Exploring curriculum change using discursive institutionalism–a conceptual framework

Abstract

The article aims to explore to what extent and in what ways discourse institutionalism can contribute to the understanding and analysis of curriculum change in a globalized context. By focusing specifically on curriculum change, this article proposes how discourse institutionalism can contribute to the so-called ‘crisis of curriculum theory’ by addressing (i) the non-linearity of change, (ii) the process of the translation of ideas and (iii) actor agency. The text is structured in three sections. In the first section, we elaborate on the notion of curriculum change as a vital concept for the field of curriculum theory in a globalized context, focusing on processes of recontextualization and the translation of curriculum content. In the second, we elaborate on discourse institutionalism as a contributing approach to the analysis of such processes of curriculum change, constructing a conceptual framework. In the third and final section, we give some examples of how the conceptual framework can be used in analysing curriculum change, using the 2011 Swedish curriculum reform (Lgr 11) as an empirical reference, and the result shows that the conceptual framework offers a wide repertoire of possible approaches to analysing curriculum change, both vertically and horizontally.