Development of Chemistry Curriculum for Lower-Secondary Education in Czechia after 1989

Abstract

Development of chemistry curriculum for lower-secondary education system in Czechia since 1989 has not been mapped yet. Nevertheless, this curriculum represents the fundamentals of chemistry education and thus affects students' future progress. In this paper, changes in educational programmes focused on chemistry, its educational objectives, subject matter and hourly dotation are analysed. This information is also completed with an overview of chemistry textbooks approved in accordance with a valid educational programme in periods under discussion. Altogether, six educational programmes and ten sets of textbooks which are still being used in the schools in Czechia are introduced. The changes of curricular framework and subsequent documents reflect development of student education and conditions of lower-secondary teachers' work. This information may serve as a basis for chemistry education research and also contemporary curricular reform.