We certainly have been living some “interesting times” in the Curriculum Inquiry field of late. In March the Australian Education Research Organisation– a federally funded “evidence clearinghouse” - released “A knowledge-rich approach to curriculum design: Commissioned report”. The report was commissioned by the NSW Education Standards Authority, the curriculum authority for the Australian State of New South Wales, to present the evidence in favour of a “knowledge-rich” curriculum. The report comes at a time of increasing agitation in Australia for notions akin to scripted lessons, arguably to enhance quality and equity, and state jurisdictions implementing approaches to explicit teaching. There appears to be a rising tide of curriculum narrowing– both in terms of what constitutes the curriculum in schools and how the term “curriculum” is understood and operationalised in educational discourse. Indeed, “Curriculum” is non-existent in the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and as such absent from initial teacher education. Nonetheless Curriculum Inquiry remains a highly relevant field, if not even more relevant as we face many challenges across the globe.

While Curriculum Perspectives remains neutral on advocating particular approaches and interpretations, our Aims and Scope direct us to have a concern for equitable and socially just societies from the perspective of the global south. It seems the increasing concern for “knowledge” and standardised practice sits uncomfortably with concerns for Indigenous knowledges, and privileges a narrow perspective of equity and justice. We encourage the field to consider these tensions. The debates initiated by Michael Young and Johan Muller have received some attention in the past pages of Curriculum Perspectives, but not enough.

Curriculum Perspectives downloads and citations continue to grow. This is very positive and indicates a recognition in the field of the quality and reach of the journal. We continue to attract submissions from around the world. However, our acceptance rate has declined to 16%. This is not due to the editorial team raising standards but is instead a reflection of increased submissions from around the world that simply don’t meet the standards for initial review, as well as the outcome of the peer review system. It should be noted that we are not bound by publication volume. As an online journal quantity is not an issue, merely the sustainability of editions. The editorial team takes a developmental perspective to their work– in that we like to encourage manuscripts we see that have potential and support early career researchers. The field needs to grow to address the challenges outlined above, so taking a gatekeeping mindset would be counterproductive. Sadly, too many manuscripts submitted don’t engage with curriculum theory from the international field, adopt a narrow and often unstated perspective on “curriculum” or are fidelity studies of policy and curriculum documents.

Reflecting the international scope of Curriculum Perspectives, this edition is comprised of six articles from Africa, East Asia, and Australia. Similarly reflecting the plurality of method and theoretical focus the articles encompass critical reviews of policy and practice and interview and focus group research.

This edition’s Point & Counterpoint on “Decolonising the Curriculum” edited by Associate Editors Rebecca Cairns and Deb Price, continues Curriculum Perspectives commitment to advancing Indigenous perspectives and knowledges in the curriculum, and reshaping perspectives on curriculum and education. In the collection the various lines of argument developed through articles in the journal continue to enliven the discussion, resulting in conversations about the way knowledges, country and cultural perspectives interact in this space.

We will shortly publish the first half of our supplementary edition “New perspectives on curriculum and democracy” guest edited by Professor Stewart Riddle. The second half will be published later in the year with several of the edition articles available in online first format already. Our 2025 supplementary edition “Feminisms and Curriculum Inquiry”, edited by Dr Lucinda McKnight is also progressing through the peer-preview stages.