Vorsprung ex machina? Aspects of curriculum and assessment in cultural comparison

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Abstract
In the midst of rapidly evolving educational policy and programmes for secondary curricula, new forms of assessment and new examinations, and teacher appraisal, together with longstanding and bitter disputes between professional practitioners and the government, Her Majesties Inspectorate (HMI) have published a report (1986) about aspects of curriculum and assessment in the FRG ‐ a country increasingly held up to the UK as a model to be emulated in many respects. This paper sets the wealth of information contained in the HMI report into its West German cultural and political context, explores its relationship with UK educational policy at the present time, and considers the nature and purposes of documents which attempt to make aspects of other cultures accessible and instructive. It concludes that whilst HMI strive to be accurate and fair, the dangers of drawing simplistic and ultimately culture‐bound ‘lessons’ can hardly be avoided; and in the process, such material will inevitably be employed superficially for political ends.

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