Search

The UK is typical of many industrialised countries at the present time in searching for new kinds of assessment procedure which will be appropriate on the one hand to the goals of the more vocational curricula currently being developed and, on the other, be relevant to the whole range of pupil needs and achievement. The paper explores the impetus behind such changes and argues that the policies so generated embody a number of political and educational contradictions. Using recent developments in England and Scotland as a case study, the paper argues that, despite their egalitarian potential in educational terms, the underlying political climate of cost-efficiency and laissez-faire individualism which in turn inhibits any substantial change in traditional educational values is likely to result in reinforced, rather than reduced social divisions being associated with such initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the ‘progressive’ influence of the English Plowden Report and Scottish Primary Memorandum on British primary curricula from the 1960s onwards, secondary education has generally continued to follow a more traditional subject-centred route and post-war educational theorists have not generally been favourably inclined to other than subject-based modes of curriculum planning and organisation. However, in the light of current curriculum reviews on both sides of the Scottish border – calling for more educationally meaningful curricula – the perennial issue of how school knowledge might best be ordered for the coherent educational experience of pupils seems worth revisiting. To this end, this paper examines some of the influential post-war philosophical arguments against integrated and interdisciplinary approaches to the curricular organisation of knowledge, concluding that they are not as compelling as they might formerly have seemed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1988 Education Reform Act legislated for a statutory curriculum in state-funded schools in England and Wales. This study explores how, out of a common curriculum framework for both countries, there emerged a school curriculum that was adapted to the distinctiveness of the linguistic and cultural context in Wales. The roles of those most closely involved in policy development in Wales are examined as is the relationship between the ‘national’ and ‘territorial’ arenas of policy-making in the months leading up to publication of the Education Reform Bill in November 1987. It is argued that a pragmatic approach to policy development in Wales during that period laid the foundations both for a reworking of the 1988 curriculum framework during the 1990s and for potentially more radical change following the 2002 Education Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addresses the issue of the need for the development of a post compulsory curriculum adequate to the demands of the 21st century in British education. Qualitative and quantitative issues involved in the development of a 21st century curriculum; Circumstances that can influence curriculum development efforts in the country.

Evaluates the effectiveness of planned curriculum change in Great Britain. Citation of the minimal impact of curriculum change on schools and colleges; Requirement of changes in the internal organization of the school; Involvement of teachers in decision-making.

The article examines the much neglected theme of the origins and growth of university adult education in Nigeria between 1945 and 1955, and to evaluate the British influence on this. The British planned higher education entirely on the basis of their assumptions about African needs and that Africans have failed to make any notable changes in the established pattern. Majority of the planners of university adult education in Nigeria were British and it is significant to draw attention to the genuine efforts made by these planners to relate the programmes that were planned to the needs of the Africans.

Focuses on the state of the educational system in Great Britain. Conception of educational planning at national and local level; Developments in educational studies; Improvements of the curriculum policy.

In this article, I argue that it is now particularly pertinent to examine the implications for diversity of different conceptions of citizenship, given the current socio-political climate globally, as well as the current national context in the United Kingdom. I have categorised conceptions of citizenship into four main categories - 'moral', 'legal', 'participatory', and 'identity-based' conceptions. This categorisation is based on original empirical research which examined conceptions of citizenship in the policy and curriculum development process of citizenship education in England, held by the 'key players' involved, and supported by analysis of key policy and curriculum documentation (QCA, 1998, 2000, 2001). I examine the implications for ethnic and religious diversity of each of the conceptions. I argue that citizenship education's dominant 'participative' model will not be able to achieve an inclusive citizenship unless it is coupled with a modified 'identity-based' model. I propose the concept of 'institutional multiculturalism', constituted as process. This focus on a consideration of the process by which shared values can then be achieved has typically been neglected by those calling for shared values in multicultural societies. In conclusion, I outline some implications for policy, curriculum and pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the provision of higher education for engineers in Great Britain and the U.S. between 1890-1914. The training of British engineers in the first half of the nineteenth century was almost entirely by apprenticeship in the shops and offices of practicing engineers. A high level of theoretical knowledge was neither desired nor available. As this was a period of outstanding international success for British engineers as well as industrialists, the British were rightfully proud of their practical skills. By the 1860s, reports of the excellence of technical education on the Continent had become common and from that point the Institution of Civil Engineers became the leader in attempts to promote higher levels of education for professional engineers in Great Britain as well. Following Britain's disappointing showing at the International Exhibition in Paris in 1867, the institution launched its own investigation into, the education and status of the profession in Great Britain and abroad. The British felt that American engineering education included too many non-technical subjects and that German and Swiss education was too theoretical, but the foreign curricula were found to be basically acceptable in their mix of scientific and engineering subjects.

Comments on the philosophical principles underlying the curriculum and the libertarian attitude towards education in Great Britain. Reasons for the differences in the educational recommendations made by those who employ the libertarian argument; Justifications of the compulsory curriculum courses; Implications of the disagreements about the nature of freedom for important educational and social consequences.

Discusses the rationale for an approach to initial professional training in the postgraduate certificate education (PGCE) course teachers in Great Britain. Basic considerations in decisions on course design; Characterization of the professionalism required of teachers; Practical principles for PGCE courses.

Outlines the main details of the Associated Examining Board's philosophy syllabus and considers the problem of teaching philosophy in schools in Great Britain. Composition of two parts in the syllabus that concentrate on the history of philosophy and other various philosophical themes; Choice given to students to select two themes from possible areas like Our Perception of the External World and Faith and the Existence of God; Possibility that naive philosophical amateurs would be given a license to indulge in an undisciplined search for a philosophy of life.