The status of aesthetic education in a revised centralized curriculum: a theory-based and content-oriented evaluation of the Swedish curriculum reform Gy11

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of the recent curriculum reform of the Swedish upper-secondary school, Gy11. Although aesthetics were not made compulsory subjects by this reform, all students have a statutory entitlement to be offered a minimum of one course in an aesthetics subject. We wished to determine whether students are actually being given the opportunity of choosing such subjects. The study is a theory-based and content-oriented evaluation. Data are based on curriculum studies and a comprehensive survey of upper-secondary school principals. Our findings indicate that while principals have generally organized aesthetics courses, students seldom choose this kind of educational content. Instead, students’ selection is ruled by indirect methods of manipulation.

Keywords

• Aesthetic education
• curriculum evaluation
• educational knowledge
• educational reform
• theory-based evaluation