6 Summary of the Empirical Findings
6.3 Contextualisations of Multiliteracy in the Finnish Local Curricula
is contextualised in the Finnish local curricula. Micro-level analyses focusing on the contents of the transversal competence of multiliteracy presented in the previous sections enabled me to understand the different ways in which the contextualisations were made and how they are structured in the curricula. In the following sub-sections, I present the results of the macro-level analyses.
6.3.1 How Were the Contextualisations of Multiliteracy Done in the Finnish Local Curricula?
Conceptual contextualisation can be done in different ways. In the analysis of dataset 2, I discovered four different ways in which multiliteracy was contextualised in the Finnish local curricula. As illustrated in Table 8, these include: emphasis, specification, description and expansion.
Table 8 Types of Conceptual Contextualisations Table 8 Types of Conceptual Contextualisations
Name Description Data example
Emphasis Highlighting or prioritising certain
aspects of the competence. Special attention is put on a strengthening the media criticality (Curriculum 37a).
Specification Explicating and defining broadly defined aspects of the competence in a more concrete manner.
Multiliteracy is based on a broad understanding of text, that in addition to traditional written text includes sound, speech, facial expressions, gestures, movement, pictures and video material (Curriculum 56a).
Description Explaining certain aspects of the competence in a way that is different to the original definition.
In multiliteracy, the development of spoken, read and written language and the utilisation of ICT and the development of competence through various learning environments are taken into account in a balanced manner (Curriculum 19a).
Expansion Broadening the scope of the competence, covering more aspects than in the original definition.
Pupils need multiliteracy to interpret the surrounding world and to perceive its cultural diversity and hidden communication (Curriculum 6a, italics added).
The first type of contextualisation discovered in this study is emphasis. This type of contextualisation emphasises certain aspects of the competence that should be prioritised or highlighted in the local setting. The second type of conceptual contextualisation is specification. This type of contextualisation defines certain aspects more accurately compared to the original definition. Through contextualisation, it is possible to narrow down the room for interpretation and thus lessen the possible vagueness of the concept. In this research, the aspects of multiliteracy specified related, for instance, to certain sub-literacies and symbol systems. The third type of contextualisation identified in this research is description.
This type refers to those contextualisations in which the competence is described in a different way to the original definition without changing the contents per se.
Thus, through contextualisation, it is possible to describe the competence in a more locally relevant manner. The fourth type of contextualisation identified in this research is expansion. Even though the original definition of the competence can be broad in nature, through contextualisation additional aspects can be included within the conceptualisation. This can help to broaden the scope of the competence to cover aspects that are seen to be important in the local setting. Even though, these four types of contextualisations have their own characteristics, they are not
mutually exclusive, but may share similar features. Thus, these different ways of contextualising can be understood more as guidelines or perspectives rather than as a strict set of rules.
An awareness of different types of conceptual contextualisations can help in understanding the different possibilities in a more nuanced manner at the local level, particularly in decentralised educational settings, such as in Finland. As Lavonen (2017) has described, local curricula take into account the local context and strengthen the teachers’ ownership of education. This can support making the curriculum more relevant for the teachers and thus providing support for the implementation of curriculum. Possibilities for contextualisation relate to the design of the broader curriculum, such as the national core curriculum (Vitikka et al., 2016). Mølstad (2015), for example, notes that the local contextualisation is influenced by the way in which the national curriculum is constructed. Different ways of conceptual contextualisation discovered from the analysed data can also help the designers of the national curriculum to define the educational outcomes, such as the competences, in such a way that they a) enable emphasising certain aspects of the competence, b) specify broadly defined aspects of the competence, c) describe the definition of the competence in a locally understandable and meaningful manner and d) allow a broadening of the scope of the competence from a local perspective.
6.3.2 How Were the Contextualisations of Multiliteracy Structured in the Finnish Local Curricula?
Multiliteracy contextualisations took different forms in the analysed curricula. In this research, I have identified four different types of conceptual contextualisations (Table 9). These types of contextualisations include: 1) general contextualisation, 2) objective-specific contextualisation, 3) grade-based contextualisation and 4) content-based contextualisation.
Table 9 Forms of Conceptual Contextualisation Table 9 Forms of Conceptual Contextualisation
Form of
[In mathematics] the aim is that pupils
• familiarise themselves with multiliteracy;
• know the mathematically relevant areas from the broad field of multiliteracy, such as the numeric, symbolic and pictorial areas;
• learn to produce, interpret and evaluate text and be critical towards it;
• maintain a mathematical interest in phenomena;
• pursue clear mathematical expression; and be responsible for their own studying and the results thereof. (Curriculum 19b.)
O[bjective]4 T[ransversal competence]4. Accurate verbal and written forms of expression are practised in information production. (Curriculum 22b.) is taken into account in different grades within the specific disciplines
Grade 7. Multiliteracy: To support the pupil in becoming competent in exact mathematical expression, verbally and in writing.
Grade 8. Multiliteracy: To guide the pupil in detecting and understanding the relationships between the things learned and to support the pupils in solving mathematical tasks that require logical and creative thinking and developing the skills needed in these tasks.
Grade 9. Multiliteracy: To guide the pupil in developing information management and analysis skills and to guide the critical consideration of information. (Curriculum 23b.) Content-based
C[ontent area]1: T4 Criticality towards advertisements, rights and duties of citizens, understanding the diagrams of statistics.
C[ontent area]2: T4 Running errands with the judicial system, recognition of efforts of political influence.
C[ontent area]3: T4 Media literacy: consideration of electoral results and support of political parties.
C[ontent area]4: T4 Criticality and the interpretation of references. (Curriculum 25.)
In the curricula analysed in this study, general contextualisation was the most common type of contextualisation. General contextualisation can refer from a transversal perspective to all different disciplines (transversal contextualisation), or it can cover the scope of an individual discipline (disciplinary contextualisation). All the multiliteracy definitions covering the scope of the whole curriculum in dataset 2 illustrate general types of conceptual contextualisations. In addition, most of the contextualisations (72.5%, n=50) analysed in dataset 3 were general in nature, illustrating how a particular competence is understood in the context of the whole discipline.
General contextualisation is the broadest type of contextualisation as it can cover all grade levels and all disciplines or particular discipline, whereas other types are more narrow in their scope. As the same discipline can consist of several different objectives, objective-specific contextualisations describe how the competence is related to a certain—more precisely defined—disciplinary objective. In dataset 3, 18.8% (n=13) were these types of contextualisations. I focused on the disciplinary contextualisations covering the whole of basic education (dataset 2) but also addressed the lower secondary education in particular (dataset 3), covering grades 7 to 9. In some of the analysed local curricula (8.7%, n=6) the competence was contextualised specifically for different grade levels. These types of contextualisations are termed grade-based contextualisations. This enables a focus on and description of the gradual development of the competence through the educational levels. The fourth type identified relates to the specific contents described in the curriculum. Content-based contextualisations connect the competence with the content areas of the specific discipline. In dataset 3, 7.2% (n=5) of the contextualisations were made in relation to the contents. Different types of contextualisation are not exclusive in nature.
For example, in the analysed data multiliteracy was contextualised by describing what it means specifically in relation to the specific disciplinary objective at a specific grade level. Thus, the scope and accuracy of the different contextualisations can vary. However, this is not very common. In dataset 3, the different types of contextualisation were combined in only 7.2% (n=5) of the analysed curricula.
Competences can be conceptualised in different ways, which influences their role across the structure of the curriculum. ‘Disciplinary competences’ refers to the competences that are relevant for the specific discipline, whereas ‘transversal competences’ can be more general in nature, relating to several disciplines (Hernández-de-Menéndez & Morales-Menendez, 2016). The analysis of the data enabled me to identify the different forms in which CBE is contextualised across the disciplines. On one hand, conceptual contextualisation can be made in a transversal manner covering all the various disciplines, whereas on the other hand, through disciplinary contextualisation, it can be made more specifically.
Different forms of contextualisation—namely general contextualisation, objective-specific contextualisation, grade-based contextualisation and content-based contextualisation—provide a way to further understand the relationship between different types of competences. As the transversal competence is contextualised in the disciplinary setting, the nature of transversal competences become more diverse.
The same competence which is originally defined to transcend the disciplines has discipline-specific conceptualisations. Thus, for example, mathematical multiliteracy is different from multiliteracy within the setting of social studies.