Abstract
The article investigates the status of geography education in the Finnish national curricula from the 1970s until today. Conceptions of teaching, learning and change in society are traced through curriculum texts; in addition, the ways in which these are applied in the subject-specified aims and content of the geography curriculum are explored. This is done in the context of the success story of the Finnish education system. The analysis shows how constructivist ideas of learning have been implemented in the curriculum, but are not necessarily seen in the students’ learning outcomes. Changes in society have been reflected in the underlying values and cross-disciplinary themes defined in the curricula, although their application in geography has been relatively weak. The content of the geography curriculum has remained strongly connected to the tradition of teaching regional geography, while the close linkage between geography and biology has guaranteed a stronger position for physical rather than cultural geography. Some contemporary changes, in information and communications technology (ICT) and geographic information systems (GIS) in particular, have quickly been implemented in the geography curriculum, while some themes – for example, those emphasizing students’ everyday experiences – have remained marginal.
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