Building teacher capacity for curriculum renewal: insights from Scotland

Moira Hulme

Building teacher capacity for curriculum renewal: insights from Scotland

Moira Hulme^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Education and Social Sciences

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

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Abstract

This article examines Scotland’s twenty-year curriculum reform journey by applying strategic state governance and strategy-as-practice perspectives. Drawing on commissioned evaluations and research studies spanning 2004-2025, it analyses how teachers were positioned as curriculum makers across successive collaborative initiatives. The findings reveal persistent tensions between rhetorical positioning of teachers as strategic practitioners and the contextual conditions needed to enable meaningful agency. The analysis demonstrates how curriculum renewal depends on alignment between governance principles, resource allocation, and professional capacity – insights relevant to comparable reform contexts within the UK and internationally.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	The Future of the Curriculum
Subtitle of host publication	Toward Child-Centred, Democratic Education
Editors	Yana Manyukhina
Place of Publication	London
Publisher	Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
Chapter	10
Number of pages	16
ISBN (Electronic)	9781003774648
ISBN (Print)	9781041304555
Publication status	Published - 4 May 2026

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2025 11 20 Hulme Teacher finalFinal published version, 364 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Hulme, M. (2026). Building teacher capacity for curriculum renewal: insights from Scotland. In Y. Manyukhina (Ed.), The Future of the Curriculum: Toward Child-Centred, Democratic Education Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. https://www.routledge.com/The-Future-of-the-Curriculum-Toward-Child-Centred-Democratic-Educatio/Manyukhina/p/book/9781041304555?_gl=1*qag4eo*_gcl_au*MTQ3NjE0ODY0MC4xNzcwMTk3MTgz*_ga*MjAxNTA0OTY0MC4xNzcwMTk3MTg1*_ga_0HYE8YG0M6*czE3NzM4MzcwNDQkbzckZzEkdDE3NzM4MzcwODkkajI5JGwwJGgw

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abstract = "This article examines Scotland{\textquoteright}s twenty-year curriculum reform journey by applying strategic state governance and strategy-as-practice perspectives. Drawing on commissioned evaluations and research studies spanning 2004-2025, it analyses how teachers were positioned as curriculum makers across successive collaborative initiatives. The findings reveal persistent tensions between rhetorical positioning of teachers as strategic practitioners and the contextual conditions needed to enable meaningful agency. The analysis demonstrates how curriculum renewal depends on alignment between governance principles, resource allocation, and professional capacity – insights relevant to comparable reform contexts within the UK and internationally.",

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Hulme, M 2026, Building teacher capacity for curriculum renewal: insights from Scotland. in Y Manyukhina (ed.), The Future of the Curriculum: Toward Child-Centred, Democratic Education . Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London. <https://www.routledge.com/The-Future-of-the-Curriculum-Toward-Child-Centred-Democratic-Educatio/Manyukhina/p/book/9781041304555?_gl=1*qag4eo*_gcl_au*MTQ3NjE0ODY0MC4xNzcwMTk3MTgz*_ga*MjAxNTA0OTY0MC4xNzcwMTk3MTg1*_ga_0HYE8YG0M6*czE3NzM4MzcwNDQkbzckZzEkdDE3NzM4MzcwODkkajI5JGwwJGgw>

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Building teacher capacity for curriculum renewal: insights from Scotland

Abstract

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