Towards Economics in an Entitlement Curriculum.

Three aspects of problems, issues, and questions facing curriculum development teams, local authority advisors, and teacher trainers interested in helping teachers in the United Kingdom (UK) construct and shape an effective economics curriculum are examined. First, in an investigation of the curriculum context dimension, the paper predicts that the 1990's will see all young people in the UK receiving an economics education as part of their general education. Although what form(s) it will take and in what stages it will occur remain far from clear, it will be the decision of schools themselves that will frame the research questions and responses of curriculum developers and economics educators to the curriculum context problem. Second, in an examination of economic literacy, the paper considers how existing work in the UK on the nature of economic literacy will assist teachers in judging whether their 16-year old students are economically literate and whether or not their economics curriculum is 'of a worthwhile scale.' Third, the teacher training dimension of economics education is considered including implications for teacher training, the extent to which the needs of existing and future teachers are being met, and the relevancy of current initiatives. (LH)