Curriculum Change in Norway: Thematic approaches, active learning and pupil cooperation - from curriculum design to classroom implementation

Laerplan 97 (L97) is a substantial programme of educational reform in Norway. It includes a subject-based, centrally determined curriculum more detailed than its predecessor, M87 (Monsterplan). L97 combines the compulsory delivery of a core of centrally determined knowledge with the flexibility for teachers to plan and teach with the local environment and resources in mind and in relation to topical issues and learners' interests. Teacher decision making in the selection of content and mode of delivery will be crucial aspects in the successful implementation of L97. This paper takes three key constructs within L97 and examines them more closely: thematic approaches to curriculum delivery, the active and independent learner and the cooperating learner, constructs traditionally associated with pupil autonomy and meaningful learning. Drawing on interviews with those responsible for designing the subject-related curricula and on teacher questionnaires, the study reveals how the journey from educational policy making to effective classroom practice would benefit from a continuing interface with all parties striving to understand links between the origins of ideological underpinnings and the reality of practice. Insights are drawn from curriculum development trends in England where a centrally determined curriculum has now been in place for over a decade and where debates about a learner-centred curriculum seem to have diminished.

Keywords:

• Curriculum Change
• Active Learning