The question of normativity: Examining educational theories to advance deliberation on challenges of introducing societal problems into education

In studies of sustainability education and post-truth issues in education, normativity is found to be a marked and controversial theme realised in various patterns of semantics. This chapter revisits a selection of significant positions from the past half century to investigate how these may strengthen deliberations on normativity while introducing societal challenges into education. The following theoretical concepts are selected for scrutiny: The Practical (Joseph Schwab), currere (William Pinar), didactic analysis (Wolfgang Klafki), the non-affirmative approach to education and Bildung (Dietrich Benner), transposition of knowledge (Yves Chevallard), and powerful knowledge (Michael Young). An important finding is that the semantic patterns of contemporary literature indicate differences in the educational traditions of Didaktik and Curriculum but also that the different positions to a certain degree may supplement each other. Hence, bringing together theory and experience from various cultural traditions and frameworks may be crucial to further deliberation on introducing societal challenges into schooling. Finally, regarding the question of normativity, it is found that: first, normativity brings the discussion of the contemporary task of education to a head; second, normativity is an inescapable dimension of schooling, although this is realised differently by different historical and cultural traditions; and third, normativity brings into focus the issue of the academisation of educational scholarship, and hence, its capacity to cross the line between theory and normative practice.