Bondarchuk O. Reforming of Secondary Education Content in Australia

The thesis is devoted to the analysis of the content reforming of secondary education in Australia at the beginning of the XXI century. In the thesis some socio-political conditions and factors of the school education reforming at the beginning of the XXI century are determined. It is found out that the main directions of the modern school education content reforming in Australia are: the development of stronger partnerships; support of quality teaching and school leadership; strengthening of early childhood education; enhancing of middle years; support of senior years of schooling and youth transitions; promotion of world-class curriculum and assessment; improving of educational outcomes for Indigenous youth and disadvantaged young Australians, especially those from low socioeconomic backgrounds; strengthening of accountability and transparency. The research defines the features of National Curriculum development and implementation, such as methodology approaches; structure and function; availability and implementation. The key elements of the Australian Curriculum will be curriculum content (with content elaborations) and achievement standards (with work sample portfolios). The National Curriculum incorporates seven general capabilities and three cross-curriculum priorities that contribute to and are developed through learning-area content descriptions and elaborations. The seven general capabilities are: Literacy, Numeracy, Information and Communication Technology competence, Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical Behaviour, Personal and Social competence, Intercultural Understanding. The three cross-curriculum priorities are: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures; Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia; Sustainability. The National curriculum promotes excellence and equity in education, so it provides teachers with flexibility to cater for the diverse needs of students across Australia and to personalize their learning. The National curriculum also includes recommendations about learning, assessment and reporting; interdisciplinary connections (links to other learning areas to assist teachers to make connections in their planning for student learning); and glossary. In the research, it was found that the curriculum development process involves four interrelated phases: 1) curriculum shaping; 2) curriculum writing; 3) preparation for implementation; 4) curriculum monitoring, evaluation and review. Comparing the reforms of secondary education in Ukraine and Australia at the beginning of the XXI century, their common strategy is pointed out: strengthening of standardized requirements for quality school programs; focus on human values; human resource development; the use of student-based and competent approaches to the content of the learning subjects; search for the effective methods of evaluating the quality of knowledge; inclusion of new variant and invariant courses in school syllabus; development of school education content based on interdisciplinary connections.