The Polish school education system makes a distinction between two types of assessment: (1) Intra-school or internal assessment; and (2) External assessment. The idea of introducing external examinations into the Polish school education system emerged in 1992. This was directly inspired by study visits to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands…

Describes the principal features of Great Britain's National Curriculum for English. Examines British educators' responses to this national curriculum mandate, paying particular attention to their criticisms, thus illuminating work in the United States in curriculum development and uncovering some of the problems in an approach that features…

Discusses the current (unacknowledged) national curriculum, the myth of local control, the need for a national curriculum, major issues, and building a national curriculum. (SR)

The present state of Japanese educational reform is a mystery when seen from the outside. Although internationally known as one of the most highly achieving nations on international tests since the end of the 1990s, the Japanese have been engaged in a heated achievement crisis debate over the newest reforms to the national curriculum implemented…

The New Zealand Curriculum Stocktake, undertaken between 2000 and 2003, signalled a more coherent and fluid approach to curriculum processes, and support for school-based decision-making around curriculum design and implementation. The subsequent "Curriculum Marautanga Project" (Ministry of Education, 2004) promised a "reframing,…

Traces some of the historical developments which led to the current state of English instruction in colleges in Britain. Describes a series of ideological and institutional struggles that have marked the field since its inception. Sees these struggles as still raging within the discipline. (HB)

Explains the British government's suppression of the LINC (Language in the National Curriculum) training package materials. Discusses the significance of some of the training materials which will not be published because of the government's actions. (HB)

Describes British teachers' perceptions of the first year's implementation of elementary school history using a national curriculum (NC). Surveys about staffing, curriculum development, inservice training, department structure, and NC requirements indicated the experience of implementing the NC was difficult, and only half the respondents favored…

British math teachers' accounts of their classroom life show how their daily work builds classroom culture and how they have been limited by the imposition of the National Curriculum. Because of it, teachers construct a position of neutrality about student achievement despite the way they shape the learning conditions that influence it. (SK)

The effective teaching of national education requires from the teacher a sense of commitment and personal conviction. The teacher has to demonstrate confidence in what is said and taught in class and, more importantly, through his or her personal values and convictions. In other words, the teacher is required to be patriotic. This paper examines…

The German dual apprenticeship system has traditionally been viewed as an effective system for generating a highly skilled workforce in the trades, crafts and service sectors. In addition, countries and systems looking to improve their own approaches to vocational education and training (VET) have considered as exemplary the main features of the…

The National Curriculum, introduced under the Education Reform Act of 1988, has influenced the cultural politics of secondary schools in England and Wales. The National Curriculum began a new phase in the role of teachers developing school curriculum that is characterized by centralized control and external accountability. To many it suggests a…

This paper on entrepreneurial education compares positions in three national debates. It identifies different ways that formal and informal texts define entrepreneurial education and gives rationales for it--in comprehensive schools or K-12 education--in different contexts. The study was guided by three questions: (1) What is understood by…

Presents a brief history of teacher education in Great Britain and ways that academic study and practical experience evolved into reflective teaching. Notes that the relective model rests on the basic assumption that teachers have autonomy in their decision making. Claims the Education Reform Act of 1988 is an attack on professional autonomy. (NL)

Questions the usefulness of "unitary" English, which subsumes language and literature as a prominent feature of much progressive pedagogies. Proposes that language and literature instead be separated and thus radically transformed. (HB)