This paper will critically analyse the assertion that 'The local argument for the Locally Agreed Syllabus has been lost' (57). It will begin by briefly sketching the historical background to the unique way that Religious Education is structured in England, with each local area having its own syllabus. It will then outline some of the main points…

While the fresh debate on education's autonomy continues in this special issue as in other forums and venues, new layers of complexity on this theme continue to emerge, just as further nuances are revealed in the course of discussion. Following this welcomed growth in the discussion, and in the spirit of characterizing autonomy--and therefore also…

Background and Aim: There have been significant higher education curriculum reform initiatives over the past 30 years across different global regions in response to a range of drivers such as employability, global citizenship, and sustainability. In professions such as engineering, a key focus has been on holistic graduate attribute development…

In an environment of increased accountability and autonomy for school leaders, insufficient assistance relationships between school leaders and district staff hinder the ability of principals to utilize autonomy in ways that translate to improved instruction and student performance. This study sought to examine and strengthen the assistance…

The blows of the financial recession of 2007-09 and now the COVID-19 crisis have emboldened populist political leaders across the globe. Their platforms typically involve a mixture of nativist or nationalist tropes, often infused with hostility to refugees and immigrants and built upon foundations of racism and intolerance. The internet provides…

Turkey's politically induced 'curricular modernization initiative' intended a philosophical change and a system-level transformation from behaviouristic to constructivist-inspired pedagogies in the early 2000s. Science curriculum has been one of the curricula that has taken precedence. It has changed four times since then. The latest science…

This paper explores the institutional pressures and responses associated with introducing integrated reporting into university-level accounting education in Sri Lanka. In particular, we are looking to see whether those responses lead to deep or surface learning in students. Drawing on the theory of new institutional sociology, the institutional…

The business economy experienced major changes during the last three decades. The social and economic globalization associated with the fourth revolution put the accounting profession under great pressure toward harmonization and convergence. Still, the route to become a qualified professional accountant varies from country to country all over the…

In societies that have failed to confront past injustice, the most common justifications for the inclusion of history education within the school curriculum invoke the idea that those who cannot learn from the past are doomed to repeat it; or they appeal to goals such as reconciliation, or to the importance of recognizing and morally redressing…

Can an academic institution be truly free if it relies on government funding? Federal dollars mean federal mandates, and those mandates grow increasingly draconian. More and more, they stifle debate on open questions, demand denial of verifiable scientific truths, eliminate due process for students accused of misdeeds by other students, or insist…

Autonomisation, allowing public organisations greater freedom from central control, has been extensively debated in the public policy literature as a means of increasing their efficiency and effectiveness. The government of Vietnam has adopted autonomisation as a key policy in reforming public service delivery. This paper investigates the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse the development of school autonomy, school leadership and curriculum innovation in England over the past 40 years. It provides a baseline picture for the wider international study on school autonomy and curriculum innovation. Design/methodology/approach: An initial literature review was…

During as near as three decades after the political changes in Slovakia its system of education has undergone many reforms. As an integral part of them have been changes regarding school autonomy as it influences quality of education. To achieve an optimal model of autonomy offered to schools is very difficult, as appropriate level of autonomy is…

This article reports on a larger mixed-methods study that examined the perspectives of regional teacher supervisors on their emerging roles and practices in a stage of educational reform in Oman. The study was carried out in the Educational Supervision Directorate in Muscat. Two research methods were employed: a survey distributed to 125…

The Education Reform -- Joint Agreement published in June 2018 sets out the collective agreement by a commissioning group including the Scottish Government, COSLA, SOLACE, ADES, and Education Scotland. The Joint Agreement sets out agreed principles, enablers, and measures that will support and encourage the empowerment of schools in Scotland.…