Cultures of economic education: Grammar school curricula in a multilingual comparison

Abstract

Reinforcement of differences in educational systems and school curricula may be expected in Europe due to societal crises and transformations. Thus, it is likely that cultural “variants of a capitalist spirit” and different concepts of economic education will become evident in a corresponding curriculum analysis. In this study, we focused on cultures of economic education at the level of grammar school curricula in a federal, multilingual context. We aimed to compare subject content in curricula and identify structural characteristics (e.g. regional language, graduation rates, and cantonal university) associated with differences in subject content. Taking Switzerland as an example, we compiled a representative dataset with 47 curricula and qualitatively analyzed subject content. The results showed that subject content clearly differs in terms of curriculum language, but no clear pattern was found regarding other structural characteristics. We concluded that cultural “variants of a capitalist spirit” are present differently across language regions. This perspective on local differences may help us to understand conflicting goals and measures when facing economic crises on a global level.

Between regulation and instruction: a cross-linguistic comparison of Swiss grammar school curricula exemplified by the subject “economics and law”

“…In the following, we present selected results on (1) the occurrence of subject content in the analysed curricula, (2) differences in subject content regarding curriculum language and (3) references to practice and interdisciplinarity in the analysed curricula (for details see Ruoss et al, 2022). Firstly, the introductory subject "economics and law" indicates a scattered pattern in contents and a heterogeneity between the curricula.…”

“…In each curriculum, we focussed on two subject types of "economics and law", the introductory and the major subject. The subject content was qualitatively analysed by a multidisciplinary coding system for the subject fields "economics" and "business administration" (Ruoss et al, 2022). It encompasses 30 codes in total: three main categories and 17 codes for "economics", four main categories and 13 codes for "business administration".…”

A research design for promoting and examining content knowledge and argumentation skills in socio-economic contexts in German-speaking countries

“…The teacher training workshop focuses on design and implementation of a problem-oriented teaching/learning setting in the classroom for a socio-economic problem. On the basis of resent curricula studies in German-speaking countries in the economic domain (Ackermann, 2021a; Fridrich, 2020, 2021; Ruoss et al, n.d.; Siegfried and Hangen, 2020; Ziegler, 2011), the curricular relevance of socio-economic problems is highlighted. Additionally, the workshop presents problem-oriented learning as an appropriate didactic framework to address relevant socio-economic problems in the classroom.…”

“…consumer protection, retirement provision) (Ackermann, 2021b; Albers, 1988; Dubs, 2013; Eberle, 2015; Fischer and Zurstrassen, 2014; Kaminski, 1996; Steinmann, 1997; Tafner, 2018). Thus, economic education and the promotion of economic competence is anchored in many framework curricula, mostly at the secondary school level (Ackermann, 2021a; Fridrich, 2018, 2020; Ruoss et al, n.d.; Siegfried and Hangen, 2020). Upon examination of these curricula, the general goal of economic education can be summarised as follows: economic-characterised problems are embedded in various interdependent systems (economic, political and ecological) and involve interaction between different stakeholders (consumers, producers, employees, employers, public authorities, etc.).…”

Atti del 5° Convegno sulle didattiche disciplinari

“…In each curriculum, we focussed on two subject types of "economics and law", the introductory and the major subject. The subject content was qualitatively analysed by a multidisciplinary coding system for the subject fields "economics" and "business administration" (Ruoss et al, 2022). It encompasses 30 codes in total: three main categories and 17 codes for "economics", four main categories and 13 codes for "business administration".…”