In many countries across the world, teaching is regarded as a noble profession. However, in some countries, it has degenerated into a low status occupation. This qualitative study explores the life-history of four Zimbabwean teachers and how they were implementing the New Curriculum Framework 2015-2022. The self-identity theory provides the…

This study explores how South Korean teachers' beliefs about social justice teaching intersect with their intergroup contact experiences when teaching migrant students under expanded curriculum autonomy. A comparative qualitative case study approach was used, drawing on interviews, classroom observations, and stimulated recalls. The findings…

Following the steps of countries known for their rigorous education systems, and under the supervision and recommendations of the World Bank in 2015/2016, Kuwait placed a considerable budget to instigate a curriculum reform, via the implementation of Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC), which was adapted three years ago. However, the relatively…

Pressures on primary teachers to improve writing are often to the detriment of quality talk in the classroom. This is despite decades of research emphasising that knowledge and understanding are developed through such talk. Primary teachers' experiences of incorporating the current Spoken Language national curriculum are often at odds with current…

Despite widespread support for integrated approaches to teaching, classroom practice reveals a lack of implementation. This paper explores challenges and opportunities in teaching an integrated curriculum, and connects this with the contemporary notion of a twenty-first century curriculum and pedagogy. A case study of Global Education (GE) is used…

This article reports on a study investigating physical sciences teachers' stages of concern (SoC) profiles during the implementation of the curriculum and assessment policy statement (CAPS) in South Africa. Throughout reform implementation, it is conceivable that teachers go through different SoC, ranging from giving low priority to the reform…

A teacher shares his experience implementing the "Next Generation Science Standards," from struggle to success.

Although global initiatives have brought attention to the lack of quality in education systems worldwide; the question remains, how do we implement quality education? Teachers, a vital component of the education process, are not usually included in these global conversations; this results in government initiatives missing key obstacles faced by…

The Chinese authorities have spelt out their educational vision in a series of documents and provided explicit guidelines in terms of curriculum and assessment. How are these policy visions and curriculum standards translated into the classroom practices of the teacher? This paper tries to answer this question by looking into one teacher's…

We report on a three-year study of teachers' experiences of a major reform of the science National Curriculum for 14- to 16-year-olds in England. Teachers' responses to this curriculum reform were guided by: "personal" aims and biography; "internal" features of their workplace such as departmental collegiality; and…

Practical work has a long history in science education in the UK. This article explores how the influences of curriculum and assessment policy have shaped practical work over recent years. We argue that, together with changes in teacher training programmes, these influences have weakened science teachers' capacity to meet the challenge of calls…

A new national curriculum has recently been implemented across Australia. This paper reports on a case study of a regional Western Australia government school as they re-wrote and taught the phase one learning areas: maths, English, science and HASS. Results showed what it is like to work in an environment where continual change is not only…

Research over the past two decades has shown the alignment of teachers’ instruction with state standards is generally weak. Proposing that alignment is a useful measure of teachers' curricular knowledge (Shulman, 1986), this study uses a large database of teacher reports of their content coverage to understand the relationship of teacher…

This article presents the experiences of nursery and primary head teachers (n = 12) on the English Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) after its first year of implementation in 2010. Findings are drawn from a subset of data (head teachers of primary and nursery schools) which forms part of a larger Department for Children, Schools and Families…

This comparative case study investigated the teaching practices of secondary English language arts teachers who are reading endorsed versus secondary English language arts teachers who are not reading endorsed. Florida Department of Education mandated that all reading teachers, and strongly encouraged all English language arts teachers be reading…