The article analyzes methodological approaches to constructing a didactic model of specialist courses in Ukraine and France. It is found that the main elements of higher education are knowledge, modes of activity (abilities, skills), creative search activities and emotional education. It is specified that knowledge is a system of determined…

This paper explores notions of professionalism amongst vocational teachers in the United Kingdom and Australia, through an analysis of voluntarism/regulatory frameworks and professional body frameworks. In terms of empirical evidence, the paper reports on data drawn from a documentary analysis of government policy documents, standards for the…

This article discusses three years' research (2012-2014) on design education towards a 2016 undergraduate industrial design curriculum launch. It contributes a pathway for conservative courses towards design culture transformation and filling gaps between them and leading breakthrough education exemplars. The course proposes a collective knowledge…

The flat structure of American schools is ill-suited to meeting today's demands for education improvement. Historically, American schools have addressed this instructional support deficit with a patchwork of poorly defined roles and responsibilities--underused department chairs, fitful coaching models, and informal teacher leaders who generally…

This paper frames the problem underlying the cross-cultural Organizing Curriculum Change (OCC) study of state-based curriculum-making. The paper discusses the increased use by states over the past two decades of the century-old instrument of the state-based curriculum and the tool of the curriculum commission. The paper contrasts the slender…

An Australian scholar in the Arts and Humanities responds to recent US models emphasizing civic-engaged learning as a way to renew the humanities in undergraduate education. Policy contexts and curriculum initiatives of kindred trends in recent Australian undergraduate education in the humanities are contrasted in this essay. The Australian…

This article compares the development of citizenship education (CE) in Taiwan and England, as well as teachers' perceptions about the liberal and communitarian constructs underpinning the curriculum in both countries. Due to distinct social and political environments, the Taiwanese and English CE curricula demonstrate an interesting contrast.…

Recent policy debates surrounding Japan's graduate education raise a serious skepticism in the validity of its "research-based" or "learning-by-doing" training approach that these institutions have uniquely established. Proponents of reform suggest drastic restructuring of the graduate programs by replacing the experience-based…

Comparative research on higher education in developing and transitional countries is often focused on such issues as access, finance, student mobility and the impact of globalization, but there has been little attention to curriculum and the forces that shape it. Confronting Challenges to the Liberal Arts Curriculum fills an important gap in the…

Geographical information science (GISc) is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. Being a relatively new discipline, universities often provide training as part of geography, surveying, town planning, environmental and computer science programmes. This complicates professional accreditation assessments as the content, outcomes, extent…

Governments recognize that workers in the twenty-first century need to keep pace with increasingly technical employment environments in order to remain competitive in the global market. The Australian government has developed a set of policies to address impending shortfalls in high-level technicians and paraprofessionals across many professions.…

The Chinese National Quality Course Plan is a large-scale project by the Ministry of Education, which has led to the production of more than 12,000 courses from some 700 universities since 2003. This paper describes in detail the purpose of the project and how it is organized at all levels, including how individual courses get selected at…

Making paper becomes a means for overcoming lack of money in a rural community: Students make money and gain scientific knowledge and practice learning skills by implementing paper-making technology. (JH)

The successful use of Decker Walker's curriculum development model in different educational settings in Israel and Australia demonstrates that inductively derived models can assist educational practice in a way that deductive models cannot. However, Walker's model should not be viewed as a general panacea. Issues that must be examined are…

Describes the development and implementation of the American/Icelandic Music Curriculum Project. The project's goal was to improve elementary and secondary music literacy through sequential music activities and to create guidelines to assist educators in preparing music curricula. A four-stage model for music curriculum design is discussed. (AM)