ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 outlines the theoretical framework for the book and the research project as a whole. The first part of the chapter links policy to curriculum theory (CT) and the field of classroom studies. The second part discusses the key concepts used to analyse the classroom study reported on in the book: curriculum events, curriculum tasks, classroom discourse, comparative classroom studies and concepts linked to subject matter and curriculum content. A ‘curriculum event’ is understood as the complex transformation from curriculum text to actual teaching. The study builds on CT research against the backdrop of interdependence and a ‘new’ transnational policy scenario. The focus is on classroom communication, curriculum content and units of analyses within clear themes comprising lessons over an extended period of time, combined with explanatory social science theory and based on the wider context of societal and political discourse.
