Why should we assume systematic comparative research on state-based curriculum-making to be possible at all, given the high complexity and large variety of institutional forms of educational and political systems across nation-states? On the other hand, how can we explain the significant endeavour of nation-states all over the world to align their…

Queensland schools are currently teaching with the first National Curriculum for Australia. This new curriculum was one of a number of political responses to address the recurring low scores in literacy, mathematics, and science that continue to hold Australia in poor international rankings. Teachers have spent 2 years getting to know the new…

The research reported on in this paper is a qualitative case study of secondary school teachers' interpretations of how they work with a component of the Australian national curriculum, the seven "general capabilities." The case study of four secondary school teachers utilized teacher interviews eliciting via descriptive analysis how…

The UTeach program, a national model for undergraduate teacher preparation, includes "Perspectives on Science and Mathematics," a class designed to share content about the History of Science (HOS) with preservice teachers. UTeach provides a model curriculum as a sample for instructors teaching "Perspectives." The purpose of…

Internationally, Intercultural Understanding (ICU) is increasingly prevalent in the field of education. The recent evidence base includes a growing academic literature and examples of specified education policy and curricula. In regards to leveraging ICU, research suggests a multi-level and longitudinal approach is needed to ensure effective and…

Within Australia, globalization, contentious connections with Asia, and an increasing concern with sustainable development and intercultural education have created a new educational framework and curricula. The Australian Curriculum is the tangible, multidimensional, and pedagogic catalyst to deliver capable, creative, culturally aware,…

This paper provides insights into non-Indigenous teachers' efforts to engage proactively and productively with students to enhance their learning in a predominantly Indigenous community in northern Queensland, Australia. Drawing upon notions of "funds of knowledge", forms of capital as part of community cultural wealth, Critical Race…

"Curriculum alignment" is the compatibility between a country's centralized curriculum determined by the ministry of education and what teachers do during the teaching process. However, it is observed that teachers do not exactly implement the curriculum. The purpose of this study is to develop a scale that will determine the factors…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into teachers' practice in implementing school-based health promotion. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative research was designed as a multiple case study. The study involved five schools, 233 pupils in the age 12-16 and 23 teachers. The primary data generation method were focus…

The inclusion of young children with special needs with their typically developing peers has been the subject of discussion for more than three decades. There are several compelling reasons to create high-quality inclusive programs for young children with special needs in schools. Most countries supports inclusion and research has shown teachers'…

The new Secondary Curriculum (implemented in 2008) saw greater emphasis on creativity within the National Curriculum for England. Since this term has been boldly stated, how have teachers and pupils responded to it in the classroom? This study draws on responses from a range of pupils in different Key Stages (2 (pupils aged 7-11), 3 (pupils aged…

This paper explores questions of relevance to Ethiopian primary education policy. It examines (i) the match/mismatch between government-prescribed pedagogy and actual student learning practices and (ii) the relationship between those practices and school, class and teacher level factors. The paper employs evidence from government documents on…

This article presents the experiences of nursery and primary head teachers (n = 12) on the English Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) after its first year of implementation in 2010. Findings are drawn from a subset of data (head teachers of primary and nursery schools) which forms part of a larger Department for Children, Schools and Families…

A case study approach was adopted to investigate two thinking skills programmes for a maximum variation sample of five- to six-year-olds in four schools, in two local authorities (LAs), in England and Wales, using multiple methods. School staff interviewed felt that thinking skills programmes enhanced critical thinking skills and improved use of…

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of in-service courses conducted by the Ministry of National Education in order to inform teachers about the changes introduced by the new primary and secondary school curricula. The study also aims to reveal whether these changes have entered the classrooms based on the teachers' views of the INSET…