Curriculum Matters 17: 2021

Teacher expectations influence how children fare in education. However, we know little about how 4- and 5-year-old children in Aotearoa New Zealand perceive their curriculum experiences. This qualitative study utilised interviews to explore the perceptions of 12 children (attending kindergarten and school) regarding their teachers’ expectations of ability/mixed ability grouping, the learning environment, and goal setting. Findings showed that the children held positive views of their… Read more

This article shares insights from a survey of primary school teachers across the Manawatū–Whanganui region about history teaching at Years 1 to 6. By focusing on the voices of primary teachers, the article aims to fill a gap in public debates about the new Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories curriculum so far outweighed by the viewpoints of policy makers, journalists, university historians, and secondary school representatives. Teachers’ answers suggest that despite differences of approach,… Read more

Since its emergence as a distinct subject area in the nineteenth century, English has been an important, but contested, subject. Competing discourses, resulting in different models of English, have vied for prominence, each with ideologies about the purposes of education and the needs of students and the state. However, while international research into subject English is plentiful, little has been written about the current state of subject English in New Zealand. Using content analysis and… Read more

The New Zealand Curriculum expresses a vision for young people who are contributing and participating members of society. While this social vision is supported by the inclusion of key competencies, the curriculum document says little about content and its role in developing this participatory agency. This article uses interview data with secondary English teachers to identify prevailing constructions of subject English and to consider the extent to which these constructions may… Read more

Teachers’ educational philosophies regulate their curriculum-design orientations, shaping their teaching decisions and practices. However, theoretical assumptions in this relationship were not tested empirically in different contexts. To this end, this cross-sectional survey design study aimed to examine the relationships between teachers’ educational philosophies and their curriculum-design orientations using data from 295 in-service teachers from Turkey. The correlations among the teachers… Read more

Little effort has been made to understand the changes and issues faced by Korean teachers at the Innovation School, a type of public school with a progressive agenda. This qualitative research focuses on Korean teachers’ lived experiences at their Innovation School sites. Narrative interviews were conducted with eight elementary school level Innovation School teachers to understand their thinking and practices, which revealed that teachers’ thoughts and feelings shifted as they worked at the… Read more