Subject-specific abilities – Formulating goals in geography in school

Abstract

This article analyzes and discusses the construction of the Swedish syllabus in geography for compulsory school in relation to how knowledge is perceived in the curriculum. The process of making the syllabus and the intentions behind the concept of subject-specific abilities in the policy documents constitutes an important aspect. The article also discusses subject-specific abilities in national and international contexts and subject-specific abilities is compared with other related terms, such as abilities, skills, and competence. The research was conducted through qualitative methods: review and analysis of official and internal documents and interviews with stakeholders involved in the process of formulating the policy documents. The results are organized in six steps to describe the process of making the syllabus, and through different intentions of the abilities in the process. The six steps and the intentions are a foundation to analyze zones of conflicts and to investigate how knowledge in school geography can be understood in the making of the syllabus.