Curricular reforms oftentimes cause more problems than they solve. Teachers' being kept out of curricular activities is one main reason for a reform to plummet. In this qualitative study, we examined the Malian curricular policy from two aspects -- reform and teaching and learning. Guided by Fischer's argumentative approach theory, this analysis…

This paper analyzes the connection between a university's curricular reform and the creative ways in which actors position themselves to respond. The study takes place in a Colombian university that underwent an institutional competency-based curricular reform. This context allows us to question the ways in which different actors perceive and…

Since the late 1980s, school curriculum revisions in Japan have sought to promote capabilities and dispositions that transcend subject boundaries and are often labelled 'competencies' in international curricular discourse. This study examines policy documents over the period, showing how Japanese policymakers have sought to navigate pressures…

This paper explores how messages for health and PE ([H]PE) within English and Welsh curricula are being re-legitimised through distinct performance and competence pedagogic models. Drawing upon Bernstein's sociology of knowledge (Bernstein, 1996. "Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research, critique." Taylor and Francis;…

Competence-based approaches (CBAs) in education have become an internationally important educational policy concept in recent decades. However, a substantial body of research has suggested that in order to understand and explain the evolution of CBAs, there is a need to analyse curriculum-making as a complex and multi-layered practice. To…

This paper argues that the recent policy reform of occupational qualifications in South Africa is not substantially different from previous qualifications composed of unit standards and learning outcomes. The transition to democracy in the 1990s saw the introduction of a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) for post-school education. The…

Competency-based education (CBE) has been widely adopted in various educational contexts although research discussing how CBE is implemented in local contexts and how it shifts (or not) teaching practices is limited. This study explores how Vietnamese secondary teachers made sense of general competencies and adapted their teaching towards…

Informed by the critical theory, this paper contributes to debates on decolonising education as an agenda for a heritage-driven curriculum espoused by the current Zimbabwe competence-based curriculum. It focuses on the "O" level Food Technology and Design curriculum, an area that has not been much explored. The paper challenges visible…

These proceedings contain papers of the 6th International Baltic Symposium on Science and Technology Education (BalticSTE2025) held in Šiauliai, Lithuania, June 16-19, 2025. This collection of BalticSTE25 articles presents 13 scientific articles and an introductory article on the topic of natural science and technology education. The articles…

One critical step in the challenging process of curricular reform is determining how closely a curriculum aligns with national recommendations. Here, we examine the alignment of teaching, assessment, and student experience in undergraduate biology courses with the "Vision and Change" core competency recommendations. We applied the…

This article examines curricular development within compulsory science and mathematics education (grades k-9) in Denmark during a 20-year transition towards competency-oriented curricula. The article contains two main parts. In the first part, we describe the Danish case, emphasizing how international and national trends at the turn of the…

The idea of "powerful knowledge" as a curriculum principle has led to extensive discussion. It has been framed as a way of bringing knowledge back into curriculum thinking in the light if its absence in curriculum theory. However, questions have been raised regarding powerful knowledge as a knowledge-based curriculum principle; questions…

The recent round of curriculum reform in China has proposed the educational goal of developing key competencies. This study examined how key competencies are integrated into geography textbooks for middle schools through pre-designed activities. The results showed that the textbooks emphasized the regional awareness competency. The activities in…

The skills gap in the accounting profession is not a new issue. More than 30 years of research and studies all point to an ever-increasing disparity between what accountants do and what the mainstream accounting curriculum teaches. Technology and businesses are changing and evolving rapidly, as are the expectations for accountants. Advances in the…

'The knowledge question', addressing what students need to know and learn, becomes particularly relevant during the process of a new school reform. This paper examines the political messages and the role of knowledge in the current curriculum reform initiative for primary and secondary education in Norway (2020). The study is based on a document…