This qualitative inquiry examines the tensions that general education colleges face while initiating reform in China, how students characterize these tensions, and what conditions account for the tensions. The views of 18 college students were documented through individual semi-structured interviews to uncover the themes related to the tensions,…

The Philippine educational system and its core curriculum is oriented toward the formation of the modern, autonomous, rational subject, particularly one that will fit into the contemporary global market and production system. Through this system, Filipinos are deepening the colonization of their rationalities and subjectivities by imposing a…

This paper explores the intersection of pedagogical research in communication and research on public diplomacy and engages with the notion of "knowledge diplomacy." It revises the concept of the "collaborative" central to both public diplomacy and higher education pedagogy. With both fields emphasizing the importance of…

Critical thinking, creativity, communication, teamwork, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, empathy, resilience, ambition, grit, and innovation (Heckman & Kautz, 2012). These skills, often referred to as 'soft' skills, are considered a requirement for employment and advancement for the 21st-century graduate (Carnevale & Smith, 2013).…

Wales is in the middle of a fundamental reform of its curriculum and consequent assessment design. There is a welcome broadening of the range of subjects offered at levels 1 and 2, yet the notion that some subjects are more important than others persists. Furthermore, the 'core' subjects of language, mathematics and science are seeing the biggest…

The expectations placed on teachers and teacher educators have increased particularly in relation to education topics such as relationships and sex education. One group of four pre-service teachers and a teacher educator based in an Australian university studying a Bachelor of Education (primary) share their experiences of teaching and learning in…

The paper discusses the Finnish core curriculum (curriculum framework) for basic education, with focus on how lower secondary education in general, and history teaching specifically, is meant to develop the student's democratic citizenship. Developing the student's democratic citizenship is not an explicit aim of history teaching in the current…

National-level educational administrators constantly face the question of how to ensure that the basic education system successfully meets complex local, national, international, and global challenges, and what is the best way to initiate and drive systemic changes in education amid such complexity and to create value for society. Studies have…

The paper studies the rise of neuroscience in initial teacher education, paying attention to the relatively recent Australian Government (2023) report titled 'Strong Beginnings'. In taking up a critical policy sociology lens, we focus on the first priority within the reforms, which is mandating brain science and the 'brain and learning' as core…

In Ireland, Initial Teacher Education [ITE] standards require all teachers to possess an adequate level of numeracy themselves in order to teach for numeracy learning across the school curriculum. This paper reports on a study that investigated 204 pre-service post-primary teachers' numeracy capabilities. Analysis of questionnaire data from…

Purpose: Education for sustainable development (ESD) has gained significant attention, but integrating ESD into existing education systems is challenging. The study aims to explore the challenges of ESD experienced by school leaders, focusing on the context of Malaysian schools. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a qualitative approach…

This paper presents data derived from a larger study related to the expectations and experiences of international students from the People's Republic of China with regard to studying in Australian secondary schools. The study involved 116 international students, and data were collected in two phases using questionnaires and semi-structured…

Purpose: One key aspect of European curriculum reforms is to empower students with the skills needed to engage actively in the pluralistic and multicultural global society of the 21st century. This study aims to examine the extent of multicultural education within the national core curricula of three European countries: Hungary, Finland and…

Purpose: The research aimed to critically analyse the changes that have occurred in the core curricula of general education in Poland following the Russo--Ukrainian war from the perspective of the securitisation process. Methodology: The research involved analysing 366 texts spanning various genres. These texts were produced by both securitising…

This paper focuses on the structure and substance of the Core Content Framework (CCF), a controversial document which stipulates content that providers of teacher education in England must incorporate in their programmes. We identify both a concept of instrumental trainability and a lack of coherence in the CCF which suggests it is unsuitable as a…