In England and Scotland, the History National Curriculum avoids the prescription of specific content; expecting schools instead to devise a curriculum appropriate to their pupils within broad guidance. This means in both countries, teachers apparently have responsibility for constructing a curriculum: selecting content, sequencing learning and…

This paper uses biographical, historical and comparative perspectives to examine some of the work of Lawrence Stenhouse, widely regarded as one of the leading curriculum theorists of the twentieth century. Although his best-known work was carried out in England, he had strong Scottish connections and some of the influences on his output can be…

This paper examines different curriculum making actors, discourses and practices at different sites and then situate Scotland and Wales within these. I illustrate the interconnected nature of different sites of curriculum making and explain how these exert influences in the two countries while acknowledging their social and cultural differences.…

This paper unites the history of Computer Science (CS) Education in Ireland by plotting Ireland's roadmap leading to the implementation of formal Computer Science Education in schools. It first outlines the educational system in Ireland. The history roadmap starts in the 1970s with the first notions of introducing computing in post-primary school,…

Professional networks of teachers have been well documented in education studies but there is still a need for a fine-grained analysis of teachers' ego-networks in the context of curriculum making. It is important to understand the nature and dynamics of teachers' connections and how teachers mediate their practices accordingly. This study…

Technical, economical, and social changes place great demands on the qualification of professional forces in all areas of the national economy. The decisive foundations for these qualifications are built in vocational education. Vocational education is an investment in the future and one of the decisive pillars of the prosperity of every state in…

This case study reflects on the first iteration of a new course in film education, titled Introduction to Film Education, which ran for the first time at Queen Margaret University in Scotland in 2021. It considers the upskilling of both teachers and film education practitioners in film education, while reflecting upon the co-creation of a film…

The problem of educational achievement by boys and young men is a long-standing and big one that has been largely ignored by policymakers. This new HEPI report considers the consequences for individuals and society and proposes: (1) adopting a 'boy positive' environment in schools; (2) expanding proven grassroots initiatives that help boys; (3)…

This study is based around Education Scotland's ambition to create a coherent learning framework for pupils aged 3-18, with particular focus on the technologies curricular area, and more specifically the subject of design and technology (D&T). The study investigates the views, definitions, and approaches adopted by primary and secondary…

This essay examines the creation of a new undergraduate module on sport, tourism and heritage, at The University of Edinburgh, one based within the confines of a bachelor's program in sport management. The author emphasizes that this is part of a growing trend toward integrating heritage (alongside history) into Scottish/U.K. sport management…

Following the announcement, in November 2018, that Scotland would be the first educational system to introduce an LGBTI-inclusive curriculum in all of its state schools, this position paper advocates critical literacy as a theoretically congruent framework within which LGBTI issues can be explored. We suggest educators could do this by…

Teachers exercising reflexivity through their internal conversations is one of the most important factors in the process of curriculum change. Drawing from Margaret Archer's theory, this research explores teachers' internal conversations in their own descriptions about a range of matters related to curriculum making. Eight secondary school…

Many studies highlight positive outcomes from curriculum co-creation including its transformational potential for students. In this paper, we explore how curriculum co-creation transforms students, drawing on Johansson and Felten's (2014. "Transforming Students: Fulfilling the Promise of Higher Education." Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins…

Situated in the context of the Scottish Religious and Moral Education (RME) curriculum, this article considers the practice of Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI) and how it supports the RME curriculum. Sharing extracts from children's CoPI sessions, the article reflects on the ways in which ten and eleven year-old children discuss religious…

The Cinémathèque Française's long-running Cinéma Cent Ans De Jeunesse (CCAJ) has become one of the most influential film education projects in the world today. This article reflects critically and in detail upon five years of the delivery of the project in Scotland, considering the changing pedagogical shapes of the project's 'curriculum'…