Contemporary educational reform discourses in Taiwan call for the modernization of education to meet the needs of society of the 21st century. The principles and rules of 'reason' that historically order educational discourses can't be taken for granted. This article uses Popkewitz's notion of alchemy to think about the principles. The notions of…

In an era of normative austerity in US higher education, composition is being transformed by budget cuts, retrenchment, and marketization. Nevertheless, the field’s scholarship continues to compartmentalize questions concerning the material terms of practice away from questions of curricular philosophy. Because composition has not developed a…

After the junta came to power in May 2014, the military government started exercising their nation-centric hegemony through the educational policies and curriculum planning. Contemporary curriculum reform is employed as a mechanism for maintaining the status quo of elites group who have held privileged positions among the Thais. Looking through…

In the wake of multiple activity program eliminations and frequent downgrading of activity programs nationwide, the question to be addressed is how we can draw upon our interdisciplinary, intergenerational, and intercultural understandings of human movement to construct physical activity programs for the future that might withstand the test of…

This article, by Brahm Norwich of the Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter, sets the recent legislative changes in the special education system in England, the Children and Families Act (2014), in the context of wider changes in the school system, such as changes in curriculum-assessment, the governance of schools and inspection…

The article examines the enduring popularity of a form of school history which is based predominantly on the idea that the transmission of a positive story about the national past will inculcate in young people a sense of loyalty to the state; a reassuring and positive sense of identity and belonging; and a sense of social solidarity with fellow…

This article analyses and discusses the development of the principles of adapted teaching and inclusive education in the three most recent Norwegian national curricula, seen in light of curriculum potential as an overarching perspective. This potential highlights teachers' opportunities for choosing and adapting their teaching content. The area of…

The purpose of this article is to identify some key areas of the Australian curriculum that remain sites of struggle and contestation. We propose that there remain a number of contentious points in relation to the national curriculum. These points relate variously to the content and form of the curricular documents; assumptions about knowledge,…

This paper suggests that, in contrast to the great reports such as Crowther, Newsom Robbins and Plowden, recent government papers relating to education in England pay little attention to values that should shape the standards to be achieved, the knowledge to be transmitted and the virtues to be nourished. Whilst legislation over the past 60 years…

This paper explores the intersection of curriculum studies/curriculum history/curriculum theory through the study of systems of reason that order reflection and action. Words about "learning", "empowerment", "problem-solving", "self-realization", "community", and so on, are not merely there in order that educators should "grasp" some reality to…

Recent moves in Australia to institute a national curriculum emanated from federal governments of ostensibly different political persuasions in the period from 2003, building on developments that go back over 25 years. This article traces continuities and new developments, meditating on two questions: whether the current moves are politically…

Various recent politically driven policy interventions have outlined the increased importance of school physical education programmes as a contributor towards realising active lifelong learning targets. This paper explains the origins of the new policy emphasis and describes some of the opportunities which now exist for reviewing many curriculum…

A curriculum is a knowledge structure outlining what is to be learned in what order. The Australian curriculum for English emphasises creation of a "coherent" and "cumulative" "body of knowledge about how the English language works", with learning that is "portable and applicable to new settings across the school…

Science schooling enjoys high status. Scientific capability is perceived as critical in underpinning economic success in advanced societies. Science achievement, at all levels, has become a global competition in which nations want to be seen to triumph. Governments periodically pay close attention to science education with a view to ensuring it…

The release of the "Australian curriculum: Mathematics" has generated considerable debate in the education community. Some educators warn that this debate has centred on mathematical content and skills, setting the conditions for a "back to basics" movement in line with the political rhetoric that accompanied the national…