Science is a much-revised and contested area of the curriculum. A new curriculum has recently been introduced in England which includes far more mathematical aspects of science than previous versions. This study asks what the influences, ideologies and values are which led to this change. A two-phase qualitative approach was followed comprising…

This comparative case study adopts a process implementation perspective on neoliberal regulation to explore developments in national curricula and standard-based reforms in the USA and Australia. Date sources include research reports, books, OECD data, and local survey data. The comparison of the dynamic of two countries reveals that whereas…

In 2011, the Swedish National Agency for Education introduced a new national curriculum. The curriculum contained a number of new terms. One in particular proved problematic for physical educators -- "complex movement." The confusion surrounding the term could be seen as somewhat unexpected since movement is and has been a central…

This article discusses the challenges faced teaching the promotion of 'British values', especially for trainee teachers. The advancement of these 'British values' as set out by the Department for Education is confusing, contradictory, and appear to exclude a sizeable minority of pupils of minority backgrounds from the current historical narrative…

For centuries, Macau's schooling has embraced laissez-faire market principles, a stasis that from AY2016/17 is being changed by the government offering schools tuition coupons conditional on their adoption of a common school curriculum. A study of part of this new common curriculum, the development of a music curriculum for junior secondary…

The aim of this article is to highlight some conceptions of ethical competence identified in interviews with teachers in religious education in Sweden, and within analyses of policy documents in a Swedish and an Icelandic educational context. As a starting point we take seven interviewed teachers' comments about what they view as important ethical…

The purpose of this study was to examine policy making that led to the National School Reform Agreement and its effects on national and state-level curriculum reforms. Content analysis method was used to reveal the philosophic positions on education held by experts appointed to conduct the national policy reviews and the opinions of education…

The structure of the Australian national curriculum encompasses engagement with "intercultural education". Significantly, the context from which the curriculum was developed was heavily influenced by a multiculturalist ideology in which notions of cohesion and harmony were dominant. Therefore, those working with the curriculum need to…

The context in which gifted education operates in Australia provides for differing levels of identification and services. Lacking a federal mandate or funding, states and territories are responsible for addressing the needs of gifted students. Australia contributes to the gifted education research literature, focusing on acceleration, gifted…

While there is now a considerable body of work on teacher identity in the area of language education, much less attention has been given to the question of the extent to which student teachers are enabled to construct identities that are consonant with the opportunities and challenges of current multilingual classrooms. Drawing on a recent…

This paper proposes a framework for multilingual language-in-education policy implementation, offered as a critically constructive response to India's recent "National Education Policy 2020" (GOI, 2020). Rooted in India's existing educational language policy, our linguistically inclusive 'Languages for Learning' (LFL) framework is, we…

In 2006, elite sport was introduced into the Norwegian national curriculum as an elective subject in the pre-tertiary school. Grades achieved in this 5-hours-a-week subject count towards school-leavers' overall attainment grades. Prior to 2006, this subject was only offered as a specially adapted, alternative pedagogy in private schools. The paper…

Much recent research stresses the increasing relevance of international organisations (IOs) for national education policymaking. Yet, IOs' curriculum recommendations have remained largely out of scope, although they provide a forceful example of 'soft' governance. Based on a content analysis of 83 documents from 42 inter/-nongovernmental, global…

This article reflects on how English as a school subject was positioned in the seminal paper "The Teaching of English in England", otherwise known as The Newbolt Report, and its relationship with current government policy in England. Nearly a century after the Report's publication, questions regarding the content and purpose of English…

Purpose: This paper seeks to illuminate the background of citizenship and character education in South Korea in order to better determine a means of collaboration between the two goals. Method: The paper is based on the qualitative analysis of the official documents and law in relation to citizenship and character education. Findings: The paper…