Curriculum Making in Europe: Policy and Practice Within and Across Diverse Contexts

Description

Responding to profound social, political and technological changes, recent global trends in education have included the emergence of new forms of curriculum policy. Addressing a gap in the literature, this book investigates the ways in which curriculum policy is influenced, formulated, and enacted in a number of countries-cases in Europe. This important collection uses the concept of 'curriculum making' as an analytical tool to explore the processes and phases of curriculum policy reform experienced across countries. Drawing first on international perspectives and then presenting a series of country case studies, written by internationally recognised curriculum specialists, the chapters explore curriculum making as an activity that occurs across multiple layers of educational systems, through a continual interplay of the global and local. Concluding with a comparative analysis of the contextual factors that shape curricular practices in different contexts, this book is a must-have resource for educational policy makers, researchers, teachers and teacher educators across the globe. Half Title Page Praise for Curriculum Making in Europe Title Page Contents List of Tables and Figures Contributor Biographies About the Authors Introduction: Curriculum Making: A Conceptual Framing Introduction Curriculum Making: Curriculum as Social Practice Levels, Layers or Sites? Approaches to Defining Levels Sites of Activity Supra Curriculum Making Macro Curriculum Making Meso Curriculum Making Micro Curriculum Making Nano Curriculum Making The Chapters References 1: National Curriculum Making as More or Less Expressions of and Responses to Globalization Introduction Background Globalising the Message Systems of Schooling The Global and Regional Contexts of National Curricula Data and the Potential Global Privatization of Curricula Conclusion References 2: ‘Sites’ of Curriculum Making in Cyprus: Tracing the Emergence and Transformation of Expert Teacher-Subjects Introduction Locating Curriculum Making: Beyond Teachers and Levels Modes of Inquiry and Theoretical Perspectives Findings The Subject-area Counsellor as the Hybrid Expert-subject The Subject-area Counsellor as Subject and Object Discussion Acknowledgements References 3: The Ongoing Curriculum Reform in Portugal: Highlighting Trends, Challenges and Possibilities Introduction A Brief Overview of Curriculum Changes Implemented in Portugal Since the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century The PAFC Reform Plan Main Axes Methodological Approach The PAFC Reform Put into Practice Main Results of the Experimental Period Concluding Remarks Acknowledgement References 4: Post-Socialist Curricular Reform in Czechia: Multiple Actors and Their Blame Games Introduction The Systemic Level: The Socialist Legacy and Transformation Processes Institutional Legacy The Fall of Communist Rule The Narrative on the Meso Level International Actors Meet the Grey Zone From a Voluntary Activity to the Universally Binding Law School Principals and Teachers: On Being a Non-voluntary Agent of Change Discussion Conclusion Acknowledgement References 5: Integral Curriculum Review in the Netherlands: In Need of Dovetail Joints Introduction: Setting the Stage Curriculum Policy in the Netherlands Curriculum.nu: Motives and Aims Curriculum.nu: Approach, Timeline and Preliminary Outcomes Preliminary Outcomes of Curriculum.nu Balancing Curriculum Regulation, Space and Support Strategic Curriculum Mix Dovetailing of Curriculum Levels Concluding Remarks References 6: The Case of Curriculum Development in England: Oases in a Curriculum Desert? Introduction Rearranging the Curriculum Development Landscape The Impact of the New Landscape on Curriculum Making Epistemological Fog The Recurring Irony Conclusion References 7: Curriculum Reform in Scottish Education: Discourse, Narrative and Enactment Introduction Scottish Context CFE: The Complexity of Managing Change Policy Transmission: (Re-)interpretation and Resistance The ICEA Report (2018) A ‘Refreshed’ CfE Narrative (2019) Curriculum Making Across the System Macro Meso Micro Conclusions References 8: The Craft of Curriculum Making in Lower Secondary Education in Ireland Introduction Curriculum Making Junior Cycle Reform Methodology Findings and Discussion Semiotic Flow – Communication Across and Through the Macro-, Meso-, Micro- and Nano-Domains of the Assemblage Material Flow – The Range of Resources Social Flow – Relationships, Pedagogy and Collaborative Practice for Curriculum Making Implications for Curriculum Making References 9: Understanding Transnational Curriculum Policies and Curriculum Making in Local Municipal Arenas: The Case of Sweden Introduction Context: The Levels of the Swedish School System and the Curriculum Reform of 2011 Purpose and Research Questions A Theoretical Framework Coordinative and Communicative Discourses as Curriculum Policy Messages Methodological Considerations Transnational and National Discourses in Enacting Policy Solutions at the Local Level The Governing of School: Aligned Reform Elements to Reach Standards Equity and Equivalence: Resource Distribution and Accountability Transformations of Transnational Education Policy Discourses at the Municipal Level The Need for Coordination Between Alignment and Accountability References 10: Shared Sense-Making as Key for Large Scale Curriculum Reform in Finland Introduction: Finland in the Global Scene Curriculum Renewal in Finland Shared Sense-making as a Tool for Transformative Learning in Curriculum Making Empirical Findings and Lessons Learned in Finnish Curriculum Reform Conclusions Acknowledgement References Appendix Conclusions: Patterns and Trends in Curriculum Making in Europe Introduction Processes, Strategies and Flows of Curriculum Making The Importance of Meso Activity for Teacher Agency Learning from Curriculum Making in Europe References Index