Dr. Phil Budgell
Education Leadership Consultancy (UK)
https://doi.org/10.53656/voc22-401reco
Abstract. A major reform of the Mathematics curriculum was published in England in 2016, implemented in 2017 and examined in 2019. In Bulgaria, the analogous reform was published in 2018, will be implemented in 2020 and examined in 2022.
This paper takes the framework developed by Budgell and Kunchev (2019) and seeks to interpret the new curricula in terms of the Students, the State and the Curriculum with an introduction to Assessment.
In terms of the Curriculum, the paper examines, at the highest level, General and Specific Objectives; followed by Overarching Themes; then the Topics covered and finally the Detailed Content Statements for each topic.
The paper concludes that the real differences between the teaching of Mathematics in England and Bulgaria lie not in the Mathematics itself but in the overall curriculum and assessment frameworks within which Mathematics is taught.
Keywords: reform; Mathematics curriculum; England; Bulgaria; new curricula; students; assessment; general and specific objectives; overarching themes; topics; detailed content statements
