Making Curricula: Why do States Make Curricula, and How?

The way ahead for Finnish comprehensive school? Examining state-level school administrators’ theory of change

“…Chisholm & Leyendecker 2008). Here, the architects of the reform at the state level have a central role in system-wide reforms (Datnow 2005, Hamann & Lane 2002, Westbury 2008). However, their understanding has not been thoroughly studied.…”

Understanding China’s curriculum reform for the 21st century

“…Institutional curriculum is a shared conception of what school should be, combining society's educational aspirations and expectations and schools' forms and procedures (Doyle 1992a). The framework focuses on the policy intersection between schooling, society and culture (2003, 2008b), embodying social expectations, creating a new language of education and using metaphors and narratives concerning the purposes and aims of schooling, teaching and learning to steer the discussion (Westbury 2008a) and to rationalize and justify 'the selection and arrangement of content' for the programmatic curriculum (Doyle 1992b: 487), which translates institutional curriculum into school subjects or programmes of study (Doyle 1992b) and outlines intended outcomes (Westbury 2003). It involves subject formulation, the content selection and prioritization and curriculum standards development that meet the social expectations and purposes informing the institutional curriculum.…”

Curricular change in Turkey: Time, sequentiality, and differential power of actors in establishing a new knowledge path

“…Curriculum studies comprise one research field in which change in education has been discussed at length. As various scholars made clear, curriculum development (let alone curriculum implementation) is a highly complicated process, in which many actors and diverse levels of action are involved (see Westbury 2008). Such processes, although started with the best intentions and plans, may lead to results which lie well beyond what was originally planned (Altrichter 2000).…”