Curriculum on the European policy agenda: Global transitions and learning outcomes from transnational and national points of view

Abstract

This special issue examines curricula and their histories as they have evolved throughout the 21st century as part of transnational and national education policies. With a specific focus on the policy transitions that are taking place in Europe, the articles demonstrate how curriculum making processes move in different directions, following their own reform cycles despite globalization and internationalization. At the same time, a third wave of transnational policy transitions seems to be taking place, such that international organizations like the European Union have intervened in curriculum decisions regarding compulsory schooling within national contexts. The articles within this special issue draw on different epistemologies and methodologies and, thus, contribute to analytical frameworks and provide a variety of lenses for understanding and exploring how curriculum making processes respond to and re-contextualize processes and expectations beyond national and global contexts.