Purpose: This paper presents a qualitative systematic review of Swedish research on vocational education and training (VET) at the upper secondary school level over the past 20 years. The review is based on a theoretical model on curriculum making as social practice that may serve as model for comparative studies between countries. By introducing…

The article aims to explore to what extent and in what ways discourse institutionalism can contribute to the understanding and analysis of curriculum change in a globalized context. By focusing specifically on curriculum change, this article proposes how discourse institutionalism can contribute to the so-called 'crisis of curriculum theory' by…

Access to, and participation in, higher education is expanding. Commonalities in the organisation of this expansion are distinctive vocational pathways, liberal marketisation and significant employer influence. However, whether this expanded access to higher education in vocational pathways is contributing to opportunities of social mobility for…

The present article examines the general debate on curriculum differentiation and individualisation. Based on a policy ethnographic case study of class 9a at Forest School, it critically analyses how curriculum differentiation and individualisation are enacted in and interfere with classroom practice. The results show how Forest School's…

National goals and performance standards were introduced in Sweden during the 1990s as part of a curriculum reform. The intention was to detect shortcomings among students and provide support to those students who did not reach the passing grade in one (or several) subject/s. Despite this reform, approximately one-fourth of the students do not…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to build a detailed description of the Global Seminar (GS) curricula model by exploring its on-the-ground participatory practices in America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Design/methodology/approach: Within a qualitative research design framework, the authors interviewed 20 faculty members from the…

This article deals with how school subjects' paradigms, i.e. the established content of the teaching and the way in which the teaching is traditionally organised, are influenced when digital media are becoming increasingly common in educational contexts. The study is based on interviews in so-called focus groups with teachers of different school…

Introduction: In a standards-based school-system alignment of policy documents with standards and assessment is important. To be able to evaluate whether schools and students have reached the standards, the assessment should focus on the standards. Different models and methods can be used for measuring alignment, i.e. the correspondence between…

The early years of childhood are receiving increased public policy attention in many countries around the world. Debates on providing quality services and ensuring a good foundation for lifelong learning are generating a new interest in curriculum issues. What understandings do we have of young children? How do they access and construct knowledge…

In this article it is described how the department has encouraged learning outcome discussions among the teachers and students. The typical development process of a new course is described. A two dimensional learning outcome model is also briefly introduced. This model is used to discuss what kinds of knowledge and skills are relevant in a…

Describes the Barkestorp Project that investigated the teaching and learning process for Swedish elementary school children after libraries had been introduced into the curriculum. Highlights include planning by principals, teachers, and librarians; the librarian's role; cooperation between teachers and librarians; student behavior; library…

This paper examines the "needs" approach as it is used in curriculum and program planning in continuing education. The paper is divided into six sections. Part 1, the introduction, examines the general issue of curriculum and program planning in continuing education, the conventional sources for curricula, and reasons for the…

The issue of developing a new framework of industry programs for vocational education in the United States was examined in a study of the current status of programmatic structures nationally and among the 50 states. The following are among the topics that were explored: (1) the rationale for a new programmatic framework in the context of changing…

This document contains 35 papers from the program development section of an international conference on vocational education and training (VET) for lifelong learning in the information era. The following are among the papers included: "Using Quality Indicators to Create World-Class Curricula: From Concept to Application" (Curtis Finch,…