This article examines documentation from a previously unpublished architectural survey of English comprehensive secondary school music classrooms, conducted between 1976 and 1978 by a team of Department of Education and Science architects led by David and Mary Medd on behalf of a Schools Council music curriculum research project directed by John…

Increasing interest in the provision of early childhood education and care services as a social investment strategy has been accompanied by worldwide concerns to identify appropriate pedagogical practices for working with young children. Here, we trace the developing interest in child-centred approaches, before considering whether there can be…

This paper explores the ways in which the "nature of science" (NoS) has been interpreted, accommodated and justified within school curricula since science was first schooled in the mid-nineteenth century. It explores how different interpretations of "the NoS" have been invoked by those seeking to reform school science education…

This paper examines the implications of policy fracture and arms length governance within the decision-making processes currently shaping curriculum design within the English education system. In particular, it argues that an unresolved "ideological fracture" at the government level has been passed down to school leaders whose response…

To support the review of the National Curriculum, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) was commissioned by the Department for Education in the spring of 2011 to produce a report detailing curricular arrangements in a number of high-performing educational jurisdictions. The principal source of information for this report has been…

The Government is committed to ensuring that the new National Curriculum compares favourably with the curricula in the highest performing jurisdictions, and sets rigorous requirements for pupil attainment which measure up to the highest standards set internationally. The Government is also committed to slimming the National Curriculum so that it…

This paper explores a particular contemporary instance of the implementation of central government policy linking higher education and sustainable development. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)'s strategic plan for 2006-2011 (HEFCE 2006) includes a commitment to establish a baseline assessment of the contribution of the…

Notes that "Curriculum 2000" was heralded as an overdue reform of the post-sixteen curriculum in England. Examines the policy context of the reform before drawing on research findings to address a particular issue of relevance: whether Curriculum 2000 succeeds in its stated aim of increasing breadth of study. (BT)

The place of economics in the curriculum in England and Wales provides a lens through which we may view the ways in which the curriculum as a whole is fought over and remains shifting terrain. Conceived of as social movements, school subject communities are made up of competing factions giving rise to contest and conflict both within themselves…

This article reports findings from a small-scale project investigating the introduction of the Curriculum 2000 reforms at post-16 in four state comprehensive schools in England. These reforms aimed to broaden the curriculum at post-16, to provide parity of esteem for academic and vocational qualifications, to promote participation and lifelong…

There is a cross-national trend towards unified curriculum and qualifications frameworks in upper secondary education, but such reforms face epistemological, political and institutional barriers and "unification" remains a contested issue in many countries, including England. This article examines the experience of the Scottish Higher…

A study to estimate the degree of influence over what is taught in the English Primary School'' revealed that influences internal to the school--head teacher, class teacher, pupils--are stronger than those external.'' (Author)

Offers a conceptual framework for curriculum studies that establishes a linguistic and analytic basis for comparing the upper grades of secondary schools in the United States, England, Wales, and Australia. Reports fundamental contrasts between United States and other countries. Examines differences found in the areas of organizational structure…

Using a sixth-grade mathematics lesson, this article attempts to illustrate the lack of understanding of the "subject matter" of instruction in schools. Aims to illuminate the process by which knowledge becomes constituted and stated as valid in school lessons. Maintains that the mathematics example which is analyzed reveals how subject…

Presents a case study exploring how major curriculum change has affected the students in an English secondary school. Focuses on how government policy and internal curriculum restructuring have disrupted learning conditions. Suggests that quantitative-based curriculum innovation does not take into accout the cultural specificity of the school…