Neoliberalism and neoconservatism are two political ideologies that currently shape state directives for education in many countries. In this article, I describe the confluence of neoliberal and neoconservative ideologies that led to the introduction, by the English state department for education, of a Model Music Curriculum for schools. I…

The new comparative research in this volume explores the global flow of competence-based education, curricular policy, and frameworks for instructional practice. Taking critical perspectives, the chapters trace the pathways through which educators and policy actors adopted and reshaped competence-based education as promoted by the OECD, the World…

This is a study of Norwegian and New Zealand teacher educators' attitudes and understandings of what constitutes learning in schools. Excerpts of curriculum differences between the countries were used as catalysts to gain insight into teacher educators' espoused theories regarding their understanding of learning, using examples of skill-based and…

The relationship between history education and political education in Asian societies is an underexplored topic. Politics have deeply shaped the development of history education in Hong Kong, as in many other societies around the world. Hong Kong history education reforms have been criticized for providing a new form of national political…

The expectations of education have never been higher: around the world, governments are re-shaping their education systems, transforming early years, schools and universities through far-reaching reform in curriculum, assessment, teaching, accountability and funding. As Director of the Institute of Education for five years of tumultuous change in…

This article presents findings from a recent study of the education policy uses and impact of international large-scale assessments, namely the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The paper focuses on two overlapping dimensions of PISA's education policy use in the context of Spain. These include political dimensions, such as…

Michael Young's work is central to debates about knowledge and the school curriculum. In recent years he has renounced his early argument that school subjects represent the "knowledge of the powerful", arguing instead that access and equality for all students are dependent on ensuring that all get access to "powerful…

This article discusses the formation of gender equity education policies in Taiwan between 1995 and 1999. The first part of the article presents a general description of Taiwan's women's movement, the education reform movement, and the development of women's/gender studies after the lifting of martial law in 1987. The second part of the article…

Elite schools established in the nineteenth century in the image of British public schools now face intense competition from newly established elite schools. Located within the broader research project that this special issue discusses, this paper examines some of the ways in which an old elite school in India has sought to utilise is history to…

This paper challenges the celebratory uptake of human rights education (HRE) in postcolonial contexts by making visible the ideological and political entanglements of the discourse with neoliberal assumptions of citizenship. I draw evidence from, and critically reflect on, a specific HRE programme--a series of summer camps for girls entitled,…

The purpose of the study is to analyse and discuss the influences of globalisation and localisation on music education in Hong Kong and Taiwan. It argues that the reform of music education concerns changes to the contents of the curriculum that envisage the cultural and political developments that arise from processes of globalisation and…

Following the resumption of Chinese sovereignty in 1997, the Hong Kong Government has introduced a new national education project which aims at building nationalism and patriotism. With an active involvement of the state and civil society in promoting national education in recent years, there have been certain drastic changes in the school…

The article analyses the relation between religion, education and citizenship as reflected in recent research and current debates regarding religion in Pakistani schools. Following a description of the political context, two different views (one Christian, one Muslim) on the current state of affairs are presented. After a consideration of the…

In this case study, South Carolina's gifted education policy development, changes, and implementation are explored from three perspectives: policymakers, linkers, and adopters. Document review and individual and focus group interviews with policymakers, those who develop statute, regulation, and policy; linkers, district persons who implement…

Because Chile has experienced three different governments in ten years, it is a good country in which to examine the relationship between political tendencies and the educational system as measured by educational objectives and curricular activity. Even though the aspirations to democratize the educational system, to prepare students for work, and…