From boundary maintenance to boundary crossing: Geography in the Norwegian national curriculum

Abstract

The integrated status of Social Studies in the Norwegian Curriculum for Knowledge Promotion in Primary and Secondary Education and Training 2020 reflects an international educational trend pertain- ing to a movement from knowledge and traditional disciplinary thinking to generic skills, competence and boundary crossing. This article addresses the changed organisation of geography as a sub- ject within Social Studies in the national curriculum framework. Through a thematic analysis of how geo- graphical knowledge is classified and represented in the curriculum, this article discusses opportunities and limitations in the curriculum when it comes to de- veloping students' powerful geographical knowledge. The analysis shows that geographical knowledge is organised in an attempt to reduce content bounda- ries. Found across the curriculum, geographical knowledge includes geographical scale, geographic conditions and human–nature interconnections. However, geographical knowledge is represented through an understanding of space as absolute and fixed rather than relational and dynamic, as well as through a technical and mainly individual understand- ing of scale. We conclude that boundary crossing related to sustainability and citizenship as interdisci- plinary topics opens opportunities for powerful geo- graphical knowledge, although this potential is limited by the weak classification of geography in the cur- riculum for Social Studies.