Competences at the end of compulsory education Prague November 2007 Laila Aase

Comparative perspectives: four curricula Counties: Norway, England, Romania, Germany The most striking outcome: similarities of ideology, structures and content

Similarities A holistic view: reading, writing, speaking, discussing and reflecting upon texts are generally described as interacting activities, not as separate skills

Similarities A communicative perspective as well as perspectives on thinking and understanding Example: “ pupils should be taught to use writing for thinking and learning”( England)

Similarities Competence based curricula Still differences in descriptions of domains for knowledge and skills No specific demands of methodology, but all four have implicit demands of activities

Similarities A broad notion of text ( written, oral, multimodal) Unclear in the German Bildungstandards(?) Emphasis on media including new digital media forms Critical as well as aesthetic perspectives on understanding and discussing texts

Variations Perspectives on self assessment, meta- cognition and process learning have had an impact, but are more explicitly expressed in some of the curricula than in others

Variations Intercultural and international perspectives are more prominent in some curricula. All four have an international perspective on reading literature, but perspectives on language and literature of minority groups are not always there.

Variations Knowledge: Variations of details of content Comparative perspectives on language within the country and across borders( Norway, Germany) Grammar ( Romania, Germany. England)

Requirements at the end of compulsory school Writing: Students should master many genres and understand how they are used for different purposes Master different writing strategies Write correct and be able to construct texts Express personal thoughts, knowledge and imagination

Requirements at the end of compulsory school Reading and literature: Master variations of reading strategies Read long texts in different genres with understanding and reflections on content and form

Requirements at the end of compulsory school Oral competences: Master different oral genres, formal and informal Examples: discussion on general topics, literature, presentations, speeches, drama activities Standard language( not Norway)

Requirements at the end of compulsory school Knowledge: Ingrediences in texts (Metaphor, symbol, contrast, irony etc) Grammar The literary canon ( Notice: systematic diachronic perspectives on literature are not a strong issue) Knowledge on language, comparative perspectives( Norway, Germany)