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 China, the latest version of the Senior High School Chemistry Curriculum (SHSCC) has been developed in response to social changes. This paper provides an account of the process and the product of the official document of this curriculum, "The Chemistry Curriculum Standards of Senior High School," with the purpose of exploring the way…

This article maps current senior secondary certification arrangements in Australia, drawing on data on school completion rates, certificate attainment and post-school destinations, as well as policy documents within and across jurisdictions. It argues that irrespective of the jurisdiction, numerous changes over nearly 50 years to the rules…

Anatomy teaching, once thought of as being the cornerstone of medical education, has undergone much change in the recent years. There is now growing concern for falling standards in medical graduates' anatomical knowledge, coupled with a reduction in teaching time and appropriately qualified teaching staff. With limited contact hours available to…

Although the paradigm of visual literacy (VL) is rapidly emerging, the construct itself still lacks operational specificity. Based on a semiotic understanding of visual culture as an ongoing process of "making meaning", we present in this study a skill-based classification of VL, differentiating four sets of VL skills: perception;…

Chemistry core ideas play an important role in students' chemistry learning. On the basis of the representations of chemistry core ideas about "substances" and "processes" in the Chinese Chemistry Curriculum Standards (CCCS) and the U.S. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), we conduct a critical comparison of chemistry…

Common core standards, interdisciplinary education, and discipline-specific literacy are common international education reforms. The constructive-interpretative language arts pairs (speaking-listening, writing-reading, representing-viewing) and the communication, construction, and persuasion functions of language are central in these movements.…

In 2011, OFSTED produced its triennial report, "Successful Science" (OFSTED, 2011), celebrating the successes of science in English schools over the previous three years and informing educators of what things still needed to be addressed. The Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM, www.psqm.org.uk) was highlighted as helping to address many…

This study examines how access to academic curriculum differs between secondary schools in Australia, a country whose education system is marked by high levels of choice, privatisation and competition. Equitable access to academic curriculum is important for both individual students and their families as well as the larger society. Previous…

The nonprofit organization Common Core looked at curriculums, standards, and assessments in nine nations that consistently outrank the United States on the Programme for International Assessment (PISA) to see whether differences in countries' PISA scores are due to differences in the content they teach. Findings revealed that top-performing…

This article attempts to map the business and economics curriculum and explain some of the reasons for it being as it is; and to examine the number of students choosing to study the subjects and the "perceived relative value" of studying economics and business studies. In 1988 a National Curriculum was introduced for all 5-16-year-olds…

Geographic information system (GIS) education in Japan lags far behind that in Western developed countries. As such the development of systematic GIS education in Japanese universities, including the preparation of a GIS standard curriculum, becomes an urgent issue. This article examines the present situation and recent trends of GIS education in…

The objective of this project is to establish a statement of core aims for first-year Communications writing courses that will serve to: (1) Facilitate the process of establishing equivalence of existing and future Communications courses for transfer purposes; (2) Address evolving challenges to the existing transfer and articulation process,…

The "NCAA Guide to International Academic Standards for Athletics Eligibility" provides specific criteria to be used as a guide in reviewing the initial eligibility (graduation, core curriculum, grade-point average and ACT/SAT test scores) of students who have completed any portion of their secondary education in a non-United States…

Despite government rhetoric, higher education lecturers and schoolteachers in the UK remain under pressure to focus on standards and measurement in the core curriculum at the relative expense of a wider and more creative education. This article argues that the balance needs redressing and explores the nature of creative teaching in the context of…