What does decolonising the curriculum (DtC) entail and is it possible in the current context? I distinguish between a thick and thin idea of DtC. Thick DtC acknowledges that alternative knowledge systems exist, other than our western view of knowledge as 'justified true belief'. Thick DtC calls for recognition of epistemic injustice to indigenous…

Ofsted's (2021. Curriculum research review series: Languages (OCRR). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-research-review-series) sees 'phonics' as one of three key 'pillars of progression' in language learning. This paper critically examines this view, beginning with the OCRR's definition of 'phonics'. Focussing on the teaching…

Uganda has been developing and revising its curricula since the time of British colonial rule. The latest revision of the primary education curriculum led to the introduction of the Thematic Curriculum in 2007. This curriculum requires the use of pupils' mother tongues as languages of instruction from Primary One to Three and then English from…

One often cited challenge to effective mother tongue-based bilingual education (MTBE) in multilingual countries like Ghana is the difficulty of developing curriculum and instructional materials in many languages. To explain this situation, factors such as shortage of writers and teachers in the local languages, lack of interest on the part of…

This article focuses on the learning affordances of different language and communication curricula in the world. For reasons of space, only two national education systems (Finland and Singapore) and their language and communication curricula are referred to. The accounts of national education systems consist of the identification of mechanisms…

The focus in this article is the extent to which the school subject of Swedish in the new national curriculum in Sweden introduced in 2011 (compulsory school) has been updated in relation to ways of discussing mother tongue education. Discourse analysis is used to analyse the syllabus for Swedish from 2011. A comparison is made with the previous…

This article considers the effects on universities of Gutenberg's invention of printing. It considers four major effects: the gradual displacement of Latin as the language of scholarship with vernacular languages, the expansion and eventual opening of libraries, major changes to curriculum, and major changes to pedagogy including lectures.…

This article explores some of the distinctive challenges in Chinese language education in schools and discusses how the development of the "Australian Curriculum: Chinese" has responded to these challenges. It details how the curriculum framework outlined in the "Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages" (ACARA, 2011)…

The Kimberley Language Resource Centre (KLRC) earned its status over three decades as the representative body for Kimberley languages. In 2004, the organisation started to respond to grassroots concerns about the lack of language speakers in the younger generations. Aboriginal people are also connecting loss of languages to loss of bio-cultural…

In 1984-85, Project BITEC was in the second year of a 3-year funding cycle at New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn, New York. The program provides courses in English as a second language (ESL), native language arts in Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Vietnamese; and bilingual (mostly in Italian and Spanish) instruction in mathematics, science, and…

This multi-site instructional program (Project MAS) provides instruction in English as a second language and native language arts, as well as bilingual instruction in mathematics and science to approximately 400 Spanish-speaking schools. It serves third through eighth graders at four sites in the Bronx. Its instructional and non-instructional…

It is proposed that linguistic oral content, or metalinguistics, be included in the curriculum of primary school francophone children. This content is not included in the functionally oriented official curriculum. The linguistic content proposed consists of a number of formal variants corresponding to non-formal stylistic markers and respecting…

The Computers in Bilingual Education program at South Bronx High School (New York) completed its first year of operation in June, 1985. The program offered limited English speaking students computer-assisted instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL), native language arts, social studies, math, and science, and also provided instruction in…

Project CABES (Career Advancement through Bilingual Education) was established in 1983 at Seward Park High School in New York, New York. Its major goal is to serve a population of 250 Hispanic students of limited English proficiency (LEP) interested in pursuing a career advancement sequence rather than a regular academic sequence. Project CABES…

Project CERCA (Career Exploration through Reinforcement of Correlated Academics) at Flushing High School (New York) seeks to improve English language proficiency and performance in the academic content areas, to help develop native language skills, and to instill career awareness. The project serves a target population of Hispanic students, most…