The policy and philosophy of school curriculum formation in this article is interpreted from phenomenological and critical pedagogy perspectives. The main features of the phenomenology, set against the instructional method for an individual's development, and his/her relationship with the surroundings, are herein explicated. The distinction…

In recent times considerable attention has been devoted to the performance of schools and in particular, of students in literacy and numeracy. As part of a national agenda addressing what is portrayed as a crisis in numeracy, and hence mathematics education, governments have introduced a wide range of reform initiatives to improve performance.…

When planning a lesson, many teachers will start by listing content-based objectives; after all, this is how the majority of textbooks, schemes of work and lesson planning templates are constructed. This is understandable, as for many years now teachers have been legally required to teach the national curriculum which was a list of content-based…

In the light of a decision taken in April 2009 that the arts will be included in a projected national curriculum it seems relevant to examine "First We See: The National Review of Visual Education," which was completed in August 2008. That Review recommends the development of a visual education curriculum for the compulsory years of…

This article attempts to map the business and economics curriculum and explain some of the reasons for it being as it is; and to examine the number of students choosing to study the subjects and the "perceived relative value" of studying economics and business studies. In 1988 a National Curriculum was introduced for all 5-16-year-olds…

The National Curriculum of 1988 provided a common curriculum for all primary and secondary schools in the state school sector in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and ensured that schools in all local authorities had a common curriculum. However, pupils with special educational needs had attainments that fell well below those that the National…

Undertaken during a period when changes in the assessment of English in public examinations at 16+ were becoming embedded in classroom practice, this comparative research explores where poetry is located within the newly aligned examination assessment frameworks of New Zealand and England. It comments on how these frameworks are locally…

The post-apartheid Dance Studies curriculum in South Africa is attempting to offer school learners both an education and training in dance as an art form. The outcomes-based syllabi are intended to ensure that learners come to respect the diversity of South African society, and therefore a range of dance styles and genres are offered in order to…

Structured according to the conceptual frameworks of nationalism and globalization, this study examined relationships between and among the Armenian Ministry of Education, the World Bank, the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation-Armenia, and Armenian secondary school teachers and principals from 1991 to the present. Each group played a…

This book focuses on the International Examinations Inquiry (IEI), an international, well-funded scientific project that operated in the 1930s, attracting key world figures in educational research, and which undertook significant exchanges of data. Originally involving the USA, Scotland, England, France, Germany and Switzerland, the IEI grew to…

This article explores the current context for personal, social and health education (PSHE) in English schools, and examines what the implications of the "Every Child Matters" (ECM) agenda are for schools in the future and how these changes may affect the profile and provision of PSHE in the curriculum. The author begins by revisiting the…

In curriculum evaluation and development, the views of students are important--but often overlooked. We report findings from a small innovative project involving 60 male (M) and female (F) students in two successive age groups: UK National Curriculum Year Groups (NCYG) 8 and 9 (aged 12-13 years and 13-14 years, respectively). The project was…

The paper reports on a research study investigating the professional identity of English teachers in the secondary school in the UK, and the effects of their subject philosophies and their conceptions of learning on their teaching. The various and often competing definitions of the subject have a long history, and a number of factors have been…

The "Playing for Success" (PfS) initiative is targeted on underachieving young people. It aims to contribute to raising educational standards, especially in numeracy and literacy, bringing the attainment levels of lower achieving pupils closer to the average expected for their age. This study set out to consider whether there was any evidence of…

What lies behind the lack of theorizing about content in history in contrast to much greater attention given to theorizing about children's developing understanding of historical skills and processes? Egan's model of the characteristic ways in which children of different ages engage with the world is used to raise the question of what content to…