sometimes subtle ways that the standards can appear to adequately address…

For more than a decade, the world history course taught in the public high schools of Texas has provided the only comprehensive overview of the story of humanity to millions of students, most of whom are of Mexican descent. The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills curriculum standard for world history has been foundational for textbook selection,…

From the biographical perspective of her own career as a curriculum developer and university lecturer, the author explores how the present day curriculum for primary and lower secondary education has developed, and which values and principles have determined curriculum decisions during more than 15 years. Curriculum, with its apparatus of learning…

According to the authors, five years ago their school district embraced Understanding by Design as the organizing framework for curriculum. The emphasis on enduring understandings and essential questions led the sixth grade social studies teachers to reevaluate what they were teaching in their World History Curriculum. Together the authors worked…

In 2006, the Japanese American National Museum funded a three year curriculum development project entitled "Enduring Communities: Japanese Americans in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Utah." As a member of the team of teachers from New Mexico, I used this experience to study my process of developing meaningful content and…

Although the curriculum changes of 2008 brought with them new GCSE specifications, Jonathan White was disappointed by the dated feel of some "Modern World" options, particularly the depth studies on offer. Drawing on his experience of teaching comparative history within the International Baccalaureate, and building on previous arguments…

This article examines how interest groups in Hong Kong have politicised national history, an unpopular school subject, for their own political ends and allied themselves with the PRC against the SAR government and its policy of not making it a single, independent, compulsory core subject in the school curriculum. The article argues that this has…

Both government and non-government agencies have decried how poorly today's students are prepared to thrive in the global marketplace. One area of concern, cross-cultural understandings and cross-cultural communication skills, is the basis for this study. A qualitative study using a phenomenological design was chosen in order to collect rich…

10 Great Curricula is a collection of stories written by educators who have come to understand curricula differently as a result of their engagement with a graduate course and its instructor. The book represents the best of what can be found in teaching and learning, in general, and in the quest for meaningful ways to understand curricula in…

Inquiry-into-practice represents a valuable disposition for teachers; reflecting on one's teaching to derive insights for subsequent practice can enhance professional efficacy and promote student achievement. To support this disposition among teacher candidates (TCs), Lynch School of Education faculty at Boston College created a capstone course,…

In "Teaching with Vision," two respected scholars in teaching for social justice have gathered teachers from across the country to describe rich examples of extraordinary practice. This collection showcases the professional experience and wisdom of classroom teachers who have been navigating standards- and test-driven teaching environments in…