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“Research-based” and “profession-oriented” as prominent knowledge discourses in curriculum restructuring of professional programs

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Abstract

This article questions what kind of actors become involved and analyzes what forms of knowledge are activated, when discourses such as “research-based” and “profession-oriented” become basic preconditions in national curriculum change processes in Norway. A “mapping” is conducted, comprised of actors and ideas, played out in two national curriculum change processes in Norway, namely “the Integrated Master Program in Teacher Education” and “the Bachelor Program in Engineering.” The analysis shows that actors and the roles they were able to play may have had an effect on what kind of knowledge forms was prioritized in the curriculum change processes. In both, curriculum process integration of discipline-based/theoretical knowledge and practical and context-specific knowledge are emphasized. However, in the teacher education process, principled knowledge about specific professional problems and theory-based decisions are highlighted as important, while, in the engineering education process, procedural knowledge about how to solve problems and innovative capacity is more emphasized. The analysis shows a relationship between such curriculum change processes and the composite “epistemology” of the wider and contextually developed policy space. It is also demonstrated, in the two cases, that the knowledge base for professional work is subject to negotiations far beyond the academic community and is embedded in a wider set of social, professional, and political institutions and frames.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Østfold University College, Remmen, 1757, Halden, Norway

    Hilde W. Afdal

  2. University of Oslo, Postboks 1092 Blindern, 0317, Oslo, Norway

    Hilde W. Afdal

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  1. Hilde W. Afdal
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Correspondence to Hilde W. Afdal.

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Afdal, H.W. “Research-based” and “profession-oriented” as prominent knowledge discourses in curriculum restructuring of professional programs. High Educ 74, 401–418 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-9998-7

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