Although not a new discussion in the Irish context, the value of oral language development has recently gained prominence again in Irish Post-Primary English classrooms. In this article we present how the recent introduction of Junior Cycle English, which now includes an Oral Communication Classroom Based Assessment () is renewing efforts to…

Under the auspices of its 'Education Revolution', the Federal Labor Government is currently implementing a national curriculum for schools. Representing an important intervention into educational practice and governance, the Australian Curriculum offers a unique research opportunity, providing substantial scope for the examination of the changing…

The English Language Arts (ELA) Common Core State Standards ([CCSS], 2010) could have a transformational effect on American education. Though the process seems daunting, one can begin immediately integrating the essence of the ELA Common Core in every subject area. This article shows how one could implement the Common Core and create coherent,…

The shift to the Common Core at the Lazaro Cardenas Elementary School, a pre-K to third grade school in a predominantly Latino area in southwest Chicago, rested on instructional improvement efforts Jeremy Feiwell initiated five years earlier in 2006, when he became Cardenas's principal. Feiwell knew from his years as a teacher at Cardenas that…

Throughout much of the 20th century, English departments were the crown jewels of the humanities. Exposure to great literature was often considered essential for students expected to assume lead roles in business, law, government, and society. Today, English departments have lost their position at the center of the American university. Enrollments…

This paper explores the ways in which module and curriculum development in the context of a distance education (DE) programme play an important role in "constructing" a discipline's object of study, thus contributing to the ways in which knowledge is understood in society. The paper examines how the process of module production both…

The year 2012 is significant for English teachers in Australia, not only is it the National Year of Reading, but it is also the year when an increasing number of English teachers across the country are implementing the "Australian Curriculum: English," the first national curriculum in the history of the nation. This paper addresses the…

This is the text of a paper given at the 2011 Symposium of the Australian Academy of the Humanities on the theme, "Educating the Nation: The Humanities in the New Australian Curriculum", the 42nd Annual Symposium of the Australian Academy of the Humanities at the University of Melbourne, 17 November 2011. It was presented in a session on…

This article documents an ongoing study of educational policy enactment in a Chinese university. Drawing upon data collected through document analysis, semi-structured interviews and classroom observations, this paper argues that the enactment of China's systemic College English curriculum reform is not a matter of simple implementation but the…

Building on the groundbreaking research of the MacArthur Foundation's Digital Media & Learning initiative, this book crosses the divide between digital literacies and traditional print culture to engage a generation of students who can read with a book in one hand and a mouse in the other. "Reading in a Participatory Culture" tells the story of an…

This study, situated within the fields of English education and writing teacher education, illustrates not only "what" is happening in writing methods courses but why in its examination of writing methods courses and instructor influences. The writing methods course is identified by English educators and writing teacher educators as…

Once again, the National Curriculum orders for English are being rewritten. The writers of the new curriculum have looked to the education systems of "high-performing jurisdictions" for inspiration. The result is a curriculum draft that offers a limited view of the subject and one which apparently fails to prioritise the needs of the…

The increasing importance of English as a global language, calls for an equally vigorous attempt to improving teaching and learning it in schools as a second language within and outside India. Highlighting the relevance of contextualising ESL learning by allowing for the needs of students and teachers in undertaking reforms to ESL learning, this…

The implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) across the country necessitates revising the English curriculum, asking teachers to incorporate and analyze more perspectives in the classroom as society becomes more diverse. The authors wondered if this reform might provide an opportunity to examine social equity by studying an anchor…

This paper examines the perceptions of English language lecturers from three colleges of education on the factors that inhibit the implementation process of the revised English Language Nigeria Certificate Education Curriculum. The study which is underpinned by the CIPP Evaluation model is part of a larger study on the evaluation of the…