Ready for the Twenty-first Century? The Impact of Curriculum Reform on Geography Education in Upper Secondary Schools in Switzerland

Abstract

This study describes the results of the curriculum reform in Swiss upper secondary schools (Gymnasium Grades 9–12) which took place in the last 10 years. For the first time in Swiss school history a federally accepted national curriculum for upper secondary education had been enacted in 1994. According to its aims and targets upper secondary schools designed their school-based curricula during the last five years. To find out in which way the national curriculum in geography and the subject as a whole were perceived, the author compared school-based curricula with the national curriculum. The results show that only 50% of the school-based curricula's objectives correspond more or less with those in the national curriculum. Nevertheless, geography in Swiss upper secondary schools has been transformed into a school subject with modern content, emphasising not only the acquisition of knowledge but also psychomotor skills. Surprisingly, social skills were neglected in many curricula.