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This study investigates the critical transition from secondary to tertiary mathematics education, focusing on students’ challenges and the impact of curriculum reforms in Sweden. Through an analysis of diagnostic test scores and admission data from Umeå University over the period 2006–2021, we examine the evolving mathematical competencies of incoming engineering students and the broader implications of these shifts for educational policy and student preparedness for higher education. Our findings indicate a significant improvement in students’ mathematical readiness in the latter years of the study, correlating with the implementation of curriculum changes and variations in admission statistics. This research documents the positive outcomes of these educational reforms on student preparedness. It places these findings within a global context, highlighting the universal challenges and responses in mathematics education transitions. The study underscores the complex dynamics of the secondary-tertiary transition and provides valuable insights into the specific mathematical areas where students have shown varying degrees of improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how Norwegian school principals prepared to carry out the LK20 reform process. The importance of school principals and middle-level leaders as enactors of change efforts results from their close ties to teachers and teacher classroom practices. This suggests that without negotiation and support from micro-policy actors, such as school principals, reforms are unlikely to be realized as intended and are therefore likely to fail. The present study was based on interviews and video observations of principals and leader team meetings. The findings demonstrate that school principals' interpretations of policy intentions through their enforcement of curriculum reform demands are closely connected to their schools' organizational contexts. The planning process involves recycling previous plans and customizing them to new ones. Opportunities and challenges are illuminated when school principals provide counter-discourses in the planning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education policies are typically anchored in official texts that provide a foundation for their enactment in schools. What are the implications of an invisible policy not anchored in any official text due to political motives? This study explores the enactment of an invisible education policy that regulates religious enclave schools. These schools' curricula are the source of frequent conflict between states and religious enclave communities. The study draws on the case of the National Haredi Education (NHE) reform in Israel that enabled ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) private schools in Israel to affiliate with a new stream of public schools whose regulations were not anchored in any official text. The data comprised interviews with principals, teachers, and supervisors, as well as document analysis. The findings showed that the enactment of the NHE policy was primarily manifested in invisible changes, such as teacher professionalisation and pupil assessment. Curricular changes visible to the wider school community were enacted differently in different schools. Our findings also characterised the implications of the NHE policy's invisibility. The lack of institutional recognition hindered the reform, but the autonomy of the implementing agents enabled them to promote changes within their purview and become policy entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1980s, school curriculum revisions in Japan have sought to promote capabilities and dispositions that transcend subject boundaries and are often labelled 'competencies' in international curricular discourse. This study examines policy documents over the period, showing how Japanese policymakers have sought to navigate pressures internal and external to Japan. It argues that tension between competencies and subject domains in the OECD's PISA surveys enabled both attacks on Japan's so-called yutori (relaxed) curriculum revision of 1998–1999, and subsequent responses by Japan's Ministry of Education and Science. Analysis indicates that curriculum reform in Japan has moved from a 'competency-added' revision in 1998–1999 towards a 'competency-integrated' revision in 2017–2018; the latter seeks to resolve the tension between competencies and subject content by developing broader capabilities through distinctive approaches offered by different subjects. Further research is needed to determine how well the curriculum will be translated into school practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shadow education is a widely used metaphor for private supplementary tutoring, i.e. instruction in academic subjects on a fee-charging basis outside school hours. The metaphor is used because much tutoring mimics schooling. Thus, as the curriculum changes in the schools, so it changes in the shadows; and as schooling grows, so does the shadow. Initially with particular prominence in East Asia, albeit with deep roots elsewhere, shadow education has expanded worldwide. The phenomenon has been mapped in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America, but has received modest attention in Latin America. This article provides an overview of the phenomenon in the region using available data and stressing the need for further research. It presents global as well as Latin American contextual factors and drivers of demand before turning to data on the scale, nature and suppliers of shadow education. The assembled picture then permits commentary on educational and social impact, and on policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of curriculum reform in Norway, this article presents a study of teacher involvement and influence in national curriculum making through participation in official commentary processes. Education policy documents presented teacher involvement in the reform as essential to the legitimacy and ownership of the curriculum in schools, but a central question in this study is whether involvement in the process also means influence over the final curriculum. The study focuses on a central new element of the curriculum, the interdisciplinary topic democracy and citizenship, and analyses how teachers influenced the content of the new curriculum. Qualitative document analysis and reflexive thematic analysis were applied to curriculum drafts, responses to an official commentary process, and the final curriculum. The analysis shows that teachers' opinions were backgrounded throughout the development process, while the content suggested by educational experts was foregrounded. In the final curriculum, the teachers' suggestions for content were omitted. The findings may have consequences for future reforms as well as for curriculum interpretation and operationalization in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curriculum has become a core element of universities' competitive positioning, internationally and nationally. This paper presents a longitudinal analysis of policy processes and outcomes associated with 'radical' university curriculum reforms that resulted in divergence from institutions' own historical patterns and national conventions and traditions. The empirical investigations draw on a policy trajectory conceptual framework and focus on how two research-intensive Australian universities navigated global–local policy flows throughout their curriculum transformations. Findings revealed that each reform project manifested proactive policy learning and, ultimately, agency, as global and national influences were articulated into local contexts, with the effect of 'breaking the mould' of relatively standardised university curriculum provision in Australia. At the same time, the analyses revealed a similar pattern of intensified bureaucratisation of curriculum governance within the two universities, as well as the compromising of initial reform objectives in key curriculum areas such as interdisciplinarity, internationalisation and so-called twenty-first-century skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Historia y Memoria de la Educación is the property of Historia y Memoria de la Educacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: The study is conducted to investigate whether curriculum reform for learners with special education needs (SEN) is taking place in Zambia. Objectives: The study objective were to investigate the extent to which curriculum had been reformed to facilitate the inclusion of children with SEN in Zambia; and determine stakeholders understanding of inclusive education policy, to evaluate the success of an inclusive programme in supporting the full inclusion of learners with SEN. Method: This study used a mixed method research design which involved data collection in seven provinces of Zambia. The researchers employed purposive sampling. The largest number of respondents were SEN teachers and administrators. The qualitative data collection tools included semi-structured interviews of individuals and focus groups. The quantitative data came from a questionnaire completed by teachers and supervisors as well as from government documents. The quantitative data were analysed using SOFA Statistics, while the qualitative data were analysed using ATLAS-TI 7. Results: Limited curriculum reform remains one of the main impediments to the implementation of the inclusive policy for children with SEN in Zambia. Conclusion: It is concluded that without curriculum reform the implementation of inclusive education in Zambia will be challenging. Contribution: There is a dearth of information regarding curriculum reform in Zambia. This is one of the studies that is attempting to plug the information gap on curriculum reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changes taking place in this world are very fast. The change affects everything in it. Including in the world of education. The condition of the world that is slowly moving back after the COVID-19 pandemic requires us to quickly respond to existing changes. For this recovery is carried out on all parties. Education in Indonesia must also move quickly to implement recovery. One of them is with curriculum changes. The independent curriculum is a curriculum used to immediately restore education in Indonesia. A curriculum that can be expected to accommodate all student needs. This independent curriculum is one of the series of the Merdeka Belajar Program launched by the government through the Ministry of Education and Culture and Technology. It takes hard work and joint effort to make Indonesia better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study critically examines the K-12 curriculum reform in the Philippines and suggests ways on how it can move forward. Specifically, three recent curriculum guides (i.e., science, mathematics, and English) were analysed to determine how they fit with the Education 4.0 milieu. Using a curriculum analysis matrix, the findings indicate that these curricula may require conceptual and pedagogical refinements, particularly in the area of constructive alignment, technology integration, and specificity of its components. Potential implementation challenges in terms of instructional delivery, assessment, lesson preparation, school-based initiatives, and commitment of teachers and school leaders to curriculum reform were also discussed. Recommendations for future design, implementation, and studies are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The call for social justice in education has been echoed across the globe for many decades. However, the dual hatchets of racial and social-class segregation have refused to be buried in the 21st century. Inequalities within and across nations remain pervasive and conspicuous. Tapping into the framework of policy genealogy, this theoretical qualitative historiography teases the evolution of curriculum reform in three post-colonial states - Lesotho, Zimbabwe and South Africa. These three nations share a common legacy of British colonialism and unequal access to education anchored in race, social class, gender and other manifestations of injustice. Using primary and secondary documents available in the public domain, the paper traces and juxtaposes post-colonial curriculum policies initiated in search for social justice and how these policies were implemented at school and classroom levels. The grounded theory emerging from this policy historiography is that the genealogy of curriculum reform policies was dictated by historical circumstances and the unique context of each country, rather than deliberate policy sharing among decisionmakers in the three post-colonial states. Although reform policy espouses equitable education, the attainment of social justice in the three nations remains largely a mirage. Only children of the new Black elite are enjoying the fruits of postcolonial curriculum reform by attending expensive and generously resourced former White-only schools, but the poor majority remain marginalised in poorly resourced schools. This study recommends collaboration among policy makers in the three nations so that policy talk may be translated into policy action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its lengthy history and relatively stable structure, evidence shows that the US system of doctoral education has been in a continual state of change. This change is reflected in disciplinary contexts, student demographics, professional outcomes, and the investment of external stakeholders. While the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted issues of concern and weakness in the system, change elements have existed for some time. First, the cost that some individual students pay for their doctoral degree, resulting in high debt and low salary, requires attention. Second, the importance of international students to the system has not been met by corresponding federal immigration policies and support mechanisms. Third, many doctoral programmes are still designed as if students will secure a permanent faculty role after graduation. The change in the academic labour market has not been matched by a change in the doctoral curriculum. This article considers the issues and related influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter presents the use of knowledge within the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science based on a concrete policy case: the revision of the curriculum in primary and secondary education. Employing a framework for analysing "quality use of research evidence", the chapter shows what types of knowledge were applied in different stages of the revision process. It also describes the knowledge infrastructure surrounding this case and the culture within the ministry and the composition of the policy team. The analysis examines whether the provided (research) knowledge was appropriate and whether policy makers engaged with the evidence thoroughly and systematically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education is a fundamental aspect of modern societies, shaping individuals' knowledge, skills, and competencies. Education systems vary significantly across the globe, reflecting differences in cultural, social, political, and economic contexts. In this study, we aim to compare the educational systems in Romania and Finland, two countries with distinct historical, cultural, and political backgrounds. The focus of this research is on document analysis, which involves an examination of official reports, policies, and other relevant documents related to education. By comparing these documents, we aim to identify the similarities and differences in the educational systems of Romania and Finland. The purpose of this documents' analysis is to gain insights into the educational policies and practices of these countries and provide a comparative perspective on their approaches to education. Romania and Finland offer interesting cases for comparison due to their distinct educational systems. Romania's education system has faced numerous challenges in recent years, including issues related to funding, teacher shortages, and curriculum reform. In contrast, Finland has a well-established reputation for its innovative and effective educational system, with an emphasis on quality education and equal opportunities for all students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2001, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued Guidelines for Preschool Education (GPE) (trial version) to call on early childhood practitioners to use a child-centred and play-based approach to teaching and learning. In order to implement the requirements, many kindergartens in China have carried out the play-based kindergarten curriculum reform. Among them, there are three successful trial cases in China on putting play as the core and base activity in kindergarten. They are Anji play in Zhejiang province (south east China), Lijin play in Shandong Province (east China) and Gamification of the curriculum in Jiangsu Province (east China). All the kindergartens there whether private or public start to change the old group teaching and return play to young children. The similarities of three play modes are: open and constantly changing play environment, adequate play time, multiple teachers' roles and child-centred play evaluation. Play-based curriculum in these three cases are top-down reform, which is the most effective way in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore and provide an alternative theoretical viewpoint, informed by empirical studies, of the curriculum policy enactment process which spans across different curriculum policy spaces by drawing on figurational sociology. This paper constructs this alternative figurational viewpoint of the policy enactment process by drawing on curriculum policy and policy enactment literature. This viewpoint highlights how a curriculum policy can be (re‐)interpreted, (re‐)translated and (re‐)enacted by multiple, interconnected and interdependent (face‐to‐face and non‐face‐to‐face, recognised and unrecognised, past and present) relationships. We argue the need for agonistic dialogue between the stakeholders of the educational community and how his could lead to these stakeholders working together across curriculum policy spaces (e.g., curriculum development, teacher education, professional development) and on different aspects of 'doing' policy work. We encourage ourselves, and colleagues, to advocate for, support and provide evidence on the centrality of construction and enactment of curriculum policy in effective curriculum change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education policy in England's schools is driven by the 'what works' agenda, characterised by interventions claiming to be scientifically objective and evidence-led. In this article I show how what works interventions reproduce anti-Black linguistic racism because to be perceived as someone who is 'working', racialised children must assimilate their language practices towards idealised whiteness. I present case studies of two teachers working in low-income, majority Black schools who rejected what works interventions concerning a commercially produced curriculum package and the so-called word gap, both of which framed racialised children as displaying linguistic deficiencies in need of correcting. I describe various institutional oppositions the teachers faced, including having their own language, expertise and evidence questioned by white management. I argue that the what works agenda is crafted by the state to delegitimise anti-racist efforts, and that for the state, what counts as 'working' is simply the reproduction of idealised linguistic whiteness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vietnam's education development has been characterized as a success with impressive achievements in school enrolment and international standardized tests. The country's outstanding performance is perceived to result from multiple factors such as purposeful policy, high levels of accountability and quality teaching. Among the recent policy changes for education quality enhancement, the adoption of the competency-based curriculum and professional standards for teachers is of heightened importance that has been observed in Vietnam's current reform. This paper seeks an updated understanding of and explanations for the sector's recent performance in terms of education quality. The study focuses on policy efforts and actual changes in the curriculum, teacher management and school-level standards management that aim to improve the quality of basic education. Drawing on a critical analysis of national policy, education reports and the related literature, this study highlights important developments and multiple challenges Vietnam experiences in implementing the standardization policy. Relevant implications for educational policy and practice in Vietnam and other countries will also be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The governing document of the Swedish SAEC has shifted to become more focused on teaching and learning. The updated curriculum (SNAE, 2011) added new requirements of the educational programme through stating that activities should be 'based on the pupils' needs, interests and initiative' (SNAE, 2011, p. 23). The aim of this study is to explore how SAEC can reach these goals and what kind of inventory the staff in SAEC use to plan the activity. The study takes its theoretical point of departure from childhood studies (James, Jenks, & Prout, 2015). The methodology was based on action research and conducted together with eight different teams. The results show that there are different ways to inventory pupils' interests. Inventories are shaped differently when staff see pupils as co-actors planning the educational programme together, or viewing pupils as objects and put in a subordinate position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on the potential of progressive movements at the local level to expand conceptions of justice, this article examines discourses within curriculum reform efforts by focusing on public testimonies in a successful campaign for the adoption of an Ethnic Studies resolution. Findings from observations and content analysis of public school board meetings illustrate how student testimonies (a) critically re-envision education and representation and (b) offer a discursive and pedagogical space to cultivate public learning as well as an aspirational vision for closing opportunity gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Olhar de Professor is the property of Olhar de Professor and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article constitutes the first attempt to analyze the driving force of the nationwide replacement of previous local editions of textbooks with the new edition (MOE authoritative edition) in China. This large-scale replacement of school textbooks began in 2017 and was completed in 2019, accompanied by the establishment of the National Textbook Committee in 2017. The article attempts to analyze the rationale of the textbook replacement in the context of its development history, and it argues that the reform can partly be regarded as a corrective measure taken to adjust the inculcation of national identity, patriotism and citizenship and to shape correct world views and values in students in a new era of globalization. In the end, the article places the new edition of textbook in the context of the Hong Kong riot 2019, and argues that the educational policy in Hong Kong, especially its loosening of ideological control over its textbooks, has to be partially responsible for the riot, therefore attesting to the need of the large-scale school textbook replacement in mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Taiwan Journal of Sociology of Education is the property of Taiwan Association for the Sociology of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Continuing to study mathematics throughout schooling is considered important in most developed countries, where mathematics is incorporated within the curriculum until school-leaving age. By comparison, in England, relatively few post-16 (upper secondary) students study mathematics once it becomes optional. Core Maths qualifications, introduced in England in 2014, are intended to help increase post-16 mathematics participation. This paper uses data from a three-year, mixed-methods, longitudinal study to investigate a perceived benefit of the qualifications: the support Core Maths might give to other curriculum subjects in post-16 students' programmes. Amongst teachers and students, we find a widespread conviction that studying Core Maths benefits students' other subjects contemporaneously, whilst in national data from Core Maths students we find no evidence yet of enhanced examination attainment in other qualifications. We suggest that Core Maths impacts positively on students in ways which could be more usefully, and accurately, emphasised in promoting the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compares the perspectives of experts and the public on the 2015 revised curriculum. To do this, research papers and newspaper articles were collected from October 2013 to May 2020. During this period, 1152 research papers and 692 newspaper articles were collected, and semantic network analysis was performed. As a result of the study, the educational expert group showed great interest in the core concept of the development of the revised curriculum focused on the abstract concept, while the public focused on the practical problems and consequences of the revision rather than the development of the revised curriculum itself. These results not only show the gap between the perspectives of the educational expert group and the public but also raise the need for effective communication to bridge the gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores academics' changing agency in curriculum work in higher education. Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus and capital, followed by the metaphor of game, are used as tools to analyse stability and change in agency. The interview data collection from 17 academics was implemented twice over 3 years after two different processes of curriculum change at one multidisciplinary research university in Finland. Through narrative analysis, two storylines were identified. The storyline with changes in agency included transformative, sidelined and divided narratives. The storyline with stable agency included development-oriented, autonomous and opposition narratives. The lived experiences create habitus as it is, as internalization of social structures but also as unconscious enterprises to maintain old or develop new forms of capital through curriculum change. While competing for the capital, the habitus and the 'feel of the game' are shifting. The different narratives show how academics as players in the field of curriculum change have different access to compete for different types of capital. The results raise a question: who can legitimately become an agent in the curriculum process, and what qualities make for an academic 'fit' with curriculum change? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Immersion & Content-Based Language Education is the property of John Benjamins Publishing Co. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There is renewed interest around including performance assessments in state and local assessment systems to spur positive changes in classroom instruction and student learning. Previous research has identified the external conditions that mediate the role of assessment in changing instructional practices. We extend that work by focusing on the internal classroom conditions that support improvements in student learning. We identified six key instructional practices from three teacher quality frameworks that may result from policy changes that include complex, performance-based assessments. For each practice, we explored the bidirectional relationships among the instructional core of students, teachers, and content. We argue that altering these relationships requires teachers and students to have both the disposition and the capacity to change, and we identify the assumptions that need to hold in order for those changes to occur in response to the inclusion of performance assessments in state and/or local assessment systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Praxis & Saber is the property of Universidad Pedagogica y Tecnologica de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Globally, nation states have concerns about health, and this has led to a proliferation of initiatives and policies, which either have a direct or indirect influence on education in schools. This article focuses specifically on how China, with the largest public education system in the world, has sought to transform the health of the nation through national curriculum reform informed by policies from other nations, which has significant implications for physical education (PE). Guided by Charmaz's (2014) grounded theory, 22 PE teachers from 13 secondary schools in the north of mainland China were interviewed to provide a unique insight into how changes in curriculum were taken up and responded to. Analysis of data from this study indicated that the demands of implementing the new curriculum have their origins in complexities that go beyond individual teachers' perceptions of health and change. Teachers expressed concerns about the reforms and there were several further contextual factors limiting the realisation of curriculum reform guided by the maxim of 'Health First'. Teachers were uncertain of how to enact changes and reorientate their practices so that they were in line with the expectations of developing health through PE. The development of an examination in PE also strongly influenced the teachers' perceptions of what to prioritise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article applies a current example of curriculum reform to investigate mechanisms driving the push for international comparative assessment of social and emotional skills in contemporary education. Using a combination of bibliometric and content analysis the article identifies key sources in the recent Norwegian curriculum reform. The article considers how understanding and measurability of social and emotional skills is negotiated in policy documents and the cited knowledge base. Nine international sources are identified in the policy documents underlying the reform. Arguments from these sources are compared with arguments in policy documents to demonstrate overlap and potential misalignment. The final curriculum is found to be in non-alignment with the knowledge base that supports of a broad understanding of social and emotional skills and the measurement of such skills in schools. Drawing on critical realism the authors argue that Norwegian policymakers have rejected the global push for comparative assessment. They have drawn a red line to prevent social and emotional skills from becoming part of students' subject competence and to protect students from standardized assessment of such skills in schools. This position represents a strong case against measurability that may influence ongoing debates on quantification and comparisons in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to deepen the knowledge of progressivism and how it was manifested in practice in Swedish secondary schools from a teacher perspective before it was prescribed in policy during the reforms of the 1950s. In the current educational debate, progressivism is blamed by some for being the root of a permissive style of education in decline that no longer provides any knowledge to students, and regarded by others as the starting point for the modern form of democratic schooling. The question we pursue is in what way progressive teaching practice existed before policy. We do that by investigating teacher narratives describing their own teaching practices found in a historical archive from 1946. Hence, rather than looking at the policy level as in most studies, we are unpacking the black box of progressive teaching. Through thematic analysis, we investigate 209 secondary teacher narratives from teachers of History, Biology and Mother tongue. We found that the theme of student participation was very frequently reported in 76% of the accounts, while student interaction (33%) and extended classroom (37%) were somewhat less reported. Hence, our study shows that progressive teaching existed in different ways before it appeared in policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine changes to the national calculus curriculum of South Korea, where mathematics performance often serves as the mark of academic excellence. We describe relevant cultural traditions of mathematics education in South Korea, including the history of curricular changes in calculus at the secondary level. We then investigate how public discourse concerning a calculus curriculum revision is formed through issue framing, and analyze the public discourse among stakeholders in calculus education in South Korea. In addition, we present an analysis of the revised calculus curriculum at the high school level in relation to the issues raised by stakeholder groups. Further, we reflect on how culture, research, and policy can collectively inform curricular changes and educational policies. Last, we discuss the role of mathematics education research in facilitating the balanced formation of public discourse and in supporting teachers' professional autonomy to provide meaningful calculus education to students. The findings suggest a need for building clear boundaries of roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in developing and revising national curricula, and for using research evidence in curriculum reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies such as self‐management and relationship skills are associated with positive outcomes for youth. Therefore, educational policies in many countries emphasise the integration of these competencies throughout the curriculum and specifically in physical education (PE). However, little research has examined the impact of such policy in the context of practice. Drawing upon occupational socialisation theory, this study assessed how secondary teachers interpret and implement this aspect of the Scottish national curriculum. Data sources included teacher interviews (n = 14), pupil focus groups (n = 32) and systematic observations of 23 lessons. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics while qualitative data were analysed using constant comparison and thematic analysis. The trustworthiness of findings was supported through triangulation, peer debriefing and member check. Findings indicate the curriculum is interpreted at several levels driven largely by teachers' background experience and organisational influences. Generally, SEL is viewed favourably, but ambiguity and lack of support are challenges to implementation. Common practice involves creating a positive learning environment as well as implicit and reactive teaching approaches. More robust implementation involves the addition of explicit and empowering teaching approaches. Implications for practice, teacher education, policy development and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study investigates language teacher agency in the context of ESP curriculum reform in a Chinese university. Data collected from classroom observations and semi-structured interviews with both teachers and students from five ESP classes are analyzed by conducting a thorough thematic analysis. It is revealed that instead of following the national curriculum and institutional requirements, language teachers as policy arbiters make their own implicit policies which are creating spaces for their own discourses, and in this sense, they are "adjusting" the curriculum policy rather than "implementing" it. Teachers' academic background, their views on the nature of language learning, their profound distrust of the efficacy of ESP courses, and students' explicit performance are the main causes of teachers' actual resistance to the policy. Unlike previous studies of teacher agency, an analysis of students' needs and implicit discourses indicates that teachers' agency excised through their hidden agenda may turn out to be a defense of their unwillingness to change, to the detriment of students' academic performance. This study then suggests that policymakers should notice the negative side of teacher agency and stresses the necessity of a bottom-up survey on teachers' ideologies in the implementation of a language education policy, and argues that creating spaces for negotiating and adjusting the policy at the instructional level, and offering effective teacher education programs are the key to the enactment of the national curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we focus on the transformations imposed on schools by individual parents, arguing that schools as modern organisations change not only through top-down pressures orchestrated by an array of international organisations, for-profit companies and media as shown in previous research, but also through the agency of mobile parents, who seek to import reforms from elsewhere, based on their previous schooling experiences abroad. We focus on a specific group of middle class parents, who are continuously mobile, moving between global cities for employment. This paper brings into the discussion the role of individual parental strategies as they seek to promote education policy-borrowing. By applying the theoretical lens of stakeholder identification and salience, using a multi case study research design, we suggest that parents express high levels of power, legitimacy and a sense of urgency, thus being able to successfully advocate for change. We argue that while exploring organisational reform occurring due to the globalisation of education, we must view parents as central actors in this new space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign languages have had a significant presence in formal education in Argentina. This article will present the Argentine state's linguistic policies regarding foreign languages in the education system in the period 1904-1941 through an analysis of the reform projects of the system. As regards education, the focus will be on secondary schools: it is in this level, and in national schools specifically, where the teaching of certain foreign languages took place. The selected period begins in 1904, when a specific teacher training institution for foreign languages was created in charge of the federal state: the Escuela de Profesores en Lenguas Vivas. This analysis ends in 1941, the year when the curricula were modified and it was decided that, given that the simultaneous learning of foreign languages was one of the biggest criticisms made to national schools, only two languages were to be taught and one after the other. This change in the curricula increased the presence of English and caused a decrease in the teaching of French in the system, since it became mandatory to study English in one of the two levels proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work addresses the implementation of the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC) in the Brazilian state, Paraná and the abandonment of the Curricular Guidelines for Art and, consequently, of the Historical-Critical Pedagogy in the State Basic Education Network, as a theoretical-methodological foundation of the discipline, reflecting on the fragility and emptying the contents of the Art curriculum. The proposal to change the curriculum occurs from 2020, with the imposition of the Curriculum of the Paraná State Network (CREP). Based on the presented problem, we draw first impressions about this Curriculum and point out possible consequences for the discipline of Art. The documentary sources used in the research are the Paraná Curriculum Art Guidelines (2008), the Paraná Curriculum Framework (2018), the Curriculum of the Paraná State Network (2019) and the BNCC (2017). We seek to find in the last three documents cited the connections with neoprodutivism, neo-scholanovism, neoconstructivism, neo-technicism as well as their alignment with the education business reform. In the Curricular Guidelines of Art we seek to highlight the contributions of Historical-Critical Pedagogy to the discipline. To support this analysis, authors such as Saviani (2013; 2016), Duarte (2013), Zanotto and Sandri (2018) and Freitas (2018) were adopted. After analyzing the data, we found that the Art discipline conceived at CREP tends to mischaracterize art in its humanization potential, transforming it into a mere instrument for the development of skills and competences aimed at the needs of the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservativism has gained significant influence on education-policy making and debates about education in many Anglophone countries. While conservative educational governments have advanced some neoliberal governance trends, they have also introduced characteristic neoconservative education elements, notably in the area of curricular content. This article focuses on the impact of conservative ideology on curriculum and assessment policies in English secondary education and specifically explores schools' first reactions to the introduction of a policy initiative that is emblematic of neoconservatism, the English Baccalaureate. The empirical discussion relies on a mixed methods study on the reception of the latest assessment and curriculum policies in English secondary schools. The findings suggest that the current reforms are transforming school subject hierarchies, resource allocation across subjects, and what counts as knowledge in English secondary schools, and introducing a new culture of subject—and by implication, teacher and student—'worth'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School development is often seen as a concerted (re-)action to educational policies, curriculum development, and change in education laws or regulations, and sometimes, as stakeholders' reactions to low school performance. Generally, school development incorporates organizational, managerial, and educational activities and measures. This is done to adapt to the new situation to achieve the desired changes and goals initiated by a given curriculum reform. In contrast, this paper focuses on school staff-driven development: It describes how teachers together with paraprofessionals contribute to school-development. Using collective responsibility creating working methods of communication, the enactment of staff's self-chosen measures will be possible. This school staff-driven school development approach makes use of the Dialogue Café and the Reflection Cycle. The combined use of these working methods is seen as appropriate support for school staff-centered development of the School-In project based on the idea of collective responsibility. The paper presents by the application of a qualitative content and visualization analysis, how the communicative action according Habermas took place. This is the process from the individual participant's ideas, through individual and group reflections to finally formulated measures that result in the school's staff joint actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curriculum change involves struggles among political actors and interest groups, and those efforts related to sex education have been noted for their particularly vexatious character. When Doug Ford was elected Premier of Ontario, Canada in 2018, he immediately repealed the comprehensive health curriculum of 2015 and attempted to muzzle teachers during the 2018–2019 school year, only to unveil a strikingly similar "new" curriculum for 2019–2020. This article analyses Ford's treatment of sex education as part of a conservative populist agenda. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, we divide the government's approach into six components that illustrate how anti-elitism and fact-bending drove curriculum policy. Our analysis contributes to discussions in curriculum studies and educational politics by connecting the recently ascendant political ideologies in the West with the already contentious area of sex education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six years of continuously baiting his opponents within the history profession eventually amounted to little where it mattered most. UK Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, finally backtracked in 2013 on his plans to impose a curriculum for English schools based on a linear chronology of the achievements of British national heroes. His 'history as celebration' curriculum was designed to instil pride amongst students in a supposedly shared national past, but would merely have accentuated how many students in modern multicultural Britain fail to recognise themselves in what is taught in school history lessons. Now that the dust has settled on Gove's tenure as Secretary of State, the time is right for retrospective analysis of how his plans for the history curriculum made it quite so far. How did he construct an 'ideological' conception of expertise which allowed him to go toe-to-toe for so long with the 'professional' expertise of academic historians and history teachers? What does the content of this ideological expertise tell us about the politics of race within Conservative Party curriculum reforms? This article answers these questions to characterise Gove as a 'whig historian' of a wilfully extreme nature in his attachment to imperial heroes as the best way to teach national history in modern multicultural Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term Professional Development (PD) was first introduced to English teachers in China in the Revised Curriculum Standards (RCS). For PD to be effective, the teachers and policymakers involved in its implementation need to have a common understanding of its scope and purposes, but little is known about how English teachers in China understand the notion of PD. This study examined teachers' understandings of the elements of PD identified in the RCS using a questionnaire with 227 teachers and interviews with 18 teachers. This paper argues that the aim of the RCS is to bring about a very significant reform of teachers' roles in their own development, and the enactment of the curriculum; however, the teachers do not understand PD in ways that confer ownership or empower them to enact curriculum changes. This paper highlights that, from an international perspective, the development of PD for teachers must recognize teachers' existing experience of the curriculum, experience of PD and the ways they understand the goals of PD, and must promote a shared understanding of policy intentions in relation to PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rigorous college-and-career readiness standards require significant shifts in typical mathematics instruction. Many schools and districts employ coaches to support instructional changes. Although there is evidence that coaching programs can support teaching improvement, research has yet to identify high-leverage coaching practices. In collaboration with a network of state leaders and coaches, our research team refined a model for math coaching and documented the practices coaches employed in one-on-one work with teachers. Analysis of videotaped coaching conversations and teaching events suggests that model-trained coaches improved their capacity to use a high-leverage coaching practice—deep and specific prelesson planning conversations—and that growth in this practice predicted teaching improvement, specifically increased opportunities for students to engage in conceptual thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curriculum policies internationally are increasingly concerned with the promotion of national competitiveness and economic development. This involves more emphasis on skills than on knowledge, on learning than on teaching and on school/teacher autonomy than regulation from the centre. At the local level such global influences are inevitably refracted in a process known as glocalization. Using a critical policy historiography approach, this study explores globalization and glocalization forces in two relatively recent curriculum reforms—the Australian Curriculum and Ireland's Framework for Junior Cycle. Both reforms employ triadic models of curriculum design involving subjects/learning areas, key skills/general capabilities, statements of learning/cross-curriculum priorities. Globalization influences are clearly evident in the shared emphases in both jurisdictions on skills, learning and school/teacher agency. However, these reforms have inevitably been shaped by their respective local political and social contexts and the respective curriculum debates have been dominated by technical implementation issues such as curriculum overload in Australia and school-based versus external assessment in Ireland. Meanwhile, substantive issues such as the educational purposes of the reforms, the influence of market values and performativity and the significance of curriculum and teacher professionalism policymaking structures have been largely eschewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how a new policy was enacted by teachers with different working conditions in Indonesia. The concept of curriculum enactment and an elaborated theoretical perspective for understanding teachers' professional judgement are presented to reveal whether teachers from different school sectors encounter dilemmas in curriculum reform and whether they display consistency in their patterns of resolving those dilemmas. The data reported in this study were obtained from transcripts of interviews and fieldnotes of classroom observations with nine teachers from state and private secondary schools in Indonesia. The results suggest that the two groups of teachers experienced different dilemmas and developed different resolutions. The paper concludes that the resolutions adopted by teachers reflected their attempts to 'act for the best'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]