National curriculum reform is a complex negotiation point of how basic education should be practiced and what role it should take in society. The question of participation in this process is central to creating a coherent, responsible, and implementable curriculum--but still left for little investigation in the national level reforms. Our goal was…

This paper presents findings from a review of 19 national curriculum policy frameworks (NCPFs) across the globe and discusses dominant and culturally specific discourses that shape early childhood education (ECE). We combine two frameworks of developmental universality and specificity and culturally contextualised pedagogy to explore whether and…

The paper discusses the Finnish core curriculum (curriculum framework) for basic education, with focus on how lower secondary education in general, and history teaching specifically, is meant to develop the student's democratic citizenship. Developing the student's democratic citizenship is not an explicit aim of history teaching in the current…

Our aim with this study was to gain a better understanding of the emotional landscape of curriculum making by exploring the variety of emotions embedded in shared sense-making about the national curriculum reform implementation at the district level. Focus group interview data were collected from 12 curriculum reform steering groups around…

National-level educational administrators constantly face the question of how to ensure that the basic education system successfully meets complex local, national, international, and global challenges, and what is the best way to initiate and drive systemic changes in education amid such complexity and to create value for society. Studies have…

Early foreign language teaching has recently been made compulsory in Finland, making this an area open to development and innovation where policy-makers and teachers play a significant role in creating new kinds of learning environments, operating cultures, and pedagogy for foreign language learning. This article discusses the early foreign…

An international need exists for effective programmes that will enhance learners' interest in studies and careers related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, i.e. STEM. When considering the impact of STEM programmes, it is important to identify what can enable or constrain effective programme implementation. As such, enablers can…

This study analyses how "active democratic participation" is conceptualised by sixteen teacher educators from eight institutions of higher education across four Nordic countries and how these conceptualisations are translated into their own teaching. Teacher educators' strong adherence to a liberal discourse on democratic education may…

UNESCO has indicated the need for more research to test the effectiveness of education for sustainable development (ESD). This study analyzes how ESD is included in the Finnish national core curriculum and examines four environmental indicators to determine if a correlation exists between ESD and a cleaner physical environment in Finland. The…

This study aimed to examine how Finnish early childhood education (ECE) teachers use planning, assessment and development (PAD) hours across different areas of the national ECE curriculum. The PAD of pedagogy carried out by ECE teachers is an important quality factor in ECE. In Finland, the working hours reserved for planning, assessment and…

Purpose: One key aspect of European curriculum reforms is to empower students with the skills needed to engage actively in the pluralistic and multicultural global society of the 21st century. This study aims to examine the extent of multicultural education within the national core curricula of three European countries: Hungary, Finland and…

This study explores how early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) is directly framed in the Nordic curriculum. The study's theoretical background builds on theories and research viewing ECEfS as a comprehensive approach which integrates the three pillars of sustainability. To explore the status of ECEfS, Nordic curricula were analysed…

The purpose of this study was to identify international trends in K-12 computer science curricula in countries that have introduced computer science education. Content analysis method was used to analyse the country-wide curricula of 10 countries which have introduced computer science education at the primary level. The K-12 Computer Science…

Pandemics, like other global challenges, are unquestionably curricular issues. They are curriculum issues not only because of the disrupting consequences of COVID-19 and the economic and social crisis alike but also because people have, through their own activities, contributed to global catastrophes and perpetuated injustices. This article…

Background and context: In 2016, programming was introduced as part of the revised National Core Curriculum for Basic Education in Finland. Over five years after implementation there has not been substantial increase in teacher or student competencies in programming. Objective: This study explored the perceptions, attitudes, and emotions of…