There is an emerging need for redefining religious literacy for teachers in mainstream secondary schools in the United Kingdom (UK) where Religious Studies is part of the core curriculum. The research study draws upon careful observation and analysis of UK mainstream secondary school curricula about Islam and on the qualitative pieces of evidence…

This article examines the place of ijtihad in the British Religious Education curriculum. It argues that the concept should be taught to high school students earlier than A-Level. Knowledge of ijtihad enables students to understand diversity of thought and legal interpretation in Islam, and why different conclusions can be reached from the same or…

This article, which is intended as a contribution to wider conversations around music literacy, explores current conceptions of music literacy within the UK, using the area of aural skills training as a focus. Specifically, it considers the nature of music literacy and aural training in secondary (ages 11-18) music curricula and the role of aural…

Education is the main factor of economic growth in a country, and the curriculum is the heart of any education system. This study focuses on the key roles of education and its relation to economic development as well as the curriculum as a core part of the entire educational drive of nations. In particular, the present study compares the…

This article reflects on findings from a qualitative evaluation of the Narnian Virtues Character Education English Curriculum (NV) in the context of critical engagement with the field of character education. We recognise many people argue for or against character education based on ideological positions. This article will reflect on how those…

Engaging with digital media is part of everyday living for the majority of children, yet opportunities to learn about, through and with media are denied many pupils in compulsory schooling. Whilst Media Studies in the UK is internationally reputed to be well established, changes made to the primary and secondary national curriculum in 2014…

This is a practical guide for school leaders and teachers who have responsibility for designing and delivering a knowledge-rich and skills-focused curriculum at KS3 and KS4. It considers the elements that underpin a high-quality curriculum and how to create sequential and conceptually rich learning experiences for pupils across the secondary…

In this third and final paper from the Delphi study One Direction, we report on participants' responses to four secondary school music curriculum scenarios. These scenarios present four possible directions for a C21 secondary school music curriculum. The scenarios were devised from a combination of ideas derived from the data from the earlier…

In the school curriculum, some subjects tend to be regarded more highly than others. Various accounts have been proposed to explain this phenomenon. Most of them draw attention to the nature of different subjects and the type of knowledge that these promote. While such epistemological narratives help to illuminate the origins of the curriculum…

While weighing up the relative merits of the competing narratives of the Battle of Hastings that his department might present to Year 7, Matthew Stanford began to consider how the causal models that teachers introduce influence the causal arguments that students later go on to write. In this article, Stanford shows how such realisations informed…

This analytical report was prepared by the OECD Higher Education Policy Team as part of the Education and Innovation Practice Community (EIPC), an action of the European Union's New European Innovation Agenda, flagship 4 on "Fostering, attracting and retaining deep tech talent". EIPC seeks to bring together peers from policy and practice…

This article explores how STEM subjects can enable students to learn about the key environmental issues that we face, using the National Association for Environmental Education's recent teacher handbooks about 'The Environmental Curriculum' and details of the Sustainable Development Goals to help do this through a mix of input and small-group…

In today's rapidly evolving global economy, it is essential to equip young learners with the necessary skills and knowledge to thrive in the workforce and contribute to economic development. Education is a vital driver of human capital and development in countries, and the effectiveness of any educational system depends heavily on its curriculum.…

This article reviews Education for Sustainability (EfS) in the secondary sector across a range of countries. Drawing on journal articles, book chapters and official reports, it identifies some of the more successful approaches to implementing EfS within the secondary sector. The authors first discuss the importance of educating for sustainability…

Drawing on findings from 20 semi-structured interviews carried out in 2013, this article seeks to contribute to the limited body of literature exploring the schooling experiences of the mixed-race population in the United Kingdom. Taking a particular focus on the secondary school curriculum, the article provides examples in which Black mixed-race…