Disciplinary contextualisation of transversal competence in Finnish local curricula: the case of multiliteracy, mathematics, and social studies

Figures & data

Table 1. Structure of the disciplinary descriptions in the Finnish core curriculum for basic education

Task of the subject
Objectives of instruction
Mathematics: 20 objectives are presented under the following three themes: 1) significance, value, and attitudes; 2) working skills; and 3) conceptual objectives and objectives specific to the field of knowledge.		Social studies: Nine objectives are presented under the following threethemes: 1) significance, values, and attitudes; 2) adopting knowledge and skills needed in society and societal understanding; and 3) using and applying societal knowledge.
Key content areas (abbreviation C) related to the objectives of the discipline
Mathematics: C1 Thinking skills and methods C2 Numbers and operations C3 Algebra C4 Functions C5 Geometry C6 Data, processing, statistics, and probability	Social studies: C1 Daily life and personal life management C2 Democratic society C3 Active citizenship and involvement C4 Economic activity
Objectives related to the learning environments and working methods
Guidance, differentiation, and support
Assessment of the pupils’ learning

Figure 1. Disciplinary contextualisations in the Finnish local curricula

Table 2. Types of disciplinary contextualisation

Type of disciplinary contextualisation	Frequency (%, of all contextualisations)	Description
General disciplinary contextualisation	72,5% (n = 50)	General disciplinary contextualisation describes how transversal competence is taken into account in the scope of the whole discipline
Objective-specific disciplinary contextualisation	18,8% (n = 13)	Objective-specific disciplinary contextualisation describes how the transversal competence relates to the specific disciplinary objectives
Grade-based contextualisation	8,7% (n = 6)	Grade-based disciplinary contextualisation describes how transversal competence is taken into account in different grades within the specific disciplines
Content-based contextualisation	7,2% (n = 5)	Content-based disciplinary contextualisation describes how the transversal competence is related to the specifically defined disciplinary contents