The primary objective of the study was to empirically test theoretical claims made about differences between Didaktik and curriculum traditions concerning teacher autonomy (TA) and teacher responsibility (TR). It tests the hypothesis that TA and TR are higher among Didaktik than curriculum countries. The second objective was to explore…

This article presents a new conceptualization of 'shadow curriculum', one component of the worldwide phenomenon of shadow education, i.e. learning outside of school. Traditional conceptions of curriculum are not applicable to shadow education, and so this article begins by exploring how shadow education practices qualify as a new focus of…

The articles in this special issue include different perspectives on comparative policy studies with an aim to understand transnational education policies in relation to the logic of national educational systems and to grasp the ongoing reframing of teacher identity and teaching as a result of the policy activities of 'new' and coordinated…

In this retrospective essay reviewing the implications of Joseph Schwab's essay, "The practical: A language for education" (2013 [1970]), 40+?years after its first publication, I identify two "practicals". The first is a comprehensive "Practical 1.1" embracing ends, subject matter, problem source and methods.…

In 1970, Joseph Schwab published the first of four papers that argued for a turn to the idea of the Practical in curriculum research and practice. In this paper, I revisit Schwab's original paper and explore the extent to which his case for the Practical is still relevant today. I first look at the past of the deliberative tradition in which…

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…

A recent national curriculum guide for upper secondary schools in my home country, Iceland, requires secondary schools to work towards equality and five other overarching aims. This requirement raises questions about to what extent secondary schools have to change their curricula in order to approach these aims or work towards them in an adequate…

This paper aims to better understand economists' increasingly influential voice to the conversation of schooling and education. It draws on curriculum theory to develop a framework for analysis of current economic research in education. The framework consists of the following tri-partition: the political, the practical, and the programmatical.…

The consolidation of reconceptualism as a distinctive tradition in curriculum inquiry is commonly understood to go hand-in-hand with the decline and even eclipse of an explicit political orientation in such work. This paper offers an alternative argument, focusing on a re-assessment of what has been called the representation problem, and exploring…

This paper draws on the experiences of two graduate level curriculum theory classes taught at different teacher education institutions in the US. Teacher educators and curriculum theorists invest in creating reflexive spaces for teachers to explore the complex terrain of lived curriculum. Narrative inquiry is chronicled as acting as an important…

This study examines the usage and contexts of "wellbeing" in New Zealand's curriculum, a formal statement of education policy enacted by a democratically elected government. The analysis is guided by a current model of student wellbeing rooted in seven, interdependent domains: "Having," "Being," "Relating,"…

Human beings ought to use critical reflection to define and decide their courses of action. This paper examines the use of attention-seeker questions in the framework of critical pedagogy purposely to study the way some Ugandan teachers are constrained in their practice by their lack of participation in developing the school curriculum. This…

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…

There has been a growing interest in the European "Didaktik" tradition as part of a process of "internationalizing" curriculum studies. Kruger provides useful insights into some aspects of "Didaktiek" in South Africa. However, the essay does not contextualize this tradition within the broader history of South African…

The documented social-subjects curricula for Scottish 5-16 year olds are analysed for representations of "self-in-society". Such representations are important in Scotland because it is expected that the new Education-for-Citizenship framework will in part be delivered through the social subjects. However, citizenship education is also…