Making a difference in your school: some perspectives from the research on curriculum change

Abstract

First paragraph: A Curriculum for Excellence (ACfE) comes at a crucial time for Scotland's schools. It follows hard on the heels of the largely successful Assessment is for Learning (AifL) and signals a change in direction in terms of the priorities and structures of school education; this in my view offers a major opportunity for improving the educational prospects and life chances of many of our young people. The identification of the four purposes of the 3-18 curriculum (successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens, effective contributors) is radical in that these state the key underlying aims of education. This potentially highlights the processes of learning rather than, as has become all too common, the specification of narrow outcomes of attainment.