Over the past three decades, educators have faced an increasing variety of reform proposals that can best be contextualized as efforts to commodify and privatize public education. While supporters of market-based reforms attempt to place these proposals within education theory, they are in reality firmly entrenched in neoliberal economic theory.…

Interprets and evaluates relations between the U.S. government and the curriculum of U.S. public schools since World War II. The interpretations presented are reconstructed from authors of the time as well as current interpreters. (AM)

Discusses information from two surveys involving former and current curriculum commission members in the Federal Republic of Germany. Observes that, relative to task, composition, and trends, the basic pattern of curricular work has not changed in 20 years. Makes comments concerning the present state of curriculum work. (KO)

Explores the reasons educational reforms fail. Demonstrates that the study of such failures provides insight into the complex political dynamics of policy making. Information from two case studies of France and West Germany indicates that in industrialized societies, the state tends to maximize the political gain derived from educational reform…

Suggests that the formation and implementation of the National Curriculum for England and Wales has been a dialectical process involving legislators, administrators, and teachers. Using case studies, discusses some problems with the curriculum and schools' responses that may work against a truly national curriculum. Criticizes reduced local…

Describes assessment in the German school system as regular, systematic, and officially controlled through legislation. Emphasizes that even strict grading levels combine criterion and norm referencing because teacher determination must include a subjective element. Concludes that other systems may best learn negative lessons from the German…

Argues that the New Right has translated economic doctrine into the language of experience and moral imperative through populist politics. Maintains that curriculum decisions are involved in political and cultural conflict as depicted by the question: Whose knowledge becomes official knowledge? Urges curriculum workers to speak for the progressive…

Reviews educational history and curriculum development in Norway from the eighteenth century to the present. Describes the development and implementation of centralized curriculum administration. Discusses and analyzes recent trends toward decentralized control and local efforts in curriculum development. (CFR)

Focuses on the pedagogy constructed in Finnish state educational discourse. Reveals four essential changes in the use of language about teaching, learning, and schooling that have occurred since the 1960s. Finds that decontextualization must occur for the other three changes to be possible and credible. Discusses the appearance of school-free…

Analyzes the impact on secondary school curriculum of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty. States that changes will be influenced through curriculum controls including: providing curriculum-wide guidelines, selecting range and content of subjects, and selecting textbooks. Concludes that state bureaucracy plays a critical role in the…

Outlines the evolution of curriculum theory and practice in Spain from the 1970s to the 1990s. Discusses changing perspectives in response to political developments and reasons for the failure of the curriculum innovations introduced by the Socialist government after 1982. Advocates developing a dialectical theory of curriculum reform. (DB)

Examines the radical shift in educational policies in England and Wales since 1980, and how the shift has affected the curriculum industry. Considers teachers' attempts to influence policy, and the relationship between the curriculum industry and teachers' work in the future. Delineates implications of a national curriculum, an education market,…

Discusses changes in educational governance and environment that have developed alongside political and economic changes in Sweden. Describes how both government and education have become less centralized and have adopted more democratic principles. Concludes that more attention is being given to cooperation and communication among teachers and…

Explores the different status and validity accorded to various subjects in Hong Kong secondary schools and the structure and ideology that supports this system. Argues that the curriculum continues to promote the characteristics of direct state control even though efforts have been extended to change it. (MJP)

Examines Australian curriculum movements since 1950. Argues that curriculum specialists in the 1970s allied with progressive teachers' and parents' organizations to foster diverse participation in curriculum decision making. Contrasts this to the 1950s, 1960s, and 1980s, when curriculum specialists assisted conservative state education…