Analyzes interviews with primary school practitioners about the implementation of the English/Welsh National Curriculum. Finds long-term trends are influenced by a conflict between shortage of time and demands of good practices. Discusses changes from child-focused to standard curriculum, from local to standard assessment, and similar issues. (CFR)

Discusses British ideology, accountability, and teacher education improvement. Recent proposals for restructuring of teacher education do not acknowledge existing changes resulting from government initiatives and internal course reform following National Curriculum requirements. The paper recommends stressing course quality and content as…

Traces educational reform related to history education in Great Britain since the first Margaret Thatcher administration. Outlines the work of the History Working Group and two competing approaches to the study of history. Describes how conservative forces rejected pluralistic history in favor of traditional nationalist-based history. (CFR)

Argues that European schools must begin to deal with the issue of citizenship education in light of the emergence of the European Community. Concludes that both preservice and inservice teacher training will be critical to success efforts to promote European citizenship. (CFR)

Argues that the conscious originating motives for both market-oriented and uniform standards approaches to improving the quality of teacher education may not guarantee the effects of such policies in the real world of real schools, noting that such reforms may have dangerous consequences unless efforts are situated within an honest analysis of…

Since the 1980s the mission of the national citizenship education curriculum in Pakistan has been the Islamization of society. The government curriculum guidelines require textbooks to emphasize Islam as the national ideology of the state of Pakistan. Recognizing the deleterious effect of an exclusivist curriculum on the civic unity of the nation,…

This paper reports the findings of a case study aimed at investigating the forces influencing curriculum policy in one Catholic school in Western Australia (WA). The student-outcomes' focused Curriculum Framework was released in 1998 and is mandated to be implemented in all WA schools by 2004. This has made non-government schools answerable to the…

This appendix is a companion document to "Saudi Arabia's Curriculum of Intolerance with Excerpts from Saudi Ministry of Education Textbooks for Islamic Studies." The appendix includes selected excerpts in Arabic with English translations for currently-used textbooks in grades 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. These excerpts support the…

Development of voluntary, national standards as the basis for educational reform has generated considerable debate about such standards' desirability and the enlarged federal role in education. Examines arguments for and against national standards; assumptions and misconceptions underlying this approach; political considerations; and issues of…

The national socialization of children through public schooling involves "dumbing children down" so they are unable to use democratic machinery and traditions to defend themselves against a managed society. This practice also eliminates local control of educational goals and practices, allowing families to be replaced by the hired voices…

Reports on the responses of headteachers and teachers in 570 primary schools in England and Wales to the introduction of the national curriculum in art. Finds that a significant majority of the respondents welcomed the national curriculum. (CFR)

For newly independent Central Asian republics a debate has arisen about how much of the aims, content and pedagogy of old Soviet-era curricula to retain, how much to revise or replace, and with what. There is a need to replace and revise textbooks, which are wearing out and outdated. Financial crisis has made the financial support of external…

Presents excerpts from two interviews, conducted in 1979 and 1995, with John Coe, a British primary education specialist and advocate for child-centered education. As primary education has veered toward a national curriculum and assessments, school choice, locally managed schools, and a strong, politically charged accountability element, teachers…

The paper discusses the role of schools in Great Britain's preservice teacher education, noting the political history of the country's teacher education. Research shows that the result of partnerships between schools and institutions of higher education has been teachers who enter the field with satisfactory qualifications. (SM)

Compares the arts and design context and attributes of the National Curriculum in England and the National Guidelines in Scotland. Concludes that art and design educators in both England and Scotland must work to remove bureaucratic constraints that prevent practitioners from controlling their own discipline. (CFR)