Critiquing Curriculum Policy Reform in Finland and Australia:
A Non-affirmative, and Praxis-oriented Approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14288/tci.v15i2.191090Abstract
This paper draws upon key national curriculum policy documents as evidence of reform in Finland and Australia to analyze whether and how they appear to provide the opportunity for a genuinely educational experience for students, oriented towards the good for all, or whether they reflect more restrictive, ‘predetermined’ influences and foci. Specifically, we focus upon the aims, content and methods advocated within the principal curriculum policy documents in each context, and analyze the extent to which they seem to allow for teacher and school autonomy, and a more praxis-oriented approach, or whether they reflect more directive, and performative policy foci. To analyze the extent to which such autonomy is evident, we draw upon the German educationalist Dietrich Benner’s notion of ‘non-affirmative’ education as an analytical concept, and to analyze whether a more praxis-oriented approach is evident, we draw upon neo-Aristotelian notions of practice as praxis. Through a comparative analysis of the Finnish and Australian curriculum policy circumstances, we argue how more neoliberal influences have influenced both countries, but also how the Finnish context seems to provide the opportunity for a more open, ‘non-affirmative’ approach to the aims, content and methods of curriculum reform, while the Australian context is potentially more restrictive in this regard, even as there is evidence of some support for such approaches. The article reveals the power of a comparative approach, and how the broader conditions within which curriculum policy development unfolds, including assessment practices, influence the nature of the content of curriculum policy, with potentially significant effects for curriculum reform enactment.References
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Benner, D., Meyer, H., Peng, Z. & Li, Z. (2018). Beiträge zum chinesich-deutschen Didaktik-Dialog. Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt.
Comber, B. (2012). Mandated literacy assessment and the reorganisation of teachers’ work: Federal policy, local effects. Critical Studies in Education, 53(2), 119-136.
Deng, Z. (2013). The "why" and "what" of curriculum inquiry: Schwab's the practical revisited. Education Journal, 41(1–2), 85–105.
Deng, Z. & Luke, A. (2008). Subject Matter: Defining and Theorizing School Subjects. In: F. M. Connelly, M. F. He & J. Phillion (Eds.), Sage Handbook of Curriculum and Instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
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O’Neill, O. (2013). Intelligent accountability in education, Oxford Review of Education, 39(1), 4-16.
Peck, J. & Theodore, N. (2015). Fast policy: Experimental statecraft at the thresholds of neoliberalism. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Polesel, J., Rice, S. & Dulfer, N. (2014). The impact of high-stakes testing on curriculum and pedagogy: A teacher perspective from Australia. Journal of Education Policy, 29(5), 640-657.
Popkewitz, T. (2004). Foreword. In: Steiner-Khamsi, G. (ed.), The global politics of educational borrowing and lending (pp. vii-xi). New York: Teachers College Press.
Rizvi, F., & Lingard, B. (2010). Globalizing education policy. Abingdon: Routledge.
Steiner-Khamsi, G. (2004). Globalization in education: Real or imagined? In: Steiner-Khamsi, G. (ed.), The global politics of educational borrowing and lending (pp. 1-7). New York: Teachers College Press.
Sahlberg, P. 2011. Finnish lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland? New York, NY: Teachers College, Columbia University.
Sahlberg, P. (2016) The global educational reform movement and its impact on schooling. In K. Mundy, A. Green, B. Lingard & A. Verger (Eds.), The handbook of global education policy (pp. 128-144). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Schmidt, V. (2002). Europeanization and the Mechanisms of Economic Policy Adjustment. Journal of European Public Policy, 9(6), 894-912.
Siljander, P. (2007). Education and ‘Bildung’ in modern society. Developmental trends of Finnish educational and sociocultural processes. In: R. Jakku-Sihvonen & H. Niemi, Educational sciences as societal contribution (pp. 71-89). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Simola, H. (2005). The Finnish miracle of PISA: historical and sociological remarks on teaching and teacher education. Comparative Education, 41(4), 455-470
Thompson, G. & Harbaugh, A. (2013). A preliminary analysis of teacher perceptions of the effects of NAPLAN on pedagogy and curriculum. Australian Educational Researcher, 40(3), 299-314.
Tian, M. & Risku, M. (2018). A distributed leadership perspective on the Finnish curriculum reform 2014. Journal of Curriculum Studies, DOI:10.1080/00220272.2018.1499806
Uljens, M. (2002). The idea of a universal theory of education – An impossible but necessary project? Journal of Philosophy of Education, 36(3), 353–375.
Uljens, M. (2015). Curriculum work as educational leadership: Paradoxes and theoretical foundations. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 1(1), 22–30. Retrieved from http://nordstep.net/index.php/nstep/article/view/27010.
Uljens, M., & Nyman, C. (2013). Educational Leadership in Finland or Building a Nation with Bildung. In L. Moos. (Ed.), Transnational Influences on Values and Practices in Nordic Educational Leadership: Is there a Nordic Model? (pp. 31–48). Cham: Springer.
Uljens, M. & Rajakaltio, H. (2017). National Curriculum Development in Finland as Distributed and Non-Affirmative Educational Leadership. In: M. Uljens & R. Ylimaki (Eds.), Bridging Educational Leadership, Curriculum Theory and Didaktik - Non-Affirmative Theory of Education (pp. 411-438). Cham: Springer.
Uljens, M. & Ylimaki, R. (2017). Non-Affirmative Theory of Education as a Foundation for Curriculum Studies, Didaktik and Educational Leadership. In: M. Uljens & R. Ylimaki (Eds.), Bridging Educational Leadership, Curriculum Theory and Didaktik - Non-Affirmative Theory of Education (pp. 3-145). Cham: Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-58650-2
Young, M. (2013). Overcoming the crisis in curriculum theory - A knowledge-based approach, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(2), 101-118.
ACARA (n.d.(a)) Australian Curriculum. Retrieved 29 October 2018 from www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/structure/
ACARA (n.d.(b)) Australian Curriculum. Retrieved 30 October 2018 from www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/about-the-australian-curriculum/
ACARA (n.d.(c)) Australian Curriculum. Retrieved 2 February 2017 from www.australiancurriculum.edu.au
ACARA (n.d.(d)) Australian Curriculum – Student diversity. Retrieved 29 October 2018 from www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/student-diversity/
ACARA (n.d.(e)) Structure (Australian Curriculum). Retrieved 29 October, 2018 from www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (n.d.(f)). Cross-curriculum priorities. Retrieved 29 October, 2018 from www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/cross-curriculum-priorities
ACARA (n.d.(g)). Cross-curriculum priorities: In the learning areas. Retrieved 29 October 2018 from: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/crosscurriculumpriorities/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-histories-and-cultures/in-the-learning-areas
Benner, D. (2015). Allgemeine pädagogik (8. edition). Weinheim: Beltz Juventa.
Benner, D., Meyer, H., Peng, Z. & Li, Z. (2018). Beiträge zum chinesich-deutschen Didaktik-Dialog. Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt.
Comber, B. (2012). Mandated literacy assessment and the reorganisation of teachers’ work: Federal policy, local effects. Critical Studies in Education, 53(2), 119-136.
Deng, Z. (2013). The "why" and "what" of curriculum inquiry: Schwab's the practical revisited. Education Journal, 41(1–2), 85–105.
Deng, Z. & Luke, A. (2008). Subject Matter: Defining and Theorizing School Subjects. In: F. M. Connelly, M. F. He & J. Phillion (Eds.), Sage Handbook of Curriculum and Instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Finland Ministry of Education and Culture. (2015). [Online] Tomorrow’s comprehensive school: Updating skills to meet future requerements. Available from: http://www.minedu.fi/export/sites/default/OPM/Julkaisut/2015/liitteet/tomorrows_comprehensive_school.pdf. [Accessed: 3/5/2015].
Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) (2014). National core curriculum for basic education 2014. Helsinki: Finnish National Board of Education.
Frontini, S. (2009). Global influences and national peculiarities in education and training: The Finnish case. In: Holmarsdottir, H. & O’Dowd, M. (eds). Nordic voices: Teaching and researching comparative and international education in the Nordic countries. Rotterdam: Sense Publisher.
Gunter, H. M., Grimaldi, E., Hall, D., & Serpieri, R. (2016). New public management and the reform of education: European lessons for policy and practice. London: Routledge.
Habermas, J. (1987). The theory of communicative action: Volume II – Lifeworld and System: A critique of functionalist reason. Boston: Beacon Press.
Halinen, I. (2013). Curriculum reform in Finland. http://www.oph.fi/download/151294_ops2016_curriculum_reform_in_finland.pdf
Hardy, I. (2014). A logic of appropriation: Enacting national testing (NAPLAN) in Australia. Journal of Education Policy, 29(1), 1-18.
Hopmann, S. (2003). On the evaluation of curriculum reforms. Journal of Curriculum Studies 35(4), 459-478.
Kemmis, S., & Smith, T. (2008). Praxis and praxis development. In: Kemmis, S. & Smith, T. (eds.) Enabling praxis: Challenges for education (pp. 3-13). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Kemmis, S., Wilkinson, J., Edwards-Groves, C., Hardy, I., Grootenboer, P. & Bristol, L. (2014). Changing practices, changing education. Singapore: Springer International.
Lingard, B., Martino, W., Rezai-Rashti, G., & Sellar, S. (2016). Globalizing educational accountabilities. New York: Routledge.
Lingard, B., Thompson, G. & Sellar, S. (2016). National testing from an Australian perspective. In: Lingard, B., Thompson, G. & Sellar, S. (eds). National testing in schools: An Australian assessment. London: Routledge.
Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) (2011). National Professional Standards for Teachers. Carlton South: MCEECDYA.
Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) (2008). Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young People. Melbourne: MCEETYA
Ministery of Education and Culture (2001). The Government Decree on the General National Objectives and Distribution of Lesson Hours in Basic Education (1435/2001). http://www.minedu.fin/OPM/?lang=en
Ministery of Education and Culture (2010). Basic Education Act (2010/642) http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/alkup/2010/20100642
Ministery of Education and Culture (2012). Statsrådets förordning om riksomfattande mål för utbildningen enligt lagen om grundläggande utbildning och om timfördelning i den grundläggande utbildningen (422/28.6.2012). Government Decree on the General National Objectives and Distribution of Lesson Hours in Basic Education. http://www.finlex.fi/sv/laki/alkup/2012/20120422
National Board of Education (2004). Grunderna för läroplanen för den grundläggande utbildningen 2004. Helsingfors: Utbildningsstyrelsen.
National Board of Education (2012). National core curriculum outlines. 13.11. 2012. http://www.oph.fi/english/education_development/current_reforms/curriculum_reform_2016
Official Journal L 394 of 30.12.2006. Recommendation 2006/962/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning [Official Journal L 394 of 30.12.2006].
O’Neill, O. (2013). Intelligent accountability in education, Oxford Review of Education, 39(1), 4-16.
Peck, J. & Theodore, N. (2015). Fast policy: Experimental statecraft at the thresholds of neoliberalism. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Polesel, J., Rice, S. & Dulfer, N. (2014). The impact of high-stakes testing on curriculum and pedagogy: A teacher perspective from Australia. Journal of Education Policy, 29(5), 640-657.
Popkewitz, T. (2004). Foreword. In: Steiner-Khamsi, G. (ed.), The global politics of educational borrowing and lending (pp. vii-xi). New York: Teachers College Press.
Rizvi, F., & Lingard, B. (2010). Globalizing education policy. Abingdon: Routledge.
Steiner-Khamsi, G. (2004). Globalization in education: Real or imagined? In: Steiner-Khamsi, G. (ed.), The global politics of educational borrowing and lending (pp. 1-7). New York: Teachers College Press.
Sahlberg, P. 2011. Finnish lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland? New York, NY: Teachers College, Columbia University.
Sahlberg, P. (2016) The global educational reform movement and its impact on schooling. In K. Mundy, A. Green, B. Lingard & A. Verger (Eds.), The handbook of global education policy (pp. 128-144). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Schmidt, V. (2002). Europeanization and the Mechanisms of Economic Policy Adjustment. Journal of European Public Policy, 9(6), 894-912.
Siljander, P. (2007). Education and ‘Bildung’ in modern society. Developmental trends of Finnish educational and sociocultural processes. In: R. Jakku-Sihvonen & H. Niemi, Educational sciences as societal contribution (pp. 71-89). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Simola, H. (2005). The Finnish miracle of PISA: historical and sociological remarks on teaching and teacher education. Comparative Education, 41(4), 455-470
Thompson, G. & Harbaugh, A. (2013). A preliminary analysis of teacher perceptions of the effects of NAPLAN on pedagogy and curriculum. Australian Educational Researcher, 40(3), 299-314.
Tian, M. & Risku, M. (2018). A distributed leadership perspective on the Finnish curriculum reform 2014. Journal of Curriculum Studies, DOI:10.1080/00220272.2018.1499806
Uljens, M. (2002). The idea of a universal theory of education – An impossible but necessary project? Journal of Philosophy of Education, 36(3), 353–375.
Uljens, M. (2015). Curriculum work as educational leadership: Paradoxes and theoretical foundations. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 1(1), 22–30. Retrieved from http://nordstep.net/index.php/nstep/article/view/27010.
Uljens, M., & Nyman, C. (2013). Educational Leadership in Finland or Building a Nation with Bildung. In L. Moos. (Ed.), Transnational Influences on Values and Practices in Nordic Educational Leadership: Is there a Nordic Model? (pp. 31–48). Cham: Springer.
Uljens, M. & Rajakaltio, H. (2017). National Curriculum Development in Finland as Distributed and Non-Affirmative Educational Leadership. In: M. Uljens & R. Ylimaki (Eds.), Bridging Educational Leadership, Curriculum Theory and Didaktik - Non-Affirmative Theory of Education (pp. 411-438). Cham: Springer.
Uljens, M. & Ylimaki, R. (2017). Non-Affirmative Theory of Education as a Foundation for Curriculum Studies, Didaktik and Educational Leadership. In: M. Uljens & R. Ylimaki (Eds.), Bridging Educational Leadership, Curriculum Theory and Didaktik - Non-Affirmative Theory of Education (pp. 3-145). Cham: Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-58650-2
Young, M. (2013). Overcoming the crisis in curriculum theory - A knowledge-based approach, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(2), 101-118.
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2018-11-21
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