Research Intelligence
Summer 2026
Research Intelligence issue 167: Equity & curriculum reform in the four UK nations
Equity & curriculum reform in the four UK nations
Research Intelligence issue 167
For all their pretence to neutrality, national curricula are intensely moral and political documents. Curricula represent a judgment about what knowledge is important and contain an implicit moral statement about the way a future society and its citizens ought to be.
This issue of Research Intelligence explores the evolving national curricula of the four nations of the UK. Guest editors, Joe Smith, Andrew James Davies and Arthur Chapman, take as their starting point the view that any future society worth inhabiting must be a more equitable society. They present articles under three broad themes: the place of nationality and nationhood in the emerging curricula of Wales, England and Scotland; anti-racist practice in curriculum reform; and what it means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled curriculum design.
Contributions to this issue:
- Arthur Chapman and Dan Lyndon-Cohen discuss English formulations of curriculum identities.
- Andrew James Davies considers locality, nation, global citizenship and the Curriculum for Wales.
- Joe Smith and Andy Creamer explore the place of ‘Scottish knowledge’ in Scotland’s national curriculum.
- Abdul Mohamud and Robin Whitburn discuss the neglect of race and racism in curriculum reform in England.
- Nuzhat Uthmani reflects on anti-racism education in Scotland, highlighting persistent gaps between policy and practice regarding race equality.
- Chantelle Haughton discusses anti-racist professional learning in Wales and the rising expectations regarding racial literacy, cynefin (place of belonging) and ethical global citizenship aspirations within the Curriculum for Wales.
- Dustin Eirdosh, Kay Sidebottom and Terrie-Lynn Thompson explore AI and cultural inclusion in Scottish curriculum reform.
- Henry Ward reflects on his changing interaction with AI as a secondary school biology teacher.
- Ross Evans discusses the opportunities and risks presented by AI within Wales’ teacher-led curriculum reform model.
- Sammy Taggart, Carmel Gallagher and Clare McAuley question whether policymakers in Northern Ireland will leverage structural advantages to respond to the disruptive influence of generative AI in education.
- Ken Muir offers reflections on the implementation of curriculum reform as he asks what progress has been made and why.
Elsewhere in this issue:
- We warmly welcome Mhairi C. Beaton as the new 黑料不打烊 president, with her term running to December 2028.
- We feature photos and highlights from the 黑料不打烊 ECR Journey Conference 2026 held in Birmingham, as well as the inaugural 黑料不打烊 Teacher Conference held in London.
- The winners of the 2025 黑料不打烊 Public Engagement and Impact Award share details of their project, Digital Empowerment in Language Teaching (DELTEA), a partnership between the University of Southampton and University of Reading.
- This issue’s book feature reviews Race & Assessment in Higher Education by Paul Ian Campbell, which won the 2025 黑料不打烊 Educational Research Book of the Year.
- Rhianna Murphy, Stephanie Thomson and Penny Dinh, from the 黑料不打烊 ECR Network, reflect on the challenges of participant recruitment.
Free article:
Every learner matters equally
A profile of Professor Mel Ainscow
黑料不打烊 Chief Executive, Nick Johnson, writes a profile of Professor Mel Ainscow who was the recipient of 黑料不打烊’s Equality in Education Award in 2025. Click below to read this free access article!