The following research project was a comparative study of teachers in Support Units and teachers in Special Schools. They were teachers currently involved with the implementation of the 1989 NSW Department of Education Mandatory Curriculum Change for the education of students with severe intellectual disability. The purpose of the research was to present a comparative study on teachers' responses, in both educational settings, examining their understanding of the curriculum change, the concerns of individuals and the levels of curriculum usage in relation to the factors affecting implementation. The application of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model of Change (Hall and Loucks, 1987), enabled the study to focus on the various forms of the innovation, including the innovation configuration, stages of concern, and the levels of use from the two given perspectives, teachers in Support Units and teachers in Special Schools, in relation to the major factors affecting implementation. The study findings highlighted that in both educational settings, change is accomplished by individuals and is a highly personal experience, demanding adequate support by facilitators of the change through appropriate actions, in order to assist effective and successful implementation of the change.

The legal nature of the curriculum documents of the Czech Republic's educational system ABSTRACT This thesis treats the selected set of curriculum documents within the Czech legal framework laid down by the Act No. 561/2004 Collection of Law, on Pre-school, Basic, Secondary, Tertiary Professional and Other Education (the Education Act), as amended. The focus aims towards the Framework Educational Programmes (FEP) and School Educational Programmes (SEP), for which the relevant FEPs were issued. The National Educational Programme according to the Education Act as amended effective until 30. September 2020 is also taken into consideration on a theoretical level. In the times of expecting considerable state-level curriculum documents contents changes, and consequent changes on the school level, this thesis aims to analyse substantial legal aspects of each type of curriculum documents and their mutual effects and to assess, whether the current legal framework reflects their presumed use and meaning appropriately. With that goal, the key notions are defined first though and a brief insight into the curriculum historical development is provided. The thesis identifies an insufficiency within the valid legislation as the legal forms the curriculum documents should take are not laid down and consequently examines...