This book draws theoretically and methodologically from the sociology of curriculum, educational policy, and comparative education to meta-analyze the findings of nine separate studies exploring constructions of "Europe" in the secondary school curricula of Social Studies from a number of countries: Germany, Greece, France, Poland, Cyprus, Sweden, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, as well as the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (Spain). The objectives of the book are threefold: first, to explore constructions of "Europe" and "European identity-citizenship" in these countries' curricula; second, to explore whether, and, if so, how these findings indicate a "Europeanization" of national curricula; and third, to discuss the similarities, differences, continuities, discontinuities, and tensions identified when comparing these curricula. (Series: Europa lernen. Perspektiven fur eine Didaktik europaischer Kulturstudien - Vol. 2)

Responding to profound social, political and technological changes, recent global trends in education have included the emergence of new forms of curriculum policy. Addressing a gap in the literature, this book investigates the ways in which curriculum policy is influenced, formulated, and enacted in a number of countries-cases in Europe. This important collection uses the concept of 'curriculum making' as an analytical tool to explore the processes and phases of curriculum policy reform experienced across countries. Drawing first on international perspectives and then presenting a series of country case studies, written by internationally recognised curriculum specialists, the chapters explore curriculum making as an activity that occurs across multiple layers of educational systems, through a continual interplay of the global and local. Concluding with a comparative analysis of the contextual factors that shape curricular practices in different contexts, this book is a must-have resource for educational policy makers, researchers, teachers and teacher educators across the globe.