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

ABSTRACT

Curriculum policies internationally are increasingly concerned with the promotion of national competitiveness and economic development. This involves more emphasis on skills than on knowledge, on learning than on teaching and on school/teacher autonomy than regulation from the centre. At the local level such global influences are inevitably refracted in a process known as glocalization. Using a critical policy historiography approach, this study explores globalization and glocalization forces in two relatively recent curriculum reforms—the Australian Curriculum and Ireland’s Framework for Junior Cycle. Both reforms employ triadic models of curriculum design involving subjects/learning areas, key skills/general capabilities, statements of learning/cross-curriculum priorities. Globalization influences are clearly evident in the shared emphases in both jurisdictions on skills, learning and school/teacher agency. However, these reforms have inevitably been shaped by their respective local political and social contexts and the respective curriculum debates have been dominated by technical implementation issues such as curriculum overload in Australia and school-based versus external assessment in Ireland. Meanwhile, substantive issues such as the educational purposes of the reforms, the influence of market values and performativity and the significance of curriculum and teacher professionalism policymaking structures have been largely eschewed.

KEYWORDS:

• Curriculum reform
• international comparison
• globalization
• glocalization
• policy contexts

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. According to the Australian Embassy in Dublin some 30% of Australian citizens claim Irish heritage.

2. ‘Joint Statement on Principles and Implementation’ issued by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, and the Department of Education and Skills in 2015—http://www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/cl0024_2016.pdf.

3. Both authors of that review were strong critics of the Australian Curriculum and of the work of ACARA.

4. See https://www.ncca.ie/media/2466/towards_aframework_juniorcycle.pdf https://www.education.ie’C/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/A-Framework-for-Junior-Cycle-Full-Report.pdf.

5. One of the independent reviewers who is critical of constructivist, inquiry-based learning is a frequent contributor.

6. Apart from the optional Transition Year programme (Jeffers, 2011) which is taken by approximately 50% of students on completion of junior cycle.

7. For example, see http://www.asti.ie/education/curriculum-assessment/assessment.

8. See http://www.acaca.edu.au/index.php/schooling/assessment-and-reporting/.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jim Gleeson

Jim Gleeson worked as a secondary teacher in Dublin and Tipperary before becoming a teacher educator, curriculum developer, independent evaluator Department Head and Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Limerick. He has worked extensively with schools and teachers on E/C transition from school to work initiatives and was National Council for Curriculum and Assessment Education Officer for the development of the Leaving Certificate Applied. His other research and publication interests include teacher education, education leadership, moral education and faith-based education. Jim worked on the current paper during his time as inaugural Professor of Identity and Curriculum at Australian Catholic University, Brisbane (2013–2018).

Valentina Klenowski

Valentina Klenowski is an Adjunct Professor of Education at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane in the School of Teacher Education and Leadership and at the University of South Australia in Educational Research. She has research interests in curriculum and assessment reform, evaluation, assessment and learning. She has published in the fields of assessment and learning, curriculum and evaluation.

Anne Looney

Prof Anne Looney is the Executive Dean of Dublin City University’s Institute of Education, Ireland’s largest faculty of education with 4000 students and 150 academic staff. From 2001 until 2016 she was the CEO of Ireland’s National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the agency responsible for curriculum and assessment for early years, primary and post-primary education in Ireland. She also held the position of Interim CEO at the Higher Education Authority until March 2017. A former teacher, she completed her doctoral studies at the Institute of Education of University College London. In 2014/2015 she was Professorial Research Fellow at the Institute for Learning Sciences and teacher Education, based at Australian Catholic University in Brisbane. Her current research interests include assessment policy and practice, curriculum, teacher identity and professional standards for teachers and teaching. She has also published on religious, moral and civic education, and education policy. She has conducted reviews for the OECD on school quality and assessment systems. She is the current president of the International Professional Development Association.