This network involves three countries and national education systems, Portugal, Estonia, and Croatia in the analysis of curriculum innovation on school and teacher level.  All surveys represented on this symposium are based on questionnaires with teachers and analysis of documents. 

Curriculum contextualization has gradually assumed as a central theme in discussions about teaching and learning. Understood as a way to bring closely the teaching-learning to students' reality, contextualization appears as a prerequisite in addressing the content and organization of activities to be undertaken in the classroom. By helping students to relate the educational tasks with their knowledge and everyday experiences, curricular contextualization facilitates the linking of theory and practice. 

Lisbon Agenda(2000), Education and Training Programs for  2010 and 2020 ( 2002; 2009) as well as OCDE recommendations (2003)  follows that idea that meaningful learning and educational achievement for all  are standing policy priorities to all European State Members.    

Since 2001, with Reorganisation of Primary Education, core curriculum assumed in Portugal those major aims as priorities. At the same time, Portugal have been confronted with lower results obtained in international evaluation programs like PISA and that explains why GIE evaluates schools’ work, also in referred point of view.

Portuguese examples describe teachers’ involvement and the inside view against the external view.

In January 2010, the updated national curricula for basic schools and upper secondary schools were approved by the Government of Estonia. The changes are related to the viability of the objectives and are aimed at ensuring that good ideas are actually put into practice. Compared to earlier versions, the updated documents are oriented towards learning rather than teaching. This trend is supported by the principles according to which the school is responsible for organising learning in a way that protects the pupils’ health and well-being and ensures that their study load corresponds to their resources, developing a helpful and trusting environment in the school, and using teaching methods that take into account and are appropriate for the pupils’ individuality. In order to get an “insiders“’ view, Estonian case proceeds from the sample of innovative schools’ where interviews with teachers were carried out.

The case of Croatia places one of the core subjects, mathematic to the central point of the curriculum innovation.  Irrespective of numerous conceptualisations of mathematical literacy associated with different meanings, it is evident that a broader and functional understanding of this literacy dominates today. This relatively new conceptualisation of mathematics is of particular importance for the Croatian educational context which has only recently joined the PISA study and has undertaken national curriculum changes which also include changes to the math curriculum. As a response to the relatively low achievement results of Croatian students in math literacy in comparison to students from other countries participating in the PISA study, as well as the efforts of Croatian education authorities to adapt the Croatian national curriculum to EU countries’ curricula, the current state of math education in Croatia was examined and this presentation addresses selected key findings.