Curriculum reform was high on the agenda of South Africa's post-apartheid governments. Yet as time passed, the initial reforms were seen as increasingly problematic, especially when pedagogical realities met policy priorities. There was reluctance on the part of policymakers to give up what was seen as the democratic imperative behind the reforms.…

Curriculum implementation as both an educational practice and a policy conundrum has been the focus of academic research since the 1970s. A new perspective is taken in this article by borrowing from the literature on policy implementation in multilevel systems of government. The concepts of "hard" and "soft" policy are used to…

This article uses results from a cross-national analysis of the impact of varying approaches to civic education curriculum delivery on three learning outcomes, to draw conclusions about the value of a government-mandated compulsory, independent subject of civic education in the school curriculum. It starts from the context of Hong Kong, where…

Following the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region developed wide-ranging curriculum reforms, including project learning. A recent survey has indicated that over 80% of Hong Kong primary and secondary schools have adopted project learning as a curriculum task. Such an…

In 1973 Australia established a national Curriculum Development Centre, following some extensive experiments with national curriculum initiatives. The centre was established in response to expressed public support for education and for a strong national role in education. (RB)

The current curriculum reform agenda in Hong Kong is enmeshed in the politics of a post-colonial society. Yet, there is not a single view of what post-coloniality means for Hong Kong's school curriculum. This article focuses on analyzing the curriculum reform agenda that has emerged in post-colonial Hong Kong. This agenda was not only…

Outlines the study of a curriculum development project, analyzing the decision-making processes involved in each phase and raising questions about the general process of curriculum development. (MD)

The successful use of Decker Walker's curriculum development model in different educational settings in Israel and Australia demonstrates that inductively derived models can assist educational practice in a way that deductive models cannot. However, Walker's model should not be viewed as a general panacea. Issues that must be examined are…

This article addresses the issue of preparing teachers as curriculum leaders to support the wide-ranging curriculum reforms that characterize societies in the Asian Pacific region. It draws on social cognitive theory and, in particular, on what has come to be called "teachers' sense of efficacy." The study sought to extend that research…

In 1984 Australia's federal government decided to reactivate the Curriculum Development Centre, an agency abandoned in the early 1980's for political and economic reasons. This paper examines the context in which the center currently acts and the operations that it conducts. The paper first considers background issues related to national…

Describes the decision-making processes in an Australian multicultural curriculum development project that portrayed the life styles of ethnic groups from the Indian Ocean region. Describes four issues that emerged during the project and the complex process through which these issues were resolved. Includes references. (MD)

In Australia, school-based curriculum development (SBCD) encountered significant problems during the 1970s because of insufficient teacher preparation, unchanging school structures, and conservative community expectations. This article examines SBCD as a 1990s policy option and places it within a professionally oriented context. Because of equity…

A discussion of the policy context shaping Australian curriculum reform focuses on three key elements: the economy, educational costs, and the integration of education and youth policies. A trend toward a more instrumentalist approach to curriculum is identified, and some challenges facing the education enterprise in the future are discussed. (MSE)

To assess the extent to which the results of implementation studies relating to elementary and secondary schools were generalizable to vocational education contexts, a study of two specific curriculum innovations in vocational education was undertaken in Western Australia. It was designed to yield information about the context of curriculum…

Evaluates the Early Literacy Inservice Course (ELIC) supported by the Australian Basic Learning in Primary Schools (BLIPS) program. Assesses ELIC and identifies a number of general issues about literacy programs. Focuses on improving standards of literacy and teacher quality through inservice activities. (KO)