Introducing Programming and Digital Competence in Swedish K–9 Education

The role of computer science and IT in Swedish schools hasvaried throughout the years. In fall 2014, the Swedish government gavethe National Agency for Education (Skolverket) the task of preparing aproposal for K-9 education on how to better address the competencesrequired in a digitalized society. In June 2016, Skolverket handed overa proposal introducing digital competence and programming as interdisciplinarytraits, also providing explicit formulations in subjects such asmathematics (programming, algorithms and problem-solving), technology(controlling physical artifacts) and social sciences (fostering awareand critical citizens in a digital society). In March 2017, the governmentapproved the new curriculum, which needs to be implemented by fall 2018 at the latest. We present the new K-9 curriculum and put it ina historical context. We also describe and analyze the process of developingthe revised curriculum, and discuss some initiatives for how toimplement the changes