The purpose of this paper is to examine the complex relationships between educational policy and classroom practice. By employing a sociocultural perspective, we examine formulations inscribed in socio-material artifacts about what students should learn and how they should engage with knowledge. We explore how these formulations are mobilized in…

Pattern is fundamental to mathematical learning yet pattern has been conspicuously low key within early mathematics curriculum guidance in England despite evidence that it predicts later attainment in mathematics overall. Whilst recent curriculum changes have seen pattern afforded enhanced status, this is within a conception of pattern that marks…

Critical thinking is an essential skill for life-long learning, and, given its increasing importance as a graduate attribute, it is vital to evaluate how educational systems can best improve students' critical thinking through their curricula and classroom practices. This study evaluates the differences in the critical thinking skills of students…

The aim of this paper is to present a schema that maps the terrain of intercultural assessment strategies. This schema is based upon Haraway's semiotic square and has two dimensions. The first considers how distant or near the cultural Other is understood to be -- whether they are perceived a "stranger" or a "neighbour." The…

Despite increasing attention to citizenship education since the turn of the 21st century, the recent spread of authoritarian populism worldwide has raised relatively little attention in educational policy and research. As a result, the possibilities and limitations that national curricula offer to educators to deal with this phenomenon are still…

Geology is a subject of low interest for many pupils and teachers. The present study aims at examining the organizational conditions for geology education using the model of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, drawing from the national curricula. The study discusses the possible reasons for the unpopularity of the field worldwide and proposes general…

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…

In England, there is a National Curriculum in place which is intended to outline what will be taught and learned in each of the required subjects in state schools, music being one of these subjects. However, for some years, a right-wing conservative government has been working on systemic change, which removes many schools from state control and…

Inquiry-based project learning is an internationally recognised pedagogical approach where children work collaboratively to research and discover the answers to their questions through discussion, representation, and evaluation. This paper explores the findings from Phase One of a qualitative study examining how this approach has been interpreted…

This paper presents findings from a review of 19 national curriculum policy frameworks (NCPFs) across the globe and discusses dominant and culturally specific discourses that shape early childhood education (ECE). We combine two frameworks of developmental universality and specificity and culturally contextualised pedagogy to explore whether and…

This study investigated the thematic and lexical characteristics of high-difficulty English reading items--commonly referred to as "killer questions"--in the Korean College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) between 2018 and 2025. Using text mining methods, including Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and CEFR-based lexical profiling, the…

Heritage education is present in many educational institutions and their study programmes but not often directly addressed in national curriculum guidelines. The guideline documents of Estonia, Finland, and Sweden for compulsory basic education (children from 7 to 16 years old) are a case in point, and this article analyses how heritage is…

Algebraic Thinking (AT) and Computational Thinking (CT) are pivotal competencies in modern education, fostering problem-solving skills and logical reasoning among students. This study presents the initial hypotheses, theoretical framework, and key steps undertaken to explore characterized learning paths and assign practice-relevant tasks. This…

Guided by the onion model theory of language policy, this study aims to investigate the multi-level implementation of the English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education (2022 Edition) in China. Data were collected from both macro and micro-level policy texts, along with interviews with English teachers in five middle schools. One school was…

Many countries include core competencies in their educational curricula. The purpose of competencies is to ensure a holistic education that equips students with skills to flourish in the twenty-first century. Across the literature on this topic, however, there are limited studies that investigate how primary schools embed competencies into their…