Kohti uutta perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelmaa – opetussuunnitelmatyö paikallisten toimijoiden kokemana

Local educational stakeholders have a central role in organizing district­level curriculum development in Finland. Earlier research has shown that the implementation strategy affects the effectiveness of the reform. In Finland, an interactive top­down­bottom­up strategy requires local implementers to organize and manage district­level curriculum work. The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the local curriculum process as experienced by the district­level stakeholders. Survey data (N = 550) were analyzed using mixed methods. The results showed that the top­down­bottomup implementation strategy, including change management and knowledge sharing, was related to the perceived success of the reform. In addition, perceptions about the implementation strategy were related to the various ways of organizing the local curriculum process. Teachers’ professional development and engagement in the process, facilitation of participation, management of the process and coherence making were identified as the key factors in the curriculum process by the stakeholders.