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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]

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]

This paper provides a comparative analysis of national curriculum reforms in Australia and the USA, set against the backdrop of global trends since the 1980s. The analysis is driven by an interest in the reconstitution of national policy spaces in global times, and draws particularly upon Stephen Carney’s notion ofglobal policy-scapesas a way of understanding the complex and disjunctive flows of transnational policy ideas and practices. The paper begins by arguing that reforms since the early 1980s have been driven by global panics about globalisation, equity and market competitiveness. These global influences have underpinned parallel reform attempts in each country, including the development of national goals in the late 1980s, failed attempts at national standards in the early 1990s and rejuvenated attempts towards national consistency in the 2000s. Building on this, we argue that despite shared global drivers and broad historical similarities, reforms in each country remain distinct in scope and form, due to several unique features that inform the national policy space of each country. These distinctive national policy spaces provide differentconditions of possibilityfor reform, reminding us that despite global commonalities, policy reforms are relational and locally negotiated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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The Irish national discourse on curriculum and assessment reform at the Junior Cycle level has been fraught with controversy in the past two years. The introduction of the new curriculum and assessment framework in 2012 by the then Minister of Education, Ruairi Quinn has led to significant media coverage and teacher union response. In this paper, we argue that in the midst of the reaction toward the particular assessment elements of the framework, the focus has been lost on key revisions made in the draft science curriculum and assessment specification released in September 2014. A central aspect of the draft document released for consultation includes the introduction of a ‘Nature of Science’ (NOS) theme intended to be an overarching feature of all science teaching and learning. We examine the coverage of NOS in the draft document and analyze it relative to a model of NOS developed in our recent book. Our analysis illustrates that the draft science curriculum and assessment specification for Junior Cycle incorporates contemporary research and aligns the Irish curriculum with most features of NOS, although some aspects need further development including the articulation of a nuanced model of NOS. We highlight some future directions for curriculum and assessment development for a comprehensive, coherent and holistic coverage of NOS in Junior Cycle Science in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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 Foundation Phase is a Welsh Government flagship policy of early years education (for 3–7 year-old children) in Wales. Marking a radical departure from the more formal, competency-based approach associated with the previous Key Stage 1 National Curriculum, it advocates a developmental, experiential, play-based approach to teaching and learning.The learning country: A paving document(NAfW, 2001) notes that, following devolution, Wales intended to take its own policy direction in order to ‘get the best for Wales’. Building on a three-year mixed methods independent evaluation of the Foundation Phase we discuss in detail the aims and objectives of the Foundation Phase, including the context to its introduction, the theory, assumptions and evidence underlying its rationale, and its content and key inputs. We then contrast this with how the Foundation Phase was received by practitioners and parents, how it has been implemented in classrooms and non-maintained settings, and what discernible impact it has had on young children’s educational outcomes. The paper concludes with a critical analysis of the policy process and identifies a number of contextual issues during the inception of the Foundation Phase that has, it could be argued, constrained its development and subsequent impact. We argue that these constraints are associated with an educational policy landscape that was still in its infancy. In order for future education policy to ‘get the best for Wales’ a number of important lessons must be learnt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on education in Guinea-Bissau in the context of globalisations, examining the concept of globalisation and its relation to education and the curriculum. It focuses on the relatively neglected area of national education policies in Guinea-Bissau, comparing differences and common points of interference/influence of multilateral (international and regional) and bilateral organisations in these policies. Data collection was based on content analysis of a corpus of documents – the Education Act, the document of Portuguese Cooperation Programme, the Education Sector Policy Paper, the Education for All National Plan of Action, and Policy n. 3/2007/CM/UEMOA – and field notes collected from 2009 to 2012. The article argues that there is a tendency for the homogenisation of curriculum policies, at least at the macro-level, due to the different types of pressures coming from international/regional organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Curriculum for Excellence, a new national policy initiative in Scottish Schools, provides a unified curricular framework for children aged 3-18. Within this framework, Physical Education (PE) now forms part of a collective alongside physical activity and sport, subsumed by the newly created curriculum area of 'Health and Wellbeing' (HWB). This research set out to examine the new curriculum in Scottish schools at the micro-implementation stage of the policy process within the context of practice. Purpose: The primary objective was to understand the factors that enable PE teachers to enact government-led policy in a climate which provided schools and teachers greater autonomy, flexibility and responsibility. The secondary objective was to compare policy constructors' vision of PE to the interpretation of PE teachers who were currently immersed in initiating curricular development. Methods and procedures'. The research adopted a mixed method survey approach. Eighty-eight secondary school PE teachers responded to a questionnaire that explored teachers' perceptions of curriculum change. Respondents were full-time PE teachers working in secondary schools across Scotland and represented 16 local authorities. In addition, 17 PE teachers within one local authority took part in semi-structured individual interviews. Comparisons were made with 10 interviews conducted with policy constructors who were responsible for the initial, interim and final stages of developing and designing the PE curriculum. Main outcomes and results: The results from the questionnaire indicated that 66% of teachers believed there was a need for change within the Scottish curriculum; however, only 54% anticipated that they would change the PE curriculum. When comparing PE teachers' and policy constructors' interview responses, a discrepancy between the policy constructors' understanding of the vision of PE and teacher's interpretation was evident. The alignment of PE within HWB was seen as an opportunity to build on the strengths of the subject; however, concerns were raised that this shift may result in PE becoming part of a fitness discourse, distorting policy intentions. Conclusions: The combining factors of teacher agency, culture and social and material structures along with the schools capacity to manage new policy development were seen as crucial in enabling teachers to enact and sustain change. As educational policy draws on teachers' professional capacity to translate, mould and recreate policy uniquely to fit within the opportunities and constraints of the school, it is important that policy intentions, aims and values are not lost in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]