This paper introduces the questions and approaches of a five-nation cross-cultural study of state-based curriculum-making discussed in this issue of "JCS." The paper reviews the two decade-long interest of many nations in state-based curriculum-making and presents a framework for thinking about state-based curriculum-making as a tool of…

This article uses curriculum-making frameworks to analyse and reconstruct the Chinese curriculum-making model and unpack the dynamics, complexity and constraints of China's curriculum reform since the early 1990s. It argues that curriculum reform is China's main human capital development strategy for coping with the challenges of the 21st century,…

"Potemkin schools" is used as the phrase to capture what a US science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) public speciality high school becomes as a result of its institutional branding. By way of an examination of the efforts of one teacher drawn into school branding through his "inquiry-based reform" of an Advanced Chemistry course,…

Teachers face continuous changes, many of which significantly influence their professional identities and work practices. This study investigates Finnish vocational teachers' pathways in the course of a curriculum reform. The data were obtained by interviewing 14 vocational teachers twice, i.e. at the initial and later stages of the reform. This…

This paper highlights the active role played by various pedagogic agents in contesting the state educational reforms for madrasahs in Singapore. Drawing upon Basil Bernstein's pedagogic device, the paper identifies tensions and challenges that arise from the attempts by the state to implement curriculum reforms. The paper contends that the stakes…

Reports on how curricular changes have affected the nature and types of in-service teacher training programs in developing South Asian countries in the 1980s. Makes projections concerning trends that may ensure that in-service teacher training programs will continue to be an important means of implementing curricular change in South Asian…

Starting in 1997, a sophisticated, outcomes-based curriculum was to be implemented in South African schools. This study examines and analyses how science teachers in one rural school responded to the demands of this new curriculum. I consider the capacity of the school and the extent to which outside support and pressure was provided. The levels…

Based on a model of local curriculum development, but incorporating the ideas first expressed by Goodlad in establishing a league of co-operating schools for the improvement of learning, this curriculum development project successfully infused the study of technology into the science courses of several British secondary schools. (RM)

Reports a research project which studied the institutionalization of a secondary school syllabus in New South Wales. Key variables in the process of accepting an innovation as a part of the school curriculum were identified and discussed. Suggests means by which institutionalization of innovations might be facilitated. (KO)

Summarizes the main points from the largest international study of innovations in the fields of science, mathematics, and technology education ever undertaken. Particularly emphasizes the changing relationships between teacher and learner and the increased value given to practical work and experiential learning. Discusses the implications for…