Conceptualising Curriculum Knowledge Within and Beyond the National Context

The core theme of this article is the implications of a global language for the curriculum and how it can be dealt with in terms of content knowledge and reform. First, the article conceptualises curriculum from the perspective of schooling within a geographical territory, symbolising its own cultural history and the nation as a key agent in reform. Second, it takes a closer look at current reform designs and asks how they represent equivalent but also contrasting arguments and rationales about curriculum beyond the national. Third, the article discusses implications of globalisation for curriculum pertaining to both cultivation and qualification as indispensable parts of education and schooling. The main empirical point of departure is the formal curriculum guidelines in Norway, written policy documents, expert reports and evaluation frameworks, written within the last two decades. Through the application of a new language for change, these documents advocate world‐wide expectations which could harmonise curriculum across national boarders. However, the design of the reform is of core significance in standardisation processes, and highly dependent on the way matters and meanings are conceptualised in the professional semantics which accompany reform efforts within and beyond the national context.