Going Dutch? Lessons from the Outcome-Based Political Science Curriculum in the Netherlands

ABSTRACTDutch political science curricula integrate the acquisition of knowledge of the discipline and transferable skills. This makes it an interesting case for US political science education, especially in light of Wahlke’s (1991) recommendations for a structured political science curriculum that incorporates skills training in addition to knowledge of the field. Although some of Wahlke’s recommendations were widely adopted, US political science curricula remain relatively loosely structured and often do not explicitly focus on transferable skills.This article argues that the Dutch example may help US programs revisit how to best achieve learning outcomes that allow students to acquire both knowledge and transferable skills. This is not an argument for “going Dutch” wholesale; instead, the article suggests modest modifications to US political science curricula.

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Understanding Early Childhood Science Education: Comparative Analysis of Australian and Finnish Curricula

Research in Science Education ◽

10.1007/s11165-020-09980-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sari Havu-Nuutinen ◽

Sarika Kewalramani ◽

Nikolai Veresov ◽

Susanna Pöntinen ◽

Sini Kontkanen

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Science Education ◽

Early Childhood Education ◽

Comparative Study ◽

Learning Outcomes ◽

Science Curriculum ◽

Early Years ◽

Childhood Education ◽

Curriculum Framework ◽

International Comparative

AbstractThis research is a comparative study of Finnish and Australian science curricula in early childhood education (EC). The study aims to figure out the constructivist components of the science curriculum in two countries as well as locate the similarities and differences in the rationale and aims, contents, learning outcomes, learning activities, teacher’s role and assessment. The curriculum analysis framework developed by Van den Akker (2003) was used as a methodological framework for the curricula analysis. Based on the theory-driven content analyses, findings show that both countries have several components of constructivist curriculum, but not always clearly focused on science education. The Australian Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) integrates children’s science learning within their five specific learning outcomes, whereas the Finnish national core curriculum for early childhood education and care has no defined learning outcomes in general. The Finnish curriculum more clearly than EYLF encompasses science and environmental education as a learning domain, within which children participate in targeted scientific activities to gain procedural knowledge in specific environmental-related concepts. More focus should be turned to the teachers’ role and assessment, which are not determined in science context in both countries. This international comparative study calls for the need of a considered EC curriculum framework that more explicitly has science domains with specifically defined rationale, aims, content areas, learning outcomes and assessment criteria. The implications lie in providing early childhood educators with tangible and theoretically solid curriculum framework and resources in order to foster scientific thinking in young children.

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Teaching traditions in science education in Switzerland, Sweden and France: A comparative analysis of three curricula

European Educational Research Journal ◽

10.1177/1474904117698710 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 51-70

Author(s):

Laurence Marty ◽

Patrice Venturini ◽

Jonas Almqvist

Keyword(s):

Science Education ◽

Learning Outcomes ◽

Scientific Literacy ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Science And Society ◽

The Core ◽

Moral Tradition ◽

Science Curricula ◽

Expected Outcomes ◽

Academic Tradition

Classroom actions rely, among other things, on teaching habits and traditions. Previous research has clarified three different teaching traditions in science education: the academic tradition builds on the idea that simply the products and methods of science are worth teaching; the applied tradition focuses on students’ ability to use scientific knowledge and skills in their everyday life; and the moral tradition opens up a relationship between science and society, focusing on students’ decision making concerning socio scientific issues. The aim of this paper is to identify and discuss similarities and differences between the science curricula in Sweden, France and Western Switzerland in terms of teaching traditions. The study considers the following dimensions in the analysis: (1) the goals of science education as presented in the initial recommendations of the curricula; (2) the organization and division of the core contents; and (3) the learning outcomes expected from the students in terms of concepts, skills and/or scientific literacy requirements. Although the three traditions are taken into account within the various initial recommendations, the place they occupy in the content to be taught is different in each case. In the Swedish curriculum, our analyses show that the three traditions are embedded in the initial recommendations and in the expected outcomes. On the other hand, in the Western-Swiss and French curricula, the three traditions are embedded in the initial recommendations but only academic tradition can be found in the expected outcomes. Therefore, the Swedish curriculum seems to be more consistent regarding teaching traditions. This may have some consequences on teaching and learning practices, which will be discussed in the article. Moreover, our analyses enable us to put forward definitions of teaching tradition.

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