Dealing with controversy is highlighted in policy documents as a cornerstone of democracy and education. However, previous research points to several challenges for teachers when dealing with controversial issues (CI) in class. In this article, we apply an ecological conceptualisation of teacher agency and explore the ways in which forum theatre…

Purpose: The aim of the article is to contribute to an overall discussion of how civic education may influence the political efficacy of adolescents, with specific emphasis on social equalisation. We analyse how the inclusion of controversial issues in civic education may contribute towards increased social equalisation in political efficacy.…

Young people around the world show considerable engagement with climate change. How can education draw on this engagement in order to benefit students and society? In this article, we discuss how inquiry-based dialogues can support students' development in their societal engagement. We argue that such dialogues should include real-world problems…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore opportunities to develop higher-order thinking for students in social studies, with a focus on teachers' content coverage and support for engaging in social studies analysis. Design/methodology/approach: A video study using naturalistic classroom observations of 80 social studies lessons was conducted…

Given the crucial role that teacher education programmes play in developing teacher-students' assessment literacy, this study investigates all the course syllabi (n = 278) in primary and secondary-school teacher education programmes offered by three universities in Norway. This study aimed at identifying: (1) the assessment patterns, (2) the…

In the present study, we present a cross-country comparison of the status and condition of sustainable development (SD) in the Nordic physical education (PE) curricula. The aim of the study was to increase knowledge of how SD perspectives are represented and conceptualised in the Nordic PE curricula. An expert-driven research approach was used…

In this article, Emil Saetra examines how teachers and students construct and experience aims and goods in classroom discussions of controversial issues. This study is situated within the emerging tradition of empirical ethics, and the research strategy comprised two main steps. First, Saetra used interview data to analyze, via the experiences of…

This article reports a local study of the presence of history as a subject in the kindergartens of Kristiansand, a municipality in southern Norway. There is no syllabus for history in the national curriculum; nevertheless, the research sought to find historical content in the kindergartens. The research method was informed by a precept of history…

Drawing on recent work on affective citizenship and agonistic emotions, this article explores the role of emotions in discussions of controversial issues in Norwegian high schools. Empirical material was collected through individual interviews with 11 teachers (two of whom were interviewed together) and group interviews with 28 students (five or…

This study investigated whether accessing conflicting claims in other documents by means of hyperlinks embedded within currently read documents may facilitate conflict detection and source-content integration. Norwegian undergraduates (n = 85) read multiple conflicting documents on a controversial health-related issue, with half of the conflicting…

New Zealand schools are increasingly digitally infused with computer applications and tools underpinning education and influencing teachers' work. Teachers entering the profession need to develop professional digital competence and while existing frameworks can guide initial teacher education (ITE), they might not be appropriate because student…

In the Norwegian curriculum for physical education (PE), health is one of several topics students should learn about. However, the way in which many educators conceptualize health can impact both what students learn and how health is taught in PE. According to Mong and Standal (2019), differences in terms of the conceptualizations of health can…

Mathematical modelling is emphasised in curricula worldwide. Since 2006, mathematical modelling has been considered a fundamental process in the mathematics subject in Norwegian upper secondary schools. This study aimed to identify tensions in the approaches to mathematical modelling expressed in teacher interviews (N = 4) and framework discourses…

This article examines how representations of Islam in the media influence religious education. Reporting from a case study of religious education in an upper secondary school in Norway, the article analyses the way aspects of Islam are approached and structured by ongoing media debates. Based on research into media coverage of Islam in Norway, the…

'The knowledge question', addressing what students need to know and learn, becomes particularly relevant during the process of a new school reform. This paper examines the political messages and the role of knowledge in the current curriculum reform initiative for primary and secondary education in Norway (2020). The study is based on a document…