Curriculum change in Australia and Ireland: a comparative study of recent reforms

Gleeson, Jim; Klenowski, Valentina; Looney, Anne

doi:10.1080/00220272.2019.1704064

Cited by 23 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The influences of the global education reform movement (Sahlberg 2006), neo-liberal ideologies (Ball 2012;Luke 2006) and the Bologna Declaration (Gleeson 2013;Gleeson, Lynch, and McCormack 2021) are associated with educational globalisation (Gleeson, Klenowski, and Looney 2020) and Anglo-Saxon/American curriculum culture. As Deng (2018, 706) reminds us, Didaktik 'provides a viable alternative to the OECD's discourse on twenty-first century competencies'.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Notwithstanding these positive developments however, the frequent references in the Framework to skills and competences are a cause of some concern, with Kirk (2018/9, 26) suggesting that 'the shift to a learning-outcomes-based specification is perhaps one of the most significant changes at classroom level … written in terms of learners and their development rather than what is to be taught'. This focus on pre-determined skills and competences, redolent of an enduring focus on education for human capital, is indicative of the present-day influence of market forces in the context of globalisation (Gleeson, Klenowski, and Looney 2020).…”

Section: Framework For the Junior Cyclementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Notwithstanding, however, the broad welcome for many of the proposed changes to Irish junior and senior cycle curricula, the original version of the Junior Cycle Framework (DES 2012), which included many of the characteristics of Didaktik, encountered strong opposition from the teacher unions (Gleeson, Klenowski, and Looney 2020). Meanwhile, some recent commentary in the Irish Times reflects the overriding influence of Anglo-Saxon/American curriculum cultural influences.…”

Section: Evolution Of a Hybrid Curriculum Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Evolution of Irish curriculum culture: understandings, policy, reform and change

Gleeson

2021

Irish Educational Studies

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Through the lens of contrasting curriculum cultures, the author considers the evolution of Irish curriculum policy and reform. Whereas our curriculum thinking and practice are grounded in an Anglo-Saxon/American culture, Didaktik curriculum culture and Stenhouse's Process model provide valuable alternative perspectives. Our prevailing understandings of curriculum are reified, in an environment where curriculum reform/change are used interchangeably. Historically, our curriculum reform efforts have been characterised by centralised control and a paucity of research, debate, and school-based curriculum development. Meaningful curriculum change, however, challenges the cultural beliefs of employers, parents, and students and requires critical engagement with the professional beliefs and values of educational administrators, school leaders and teachers. Since the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment became statutory, our curriculum culture, and our understandings of curriculum change, have been evolving. This growing appreciation of the complexity of change is reflected in the discourse of the Framework for Junior Cycle. The influence of Anglo-Saxon/American curriculum culture remains palpable, however, while the impact of globalisation and market forces is evidenced in a growing emphasis on skills, competences and pre-determined learning outcomes. The author concludes that we have arrived at a hybrid curriculum culture whose future development is rather difficult to predict.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Framework For the Junior Cyclementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Evolution Of a Hybrid Curriculum Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Evolution of Irish curriculum culture: understandings, policy, reform and change

Gleeson

2021

Irish Educational Studies

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“…3 / 24 (Gleeson, Klenowski, & Looney, 2020;Walsh, 2011) (compulsory education covering the first three years of secondary education, usually students aged between 12-15 years) was first introduced to the Irish Education system in 1989 (Department of Education and Skills, 1989), the presence of astronomy has steadily increased in the syllabus. The current version has a limited list of astronomy topics including, for example, most common daily and seasonal phenomena, and a comparison of different celestial objects (see Table 1).…”

Section: Contribution To the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Alternative Conceptions of Astronomy: How Irish Secondary Students Understand Gravity, Seasons, and the Big Bang

Cardinot

Fairfield

2021

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed

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To support the development of more robust conceptual knowledge, it is crucial to understand the alternative conceptions that students bring to the classroom, and how these can be considered and dealt with through instruction. In this study, we report the alternative conceptions of 498 students enrolled in secondary education in Ireland. A quasi-experimental design elicited student ideas about gravity, seasons, and the Big Bang. Our results show 15 alternative ideas held by students across all years, which are analysed with resource framework theory to identify conceptual resources used to explain each topic. Identification of these conceptual resources provided rich information about modes of hybrid understanding where students blended formal physics concepts with daily experiences. These results could support teachers in finding new instructional approaches to address preconceived knowledge held by students, given that even senior students held the same alternative ideas as first years.

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“…From an Irish perspective recent school curriculum reforms have been informed by globalisation forces (Gleeson et al, 2020) while our HE system is heavily influenced by university league tables and increased demand for research outputs (Gleeson, 2013). It is particularly difficult in this milieu for HE faculty members to avoid neo-liberal influences (Lynch, 2006), notwithstanding their obvious implications for teacher autonomy and professionalism (Sugrue and Solbrekke, 2017).…”

Section: Focus On Transferability and Mobilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) from the perspective of Irish teacher educators

Gleeson

Lynch²,

McCormack³

2021

European Educational Research Journal

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The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), one of the main pillars of the Bologna Process, was heavily influenced by external forces such as internationalisation, globalisation and market values. It was also immune to national/regional policy influences and differences between academic disciplines. The authors investigated a) Irish teacher educators’ perceptions of the reasons for the introduction of the ECTS and b) the influence of the ECTS on teacher educators’ practice. A Qualtrics survey including both closed and open-ended questions was sent to all Irish teacher educators. Asked about the rationale for the introduction of the ECTS and about its influence on their professional work, these respondents rated and ranked the importance of student mobility and the transferability of their academic achievements ahead of teaching and learning aspects. These findings, which were confirmed by participants’ open-ended responses, are discussed from the following macro-contextual perspectives: inattention to general HE curriculum issues in an environment dominated by discipline-based silos; the limitations of top-down reform, particularly at the implementation stage; low ERASMUS participation rates of Irish student teachers; and the ECTS focus on skills, competences and pre-determined learning outcomes. The influence of these contextual factors is summarised in the conclusion, along with some implications for teacher education.

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Curriculum change in Australia and Ireland: a comparative study of recent reforms

Cited by 23 publications

References 51 publications

Evolution of Irish curriculum culture: understandings, policy, reform and change

Evolution of Irish curriculum culture: understandings, policy, reform and change

Alternative Conceptions of Astronomy: How Irish Secondary Students Understand Gravity, Seasons, and the Big Bang

The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) from the perspective of Irish teacher educators

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