Curriculum construction

The main influences on the structure of national curricula in the four nations are identified in this chapter. The links between the national curriculum of 1988 and policy in the four nations are addressed first. This section is followed by an account of the similarities and differences between the national curriculum construction in the four nations following devolution. The final section of the chapter considers the place of pedagogy in relation to the curriculum, and in particular the extent to which teachers have autonomous control over pedagogy and whether newly qualified teachers have the capacity to use this control.