Curriculum making as social practice: complex webs of enactment

First paragraph: This special issue brings together papers that individually and collectively illustrate the complexities which emerge when curriculum is ‘made’; complexities which themselves stem from the social embeddedness of both curriculum as a concept and the social actors involved in such makings. The papers all have their genesis in presentations given at the 3rd European Conference on Curriculum Studies, held over two days at the University of Stirling in June 2017. The papers were later submitted and peer reviewed by a wide range of reviewers whom we would like to thank for their contribution to the special issue through their thoughtful critique. The papers, and the conference, are representative of a much needed renaissance in curriculum studies, at least in Europe, with the recent formation of the European Association for Curriculum Studies, and where the European Educational Research Association Network 3 Curriculum Innovation has greatly enhanced its profile and membership in recent years. This renaissance follows an extended period since the 1980s, often termed a crisis in curriculum (e.g. Wheelahan, 2010).Output Type: Editoria

Greek-Cypriot pupils' representations of national others : a study of the impact of 'Europe' in a primary school curricular intervention

Over the last three decades the term ‘European dimension in education’ has been used by the European Union and the Council of Europe to denote some of their educational initiatives to prepare young people for an increasingly integrated Europe. Cyprus, a country at the margins of Europe and characterised by ethnic conflict and division, has had to respond to such demands as a condition of EU membership. The ‘European dimension’ was conceptualised as a subtle approach for a curricular intervention, to alleviate the ethnocentrism of primary curricula and to shift Greek-Cypriot pupils’ extreme views. This study showed that there were some interesting shifts which point to the potential of curricula in providing children with a wider range of ‘tools’ with which to represent national others.peer-reviewe

On the Borders of Europe. Citizenship Education and Identity in Cyprus

This paper is about the concept of "Europe" and how it could be used as an educational framework to alleviate existing tensions regarding citizenship education and Euro-pean/national/state identity in the context of Cyprus. To this end, the paper serves both a descriptive and a normative agenda, in that it largely describes recent theoretical and political development in civics and citizenship education in Europe and in Cyprus, in order to explore, in the last part of the paper, the potential of using "Europe" and "European citizenship" as tools for reflection and dialogue over (Greek)-Cypriot citizenship and identity. The study of European citi-zenship is complicated due to its different meanings and associations with national identities; I argue that in Cyprus this is further complicated by a political problem of community conflict and partition, which has long been challenging peoples' national identities. Cyprus, an island lying on the borders of (traditional geographical definitions of) Europe and one of the European Union's most recent member-states needs to revisit its approaches to citizenship as a condition of EU membership. The paper illustrates how ongoing discussions and debates over the political problem of Cyprus render it extremely difficult to take decisive steps towards reconceptualising existing Greek-Cypriot civics and citizenship education curricula, exactly because notions of national identity have so far been inextricably interwoven into these curricula. It is proposed that a revisiting of the meaning of "Europe" and the discourses of post-national, multicultural and European citizenship, as well as human rights and democracy might be useful tools to address citizenship and identity dilemmas deriving both from EU membership and the political problem in Cyprus

The teacher and the curriculum: exploring teacher agency

A key debate in the curriculum field has centred on the extent to which teachers should or could achieve agency over the curriculum they enact. Threats to teacher agency have come from top-down control of curricula, either through input regulation (prescription of content, methods and/or teaching materials) or output regulation (steering through outcomes). Drawing upon an ecological model to explore the concept of teacher agency, this chapter will illustrate through empirical research conducted in Scotland and Cyprus, how it manifests in various ways through teachers’ work. The chapter concludes with a discussion of why it is important to understand and take into account teacher agency when formulating and developing curriculum policy

Conclusions: Patterns and trends in curriculum making in Europe

This chapter provides a summary and a concluding discussion on the main findings from the different cases and chapters throughout this volume. The chapter revisits the approach on curriculum making as non-linear and as framed around a conceptualisation of interrelated sites of activity – supra, macro, meso, micro and nano – presented in the introduction. A central conclusion of this book is that the meso site of activity stands out as critical for current developments within curriculum making, both in terms of a transformed role for the nation state in macro curriculum making, as well as implications of policy flows and processes from the supra site of activity. Based on our observations, we suggest an elaborated model for understanding curriculum making, with special attention to the significance of meso curriculum making and teacher agency. In the final part of the conclusions, we argue that there are a number of lessons to be learned from curriculum making in the European context. In line with the significance of meso curriculum making observed throughout the volume, we emphasize the importance of middle ground and mobility, the necessity of participatory curriculum making, and that systems of accountability need to be based on trust. We also underline the importance of a delicate balance concerning regulation – providing support, guidance and steering – together with a critical awareness of destructive as well as progressive forces for maintaining and providing the agency of the educational system for good curriculum making. KEYWORDS

Curriculum making across European nations

This is a short article, drawing upon our recent book, published in the Research Intelligence periodical, published by the British Educational Research Associatio

Curriculum making across European nations

This is a short article, drawing upon our recent book, published in the Research Intelligence periodical, published by the British Educational Research Associationhttps://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/autumn-202

Curriculum Making: A conceptual framing

This chapter provides an introduction to the European case study chapters in this volume on curriculum making. The chapter explores different conceptions of curriculum and curriculum making. It offers a critique of existing thinking about curriculum making as something that occurs within reified levels within an educational system. Such thinking often construes curriculum making as occurring through linear and hierarchical chains of command from policy to practice. Drawing upon previous conceptualizations of curriculum making, the chapter develops a new approach to understanding curriculum making. This is a heuristic rather than a normative framing; it is essentially non-linear, framed around the concept of intertwined sites of activity – supra, macro, meso, micro and nano – within complex systems, with curriculum making framed as types of activity rather than institutional functions

Curriculum making: A conceptual framing

acceptedVersionPeer reviewe