Curriculum Statement Research Articles

Reflecting on the powers, possibilities and constraints of geography curricula in England, Finland and Sweden

ABSTRACT National curriculum statements found within the Official Recontextualising Field (ORF) provide an insight into how geography as a school subject is conceptualized in a country’s education system. National curricula can shape teachers’ agency in curriculum making and what, how and where children and young people study and learn geography. This paper engages with the lower secondary national geography curriculum for England, Finland and Sweden. We examine the structure and nature of the national geography curricula in each country, before drawing on the threefold arrangement of geographical knowledge as a tool for the analysis of the curricula. Our analysis found that deep and descriptive world knowledge forms the largest proportion of all three national curricula documents, and we argue that this can lead to a potentially limited conceptualization of geographical knowledge and representation of geography. We also suggest that the threefold arrangement could more actively engage with political dimensions when considering futures, and that there should be greater attention paid to the histories and geographies of the discipline (geography) in school geography.

Analysis of Children's Conceptions of Concepts at the End of Pre-Primary Education

The study presents the results of the authors' original research. The subject of the research were authentic utterances of 5-6-year-old children at the exit from compulsory pre-primary education. They represented individual conceptions of the following concepts: interview, question, poem, fairytale, book, magazine, library, letter, reading, writing, writer. The concepts were selected from the state curriculum (2016). The aim of the study was to present selected findings from research on children's conceptions of language and literary concepts. In the study, we provided answers to the research question. Which claims from psycholinguistic theories about narrower and broader conceptions of concepts are most valid in children's authentic utterances? The research strategy was quantitative. Children's authentic utterances were obtained through individual interviews. Each child answered four basic questions: what is it? What is it for? What would it be if it wasn't? How do you know that? The children's statements were content-analyzed and interpreted. The children in the research sample were dominated by narrower conceptions of linguistic and literary concepts (61%). The narrower conceptions of the concepts contained a pre-scientific concept of knowing their meaning. The content of their utterances predominantly distorted the objective meanings of the concepts. Children were less likely to interpret social interactions and least likely to use explanations of another, familiar concept. When they did explain concepts in broader terms (34%), they mainly relied on sensory experiences. Some children did not know or did not answer the questions (5%). The conducted research is a part of the VEGA 1/0505/24 project - Children's preconceptions about the phenomena of reading literacy.

Inequalities in the Cape Flats: Principals’ perspectives on children’s schooling

Background: A separate, apartheid system of schooling in South Africa entrenched European racialised ideologies of white supremacy that left a legacy of social, economic, and educational inequalities. The 1995 White Paper for Education, the 1996 South African Schools Act, and the Revised National Curriculum Statement outlined steps for equalising education. However, inequalities within the schooling system remain.Aim: The study aimed to understand how principals experience the lasting effects of apartheid-era segregationist policies in primary schools and to document principals’ solutions.Setting: A meeting of principals who work at primary schools in the Western Cape province.Methods: Researchers purposively sampled four principals from the primary schools represented at the meeting, conducted semi-structured interviews with the principals chosen, and adopted an interpretive approach to analyse findings.Results: This study finds from principals’ perspectives that neighbourhood gang violence, and highly unequal funding for schools in different neighbourhoods adversely impact primary school children’s education and principals’ abilities to lead as a result of context, overcrowding and inequality. Principals note that when parent-led programmes such as the Walking Bus produce a positive effect, the government tends to undercut parents’ efforts to work with principals to secure and equalise young children’s schooling.Conclusion: Giving greater governance power to parents and principals may help to equalise the extremes of inequalities in primary schools remaining from Nationalist Party policies of the pre-1994 apartheid era.Contribution: This study contributes to primary school principals’ ideas for improving primary schoolchildren’s education.

Bridging large language model disparities: Skill tagging of multilingual educational content

AbstractThe adoption of large language models (LLMs) in education holds much promise. However, like many technological innovations before them, adoption and access can often be inequitable from the outset, creating more divides than they bridge. In this paper, we explore the magnitude of the country and language divide in the leading open‐source and proprietary LLMs with respect to knowledge of K‐12 taxonomies in a variety of countries and their performance on tagging problem content with the appropriate skill from a taxonomy, an important task for aligning open educational resources and tutoring content with state curricula. We also experiment with approaches to narrowing the performance divide by enhancing LLM skill tagging performance across four countries (the USA, Ireland, South Korea and India–Maharashtra) for more equitable outcomes. We observe considerable performance disparities not only with non‐English languages but with English and non‐US taxonomies. Our findings demonstrate that fine‐tuning GPT‐3.5 with a few labelled examples can improve its proficiency in tagging problems with relevant skills or standards, even for countries and languages that are underrepresented during training. Furthermore, the fine‐tuning results show the potential viability of GPT as a multilingual skill classifier. Using both an open‐source model, Llama2‐13B, and a closed‐source model, GPT‐3.5, we also observe large disparities in tagging performance between the two and find that fine‐tuning and skill information in the prompt improve both, but the closed‐source model improves to a much greater extent. Our study contributes to the first empirical results on mitigating disparities across countries and languages with LLMs in an educational context. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Recent advances in generative AI have led to increased applications of LLMs in education, offering diverse opportunities. LLMs excel predominantly in English and exhibit a bias towards the US context. Automated content tagging has been studied using English‐language content and taxonomies. What this paper adds Investigates the country and language disparities in LLMs concerning knowledge of educational taxonomies and their performance in tagging content. Presents the first empirical findings on addressing disparities in LLM performance across countries and languages within an educational context. Improves GPT‐3.5's tagging accuracy through fine‐tuning, even for non‐US countries, starting from zero accuracy. Extends automated content tagging to non‐English languages using both open‐source and closed‐source LLMs. Implications for practice and/or policy Underscores the importance of considering the performance generalizability of LLMs to languages other than English. Highlights the potential viability of ChatGPT as a skill tagging classifier across countries.

Examining the mismatch between the intended astronomy curriculum content, astronomical literacy, and the astronomical universe

Over the years, there have been various calls to increase and better represent astronomy in curricula. This is motivated by views within the astronomy and astronomy education communities that the awe, wonder, and interdisciplinary nature of astronomy has the potential to engage students in STEM across disciplines. Reviews of curricula have shown that astronomy topics are represented in most mandated curricula around the world and although there is a homogeneity of astronomy topics in most mandated curricula, this representation has its limitations. By using the Australian National Curriculum, the USA-based Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Swedish National Curriculum as examples, this study unpacks ideas around “How much astronomy is enough?”, the mismatches between astronomy topics in curricula and what constitutes astronomical literacy within the context of the Big Ideas in Astronomy document. The results identify that there is a significant gap at the galactic and extragalactic scales when considering the typical progression of astronomy topics when considering the conceptual, spatial, and temporal scales of the topics. Specifically, topics in curricula jump from tangible concepts within the student’s immediate and Solar System spatial scales in primary school to cosmological spatial scales in upper high school, without reference to spatial and conceptual connecting topics at galactic scales. Potential sample curriculum statements drawn from the Big Ideas are presented as a suggested curriculum inclusion. This curricula gap is identified as a potential source of a similar gap in education research in these topics at these levels, which in turn perpetuates the problem by there being a lack of research-based evidence for inclusion in the curriculum. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Curriculum design for empowered life-preparation and citizenship: A sociological analysis of the evolution of the Mathematical Literacy curricula

The subject Mathematical Literacy (ML) prioritises an interplay of mathematics and real-life contexts in pursuit of an empowerment agenda for improved life opportunities. In seeking to identify processes of inclusion-exclusion afforded by different conceptualisations of this interplay, a network of Bernstein’s theoretical constructs – classification, framing, discourses, and the pedagogic device – are used to analyse how different ML curricula conceptualise the notion of mathematical literacy and the criteria for legitimate communication, knowledge and practice in the subject. This analysis illustrates that despite differences in the formulation of the school subjects ML and Mathematics, enactments of the original ML National Curriculum Statement prioritised heavily mathematised methods in pseudo-realistic contexts. This approach thwarted the critical citizenship agenda of this curriculum and made it possible for ML to be criticised as watered-down mathematics. The analysis then reveals how the current ML Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement, supported by specific curriculum features, has attempted to overcome these challenges by foregrounding a life-preparedness orientation for empowered self-management and citizenship. This involved weakening the classification of academic and everyday knowledge, strengthening the framing of curriculum specifications, and foregrounding criteria for legitimate communication, knowledge and practice around contextual problem-solving and decision-making. Challenges with this approach are considered.Contribution: The article is relevant to those involved in curriculum, task and lesson design involving an interplay of mathematics and real-life contexts. The article aims to support the current curriculum review process in South Africa by decoding and theorising curriculum features and their impact for facilitating empowered life-preparation.

호주 뉴 사우스 웨일즈 주 교과 교육과정에 대한 분석을 통한 역량 기반 교과 교육과정 설계 개선 연구

Objectives The purpose of this study is to analyze the deficiencies of the 2022 revised curriculum from the perspective of a competency-based curriculum and derive implications from the curriculum system of New South Wales, Australia. Methods In order to achieve this purpose, the 2022 revision and the curriculum of New South Wales, Australia were analyzed based on the linkage of goal-content-achievement standards, which are important standards for competency-based curriculum design, and the clarification of achievement standards by grade level. Results The main research results are that the 2022 revised curriculum is still found to be insufficient in the linkage of goal-content-achievement standards and the criteria for clarifying the level of achievement standards by grade level, but the Australian New South Wales state curriculum is designed to meet the two standards. Conclusions In order to more fully realize the direction of the competency-based curriculum in the next curriculum revision, the subject curriculum needs to be developed in the order of ‘establishing educational objectives and goals development of achievement s → tandards → development of content standards’.

Promoting relational thinking in preschoolers (ages 3–5) through participatory science learning: insights from RMTS with Roma children

The study examined the development of relational thinking in children aged 3–5 years within a Roma community using the relational matching-to-sample task. Following a four-month period of participatory science learning, there was a twofold increase in the proportion of relational choices made by the children. The teachers and assistant teachers deliberately encouraged child participation in science activities, while adhering to the established state curriculum. This emphasis on child involvement in science activities was discussed as a potential factor contributing to a domain-general shift in relational thinking, an effect not observed in the control group of children from the same community.

Evaluating the Impact of Educational Videos on Vaccine Science Knowledge Among Virginia High School Students

ABSTRACT Background Despite the overwhelming benefits of vaccinations, suboptimal public confidence in vaccines keeps immunization rates in the U.S far from ideal levels. Purpose To assess the efficacy of a high school video set curriculum, on vaccine history, science, and safety, in improving vaccine knowledge. Methods Sample included high school students in Virginia, who had completed required biology coursework. After being assigned to either the control or experimental group, their knowledge on vaccines was assessed before and after viewing the curriculum videos. Results Experimental group students showed greater knowledge increases after viewing the videos. Examined by individual question, twelve out of eighteen questions in the experimental group had significant improvement in accuracy/knowledge, compared to one out of eighteen among the controls. Discussion Our study demonstrates the value of using videos to convey vaccine-related knowledge to high schoolers. This knowledge can favorably impact rates of acute infectious disease as well as chronic conditions such as polio, cervical cancer, and long COVID syndrome. Translation to Health Education Practice Such educational videos may be integrated into the state curricula so high school students can understand the impact, safety, and efficacy of vaccines and make informed public health decisions as adults.

Developing the Tokelau National Health and Physical Education Curriculum: A case study

Background: National school curriculum statements detail what it is important to learn and are highly context- and discipline-specific. The health and physical education (H&PE) learning areas have multiple learning purposes, and facilitating this in curriculum design is a significant and challenging task. Objective: There is little reporting on ‘behind-the-scenes’ practices of H&PE curriculum writing, despite this being a key mechanism by which the shaping of curricula occurs. This article offers a descriptive case study of curriculum development for the Tokelau National Curriculum H&PE learning area for Years 0–13. Prior to 2021, this learning area did not formally exist in the Tokelau National Curriculum Framework. Design, Setting and Methods: The case reports on the processes and decisions of a multi-national transdisciplinary writing team from Tokelau, New Zealand and New Caledonia. We explore the questions: ‘Why the need for an H&PE curriculum, and who is it for?’ Document collection and team-based interviews formed the basis for deductive descriptive analysis of the writing processes. Results: Three key themes were developed. Related to ‘why’, findings illustrate the importance of formalising H&PE learning, representing knowledge, skills and capabilities useful for present and future generations of young people in Tokelau. Considering ‘for whom’, findings emphasise the involvement of the community in curriculum decisions, and the inclusion of distinctive features aligned with community values, needs and aspirations. Conclusion: The case study illustrates the requisite coming together of different groups and expertise in the creation of a curriculum, a synthesis of pre-existing and new knowledge and experiences. The focus on health promotion and health and physical literacies exemplifies the everyday use of school curriculum goals to support community health.

Efficiency of using interactive means of theoretical training of swimmers 8-10 years old

Purpose: substantiating and developing the structure and content of theoretical training of swimmers at the stage of initial training and determining the effectiveness of traditional and interactive means of theoretical training on the level of theoretical training of athletes.
 Material and methods. A sociological survey by means of a questionnaire was conducted among qualified swimmers and trainers-teachers in order to establish the actual problems of the theoretical training of swimmers.
 The total number of interviewed qualified swimmers was 32 people, the average age of the interviewed athletes was 17.40±0.48 years, 68% were male, 32% were female. The experience of playing sports is 10.62±0.47 years.
 The total number of interviewed coaches was 17 people. Among the interviewees were 3 coaches of the highest category, 1 of them is an honored coach of Ukraine, 6 people are coaches of the first category, 8 people are coaches of the second category; the average age of the interviewees was 43.49 ± 0.44, 65% were male, 35% were female.
 Young swimmers aged 8–10, who were practicing at the stage of initial training, took part in the pedagogical experiment. The total number of athletes was 19 people. Two experimental groups were formed, in the preparation of which both generally accepted means and methods of theoretical training were used, as well as the author's interactive means using the game method.
 Mathematical and statistical processing of the research results was carried out using such criteria as: Shapiro-Wilkie (to check the normality of the distribution of the studied indicators of swimmers), Student's t-test (for independent and dependent samples in the case of normal data distribution), Mann-Whitney U-test and Wilcoxon (in the absence of a normal distribution of data); correlation analysis between the competitive result and the level of theoretical preparedness of swimmers at the stage of initial training.
 The results. Educational and training classes according to the developed program with the use of the author's interactive means of theoretical training contributed to a reliable (p<0.001) increase in the general level of theoretical training of swimmers at the stage of initial training by 161.00%. At the same time, educational and training classes with the use of theoretical training tools provided by the state curriculum turned out to be less effective and contributed to an increase in the overall level of theoretical training of young swimmers by only 39.87%.
 Conclusions. Theoretical training is an integral part of the system of training athletes. The use of interactive means of theoretical training with the use of the game method (computer games) in the process of theoretical training of young swimmers significantly increases its effectiveness, in contrast to classes in which only traditional means and methods were used (study of special literature, story, conversation, demonstration of stands, documentaries) theoretical training. At the same time, it was established that there are no gender differences between the indicators of theoretical readiness of boys and girls swimmers 8-10 years old. In addition, a high correlation was found between the general level of theoretical preparedness of swimmers of the main group and the time to cover the competitive distance of 50 m, which indicates that with an increase in the level of theoretical preparation, the time to cover the competitive distance decreases.

FEASIBILITY OF A COMMUNITY-BASED NAVIGATOR SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR CARE PARTNERS OF SERIOUSLY ILL VETERANS

Abstract We examined the feasibility and satisfaction of a short-term Veterans Health Administration (VHA)-based care partner support intervention delivered by trained navigators during COVID-19 through a single-arm interventional cohort feasibility study of a telephone-based care partner navigation intervention. Navigators (n=9) received the standard state curriculum online from a local community health worker training program plus an additional eight weeks of online role-specific training by the study team. Subsequently, navigators contacted care partners (n=30) of seriously ill veterans weekly via telephone over a 12-week period to assess social and practical needs, and connect care partners to appropriate community-based or VHA resources. All navigators (9 female; 1 male) and 17% of care partners were African-American (83% were Caucasian or other). Care partners were 90% female and 10% male; age range 41 to 80. In this telephone-based support program delivered to care partners by standard-trained navigators across 12 counties, care partners were overall very satisfied (x̄=4.69 out of 5, sd =.77) with their navigator’s responsiveness and social support throughout the 12-week course of the study. Navigators’ confidence increased over time (x̄=8.2 out of 10 (sd=1.14) to x̄=8.78 (sd=.97)), while their self-assessed effectiveness ratings lowered over time as they encountered real-life scenarios (x̄=8.5 (sd=1.43) to x̄=7.89 (sd=.93)). Navigators documented successful connections to services in the VHA and in care partners’ communities. Using remote navigators with minimal but standard training is a feasible and acceptable model of care partner support.

Contribution of Lakhshminath Bezbarua to Assamese Sahitya and Culture

In Assam, Lakshminath Bezbaruah is referred to as Sahityarathi. He was a well-known Assamese literary author. His literary works include novels, short stories, poems, articles, romantic belles letters, plays, editing of Jonaki magazine, and more. The author of Jonaki, who starts the volume of current Assamese literature, is Laxminath Bezbaruah. At this time, Chandra Kumar Agarwala led the introduction of the well-known Assamese monthly Jonaki. For at least fifty years, his works dominated the Assamese literary scene. Throughout his life, Bezbarua dedicated himself to bringing Assamese literature's once-lost brilliance back to life in all genres. Back then, Assamese was not included in the state's curriculum or upper education courses. His goal was to popularize Assamese literature across India, not only in the state of Assam. Bezbarua wrote and created art with the intention of advancing Assamese society overall.

Examining the educative nature of selected physical sciences textbooks about electrostatics using pedagogical content knowledge

ABSTRACT Curriculum statements are crucial documents for guiding teaching and learning as they describe the content and skills to be acquired by learners. Textbooks translate curriculum statements into materials for use in schools. This study examines the educative nature of three physical sciences textbooks about electrostatics using the lens of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). PCK describes the transformation of content into teachable forms and its evidence in textbooks would contribute to the teachability of the content in question. The study analyses textbooks as a source of information that can help teachers transform concepts of electrostatics into teachable forms. The study also proposes a possible model that describes the role of textbooks on teachers' knowledge and practice, as they are not considered in current PCK theories. The framework includes components of PCK described in the grand rubric and the support provided by curricular materials to teachers. The components of PCK are curricular saliency, learners' understanding of concepts, representations, and conceptual teaching strategies. The analysis revealed that curricular saliency was the most predominant component displayed in the textbooks compared to the other components. It is therefore recommended that textbooks should consciously include other PCK components, i.e., representations and strategies that address learners' difficulties.

Ethnonationalism and Ideology

Abstract The Japanese occupation of Malaysia during the Second World War has occupied a significant space in national history textbooks in Malaysia. The period has been associated with nationalist movements and independence from colonial rule. However, narratives of the Japanese occupation in school history textbooks have changed in terms of the importance given to the experiences of the three major ethnic groups in Malaysia (the Malay, Chinese, and Indian ethnic groups). This article presents an analysis of the Japanese occupation as portrayed in Malaysian national history textbooks from 1978 to 2020. It demonstrates a link between ideology and the state curriculum in Malaysia, which shows how cultural and ideological factors (namely, the political ideology of Malay dominance, or ketuanan Melayu) explain the changes made to the narratives in history textbooks.

Revisiting the debates on “epistemicide”: Insights from the South African school curriculum

ABSTRACT Epistemicide occurs when one knowledge is exalted at the expense of local or indigenous knowledge systems leading to the demise of such knowledge systems. In this article, I focus on how some conceptions and ways of incorporating indigenous knowledge systems seem to be entangled in the same misnomer to which they owe their existence (i.e. a mischaracterisation of indigenous knowledge systems leading to epistemicide in the school curriculum). Subsequently, I interrogate some examples from three curriculum statements of post-apartheid South African schools where there is a conspicuous attempt to include that which is presumed to be indigenous knowledge systems. I argue that such epistemologically unwarranted acts of integrating indigenous knowledge systems in the three post-apartheid curriculum statements unfortunately do not safeguard indigenous knowledge systems from epistemicide. In fact, the manner in which indigenous knowledge systems are integrated creates a false dichotomy and sense of identity. Bluntly put, the evident integration of indigenous knowledge systems as apparent theoretical knowledge fortifies epistemicide as opposed to alleviating it. Universally true knowledge about indigenous people and practices should therefore be included within the school curriculum to provide historical meaning to the content that is taught and instil a true sense of identity within the communities of indigenous people.

Учебник «Мораль» как отражение социокультурных изменений в южнокорейском обществе

Moral education for schoolchildren lays the foundation for ethical human behavior, his interaction with others, life in society. The paper presents an analysis of the changes in the content of the “Moral” discipline, a compul-sory subject of study in the South Korean school curriculum. The remarkable thing is that the Republic of Ko-rea’s state curriculum “Moral” and its goals and objectives have undergone a number of changes over the course of its existence. The historical background for this was the country’s political events, from American oc-cupation to the establishment of Western-style democracy. It is emphasized that since 2015 the focus of the teaching material in the textbooks has shifted from society to the subject, and the 2022 draft textbook is entirely based on “universal” values in the Western interpretation. Conclusion dwells upon the fact that the gradual ero-sion of traditional socio-cultural and moral values and their replacement by globalized ones, including with the help of appropriate educational materials, leads to an intergenerational conflict, de-emphasis in the national cultural heritage, transformation of moral and ethical attitudes.

Bible teachers cultivate social awareness of otherness

ABSTRACT This article discusses Israeli Bible teachers’ perceptions of the ‘otherness’ and their actions in a reality in which teachers are required to balance the tension between being experts in the field of knowledge, coping with a state curriculum that promotes a faith-religious worldview, and acting as educators in promoting discourse dealing with social issues of inclusion, respect, and tolerance for the ‘other’. The research is qualitative-interpretive, based on interviews with 13 teachers. It focuses on describing and explaining Bible teachers’ perceptions and interpreting their actions. Findings point to two main perceptions: (1) A perception that transcends the boundaries of biblical academic discourse and fosters a moral dialogue of integration, tolerance, openness, and awareness of the ‘other’ as part of the Bible teacher’s role. (2) A perception focused only on biblical discourse and refrains from dealing with issues of ‘otherness’ in the lesson. This research offers new tools and courses of action to implement these perceptions. Its conclusions may encourage teachers to develop pedagogical flexibility and an ability to navigate through issues of ‘otherness’ while responding to social, value, and moral issues that arise spontaneously in the multicultural dialogue in Bible lessons.

Developing Gender-Affirming Surgery Curricula for Plastic Surgery Residency and Fellowship via Delphi Consensus.

Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a rapidly growing field within plastic surgery, and residents and fellows must receive appropriate training. However, there are no standardized surgical training curricula. The objective of this study was to identify core curricula within the field of GAS. Four GAS surgeons from different academic institutions identified initial curricular statements within six categories: (1) comprehensive GAS care, (2) gender-affirming facial surgery, (3) masculinizing chest surgery, (4) feminizing breast augmentation, (5) masculinizing genital GAS, and (6) feminizing genital GAS. Expert panelists consisting of plastic surgery residency program directors and GAS surgeons were recruited for three rounds of the Delphi-consensus process. The panelists decided whether each curriculum statement was appropriate for residency, fellowship, or neither. A statement was included in the final curriculum when Cronbach α value was greater than or equal to 0.8, meaning that 80% or more of the panel agreed on inclusion. A total of 34 panelists (14 plastic surgery residency program directors and 20 GAS surgeons representing 28 US institutions) participated. The response rate was 85% for the first round, 94% for the second, and 100% for the third. Out of 124 initial curriculum statements, 84 reached consensus for the final GAS curricula, 51 for residency, and 31 for fellowship. A national consensus on core GAS curriculum for plastic surgery residency and GAS fellowship was achieved by a modified Delphi method. Implementation of this curriculum will ensure that trainees in plastic surgery are adequately prepared in the field of GAS.

Effectiveness of variative development of educational programs in pedagogical processes

Diversity of education is one of the main principles and directions of modern education. The content of educational programs and the variability in their implementation mean that each educational institution, even each pedagogue, can create their own educational programs and use different methods of their implementation. The main condition of variability is that it should be developed in accordance with the main principles and requirements of the state curriculum, as well as the requirements of the state.