ERIC Number: EJ1456926
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0272
EISSN: EISSN-1366-5839
Engagement in 'Prevailing Societal Challenges' as a Contribution to Wellbeing? An Analysis of Interdisciplinary Topics in the Norwegian Curriculum (LK20)
Journal of Curriculum Studies, v56 n6 p739-757 2024
Objective: This paper explores the expectations of teachers to contribute to fostering students' wellbeing in the revised Norwegian curriculum. A new construct in the curriculum is three interdisciplinary topics -- health and life skills; democracy and citizenship; and, sustainable development -- included to give priority to prevailing societal challenges. Our specific concern is the content of these topics, and the extent to which they provide a framework for connecting with complex health and social issues. Method: Thematic analysis is used to examine how wellbeing is framed in the curriculum texts. Results: Our analysis reveals an emphasis on individualism, the responsibilizing of choice, and the importance attached to individual agency and skills in the three interdisciplinary topics. The topics emphasise the importance of informed, ethical, and wise choices in a way that disconnects people from the world around them. This limits opportunities for students to be introduced to a socioecological perspective on human existence as well as overlooking opportunities for developing a sociocritical approach to students' wellbeing through engagement with the real world. Conclusion: More emphasis on collective challenges and dilemmas might stimulate students' engagement and could thereby connect wellbeing to empowerment and to a sense of meaning in belonging to a larger whole.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Interdisciplinary Approach, Well Being, Social Problems, Curriculum Development, Health Education, Daily Living Skills, Democracy, Citizenship, Citizenship Education, Individualism, Ethics, Decision Making, Personal Autonomy, Barriers, Curriculum Evaluation, Collectivism, Learner Engagement, Social Responsibility, Elementary Secondary Education, Sustainable Development
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Norway
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A