This sub-project examines how municipalities, counties and schools relate to the renewal of the national curriculum. An important question addressed is how teachers and school leaders talk about the work and what resources are used.
We ask the following three main questions:
- What strategies for the local curriculum work are formulated by the local authorities and school leaders and how are the strategies expressed?
- How do the local authorities, school leaders and teachers interpret and legitimize the intentions of curriculum renewal?
- How does the curriculum function as a governing and working tool in the schools’ professional communities?
Method
In order to gain insight into expectations and division of responsibilities in the work with the curriculum renewal (LK20/LK20S), we analyze documents from the local authorities and from individual schools. We are concerned with how the municipalities and counties translate values from the curriculum renewal to the local context.
We carry out video-based observations of school leadership and staff meetings at the schools. We also interview the school principal and representatives from the local authorities. The project covers six case studies, two at the primary level, two at the lower secondary level and two at the upper secondary level. A key ambition is to follow the schools / municipalities throughout four years, in order to be able to capture changes in governance, leadership and organization.
Goal
This sub-project will provide knowledge about the work of municipalities, counties and school leaders in the introduction and enactment of the curriculum renewal, what types of support structures and resources are used, and what significance these resources and structures have for the schools' practices. The project will provide knowledge about tensions between levels and challenges in schools, how these are handled and what the consequences will be.