Curriculum change in Australia and Ireland : A comparative study of recent reforms

Journal article


Gleeson, Jim, Klenowski, Valentina and Looney, Anne. (2020). Curriculum change in Australia and Ireland : A comparative study of recent reforms. Journal of Curriculum Studies. 52(4), pp. 478-497. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2019.1704064
AuthorsGleeson, Jim, Klenowski, Valentina and Looney, Anne
Abstract

Curriculum policies internationally are increasingly concerned with the promotion of national competitiveness and economic development. This involves more emphasis on skills than on knowledge, on learning than on teaching and on school/teacher autonomy than regulation from the centre. At the local level such global influences are inevitably refracted in a process known as glocalization. Using a critical policy historiography approach, this study explores globalization and glocalization forces in two relatively recent curriculum reforms—the Australian Curriculum and Ireland’s Framework for Junior Cycle. Both reforms employ triadic models of curriculum design involving subjects/learning areas, key skills/general capabilities, statements of learning/cross-curriculum priorities. Globalization influences are clearly evident in the shared emphases in both jurisdictions on skills, learning and school/teacher agency. However, these reforms have inevitably been shaped by their respective local political and social contexts and the respective curriculum debates have been dominated by technical implementation issues such as curriculum overload in Australia and school-based versus external assessment in Ireland. Meanwhile, substantive issues such as the educational purposes of the reforms, the influence of market values and performativity and the significance of curriculum and teacher professionalism policymaking structures have been largely eschewed.

Keywordscurriculum reform; international comparison; globalization; glocalization; policy contexts
Year2020
JournalJournal of Curriculum Studies
Journal citation52 (4), pp. 478-497
PublisherRoutledge
ISSN0022-0272
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2019.1704064
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85078236560
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range478-497
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online19 Jan 2020
Publication process dates
Deposited30 Jun 2021
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