Curriculum making

Curriculum and curriculum making has been an important strand of educational research at Stirling since 2007, when ESRC funding was secured for a project on curriculum making in schools and FE colleges.

Subsequent funded research into the development of Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Government, 2010-11) and Teacher Agency (ESRC, 2011-12), and associated publications (including the seminal work on teacher agency) have cemented Stirling’s reputation internationally as a leading centre for curriculum studies.

The establishment of the Stirling Centre for Research into Curriculum Making has consolidated further Stirling’s position as a world leading hub for curriculum studies.

Our network brings together international curriculum scholars from Europe, North America and Australasia, including formal partnerships with Western University (Canada), the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Karlstad University (Sweden). Activity has included hosting the European Conference on Curriculum Studies in 2017, taking on the editorship of the influential Curriculum Journal between 2018 and 2024, and significant input to national curriculum policy and capacity-building work with schools and teachers in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Our curriculum research has generated new knowledge about complex patterns of curriculum making, including identification of barriers, drivers, and unintended consequences of policy.

Get in touch

For enquiries, including those related to doctoral supervision, please contact Dr Joseph Smith, Dr Stella Mouroutsou or Professor Mark Priestley.