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Primary school reform: New curricula and old exam problems!
New curricula to promote student engagement and practical skills were unveiled in August 2023. The reform will be implemented by 2026.
Primary school reform: New curricula and old exam problems!
In August 2023, the first drafts for a comprehensive reform of primary school curricula were presented, which were thoroughly developed by groups of experts. The aim of this reform, as skolemonitor.dk reports, is to enrich teaching and create more space for depth and variation. This is intended to increase student engagement and enable a better balance between theoretical and practical learning content.
Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye has already invited relevant parties to a status update to provide information on progress. This school year, the new curricula will be tested in selected schools, with the aim of implementing the final curricula for the 2027/2028 school year by the end of 2026. The feedback on the reform, particularly on the inclusion of relevant actors and political support, has been consistently positive.
Challenges and criticisms
Despite the positive developments, there are also critical voices. It is criticized that the final examinations are not being fundamentally reformed. Only the number of exams will be reduced from eight to six. These exams continue to focus on fundamental skills, leading many teachers to focus learning on the exams – a phenomenon known as “teaching to the test.”
The criticism continues: The current examinations do not promote the desired subject matter and contradict the practical orientation of the newly designed curricula. It is argued that the reform could fail in the sixth form if there are no changes to exam requirements. While independent schools have more scope to try out alternative forms of examination such as interdisciplinary projects, the majority of schools remain dependent on traditional examination formats.
Research and evaluation
Parallel to the reform, the Universitetet i Oslo is investigating the effects of curriculum renewal in a long-term research project. This project, which runs from 2019 to 2025, addresses several thematic areas. This includes the processes for establishing the new curriculum, the quality of the supporting resources and the impact on school practice and student learning.
The project is divided into four work packages, which, among other things, deal with the development of the new curriculum and the analysis of its function as a control and working document. An important point is also to consider how the reform influences teachers' and students' attitudes towards knowledge and learning. The focus is on deeper learning and interdisciplinary topics such as democracy and citizenship, sustainable development as well as health promotion and life management.
The results of this comprehensive evaluation are not only important for decision-makers, but also provide valuable insights for school practices and student learning. This analysis could help to better achieve the goals set out in the reform and to sustainably improve the quality of education.
In an experiment carried out by the STUK school authority, practical oral exams are being tested in the subjects Danish and mathematics. The results of this project should be available by 2026 and could potentially provide new impetus for the examination formats.
The discussion about the need to test students in relevant skills rather than in meaningless tests has now become a central point in the education debate. It remains to be seen whether the reform will have the desired impact on education systems and how it will prove itself in practice.