Transversal competencies in the 21st century school curricula

Abstract

The national core curriculum for pre-primary and basic education is being renewed in Finland. New local curricula that are based on this core curriculum should be ready by the beginning of school year 2016–2017. This process of renewal has involved many stakeholders, particularly education providers and education personnel. This study was undertaken as part of the product development of a Learning Analytics tool (Innofactor® Skilli™) and in a close cooperation with pilot project schools. In this mixed methods case study the focus was to capture Finnish 10-year-old sixth graders’ understanding of the different Transversal Competences that are introduced in the new core curriculum. The aim was to examine how pupils understood the different definitions of the competences and what they thought the benefits of those skills were. It was found that the hardest skills for the 10- year-olds to understand were thinking critically, being innovative and constructing knowledge.