Background: The Netherlands traditionally has a strong civil society. This has had an impact on the education system through the relatively high degree of autonomy for schools on moral and didactical choices as well as on the curriculum. Such freedom provides ample room for citizenship to develop at a local level. The large degree of curricular autonomy allows schools to shape education according to their own vision and values in partnership with those in civil society. Purpose: This article explores how citizenship education, cultural diversity and human rights education are implemented within such a context. The main aim is to analyse how societal and political ideals are laid down at the policy level (intended curriculum), how they are implemented at the school level (implemented curriculum), and how they impact on student learning (attained curriculum). Sources of evidence: Formal educational policy documents are analysed to gain insight into the intended curriculum. Insights in the implemented and attained curriculum are gathered through analysis of research studies into classroom practice. Main argument: The article argues that although citizenship education, cultural diversity and human rights education are prominent themes in political and societal debates and expectations of schools' contribution to these themes are high, the intentions are formalised only briefly in the intended curriculum. The freedom of education is mentioned as the main reason for the lack of policy commitment. The article argues, however, that local empowerment cannot do without school leadership to develop a school-specific vision and approach, as well as a coherent long-term vision on the way forward at the macro level.Conclusions: This curriculum analysis shows that cross-curricular socialisation themes do not play a prominent role in curriculum policy and that implementation in classroom practice is varied, but generally limited. With ambiguity in educational policy and limited implementation support, it is a complex challenge for schools to make strategic choices in interaction with civil society and to set their own social agenda. Given the current political and societal context, with its focus on freedom of education, it is necessary, but not realistic, to expect more detailed curricular regulations on these curriculum domains. Moreover, the current emphasis on basic skills in literacy and numeracy also limits the room for these societal issues, in both curriculum policy and practice. The article concludes that schools need more support to make autonomous choices as well as more clarity on what is expected from them. Also more insight is needed about feasible and coherent approaches to incorporate citizenship education in a core curriculum that has a strong emphasis on the basic skills.

The Student voice concept encompasses the right for learners to express their opinions, access people who influence decisions and actively participate in educational decision‐making processes. In this article, three features of a European Erasmus Plus project called “BRIDGE” are presented in a sequence ranging from theoretical considerations for school improvement to an analysis of school contexts and settings, followed by a presentation of results from working with one of the project’s student voice tools. Central in each example is the notion that working in partnership with students will enable students to become more self‐directed learners and active citizens.

When students are involved in curriculum design they offer unique perspectives that improve the quality and relevance of the curriculum. The processes involved in negotiating their curriculum give school and university students possibilities to practice, experience and develop the qualities to participate as citizens of a democratic society. Enabling students to have a role in curriculum design requires that the curriculum is regarded as a process instead of a predetermined, externally established product. Treating the curriculum as a process supports teachers to co-create the curriculum together with students based on broad principles or aims, but with greater freedom for students to negotiate the content and methods of learning.In the 1980s the concept of curriculum negotiation was developed by the Australian curriculum specialist Garth Boomer and colleagues. We explore Boomer's ideas about curriculum negotiation and how his approach can: 1) enable students to become meaningful agents in curriculum design; 2) integrate student voice into the curriculum, and foster a more democratic educational environment; and 3) develop specific citizenship qualities.We demonstrate the potential application of Boomer's curriculum negotiation approach to current school and university settings and make comparisons with other related democratic citizenship education and curriculum approaches.

25Kunnen leerlingen in het VO een rol spelen in het bepalen van hun leerplan? 1 J e r o e n B r o n ( E x p e r t i s e c e n t r u m v o o r l e e r p l a n o n t w i k k e l i n g , S L O ) e n W i e l V e u g e l e r s ( U n i v e r s i t e i t v o o r H u m a n i s t i e k / U n i v e r s i t e i t v a n A m s t e r d a m ) URN