Valuing curriculum research: Taking a second look

In an age of research excellence assessment, what type of curriculum research is valued? The field of curriculum research is varied. There are scholars whose work is renowned internationally and...

The Question of Knowledge in the Curriculum

In some ways, the recent controversy over Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence, introduced in 2010, could be said to be going over a familiar knowledge versus skills debate. Not only is it banal...

Teachers’ voice in the development of curricula for 21st century competences

In the last two decades, the terms ‘21st century skills’ and ‘21st century competences’ have been widely adopted to represent the ambition for an educational reform that will lead to a...

Has business and accountability in education driven out creative curriculums leading to lack of provision of an inclusive broad-based social education for all?

The ever increasing presence of business and accountability in education at all levels to the point at which staff well-being and the real and true meaning of education has been severely damaged....

Participation in recreational activities: views, experiences and choices from children and young people with cerebral palsy

  http://www.playwales.org.uk/eng/ ‘All children and young people have the right to rest, leisure, play and recreation and to take part in cultural and artistic...

Will to Power: Project-Based Learning in Post-WWII Japanese School Curriculum

In 1998, Japan’s curriculum authorities published curriculum guidelines (gakushu shido yoryo) for national compulsory education, dubbed as the ‘yutori (latitude) curriculum’ with a pinch of...

Does it matter how the change is done? National curriculum reform in Finland

In many countries, Finland included, national curriculum reform are central tools for large-scale school development. However, the way the reforms are carried out affects what actually happens -...

Teacher Agency and Curriculum Development

Scotland: Reform, professionalism and delivery

Recent curriculum policy in the UK and elsewhere (e.g. Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence, Successful Futures in Wales, and the New Zealand Curriculum Framework) marks a significant departure...

The politics of mental wellbeing and education

BERA Blog Special Issues: General Election 2017

Social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) in schools has, over the past decade, emerged as part of a broader mental health agenda, shaped and driven through versions of childhood located in notions of...

Credit-bearing placements on degree programmes – are they worth the effort?

Work-related learning, whereby a student has the opportunity to undertake a project or work alongside staff in an organisation, is encouraged and recommended in many publications even if they are...

The Politics of the Canon: An exploration of the factors influencing teachers’ text choices for the new GCSE specification in English Literature

As English teachers in England are aware, the new GCSE specifications which will be examined for the first time in Summer 2017 mark a significant departure from previous practice in terms of...

Critical Pedagogies: Are the benefits of alternative schooling being overlooked?

With increasing criticism of the English government regarding over-testing and high pressure in state schools, alternatives to early years formal education, such as practitioners of the Montessori...