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This doctoral thesis investigates the use of tasks targeting higher-order thinking skills in upper secondary geography education in the Netherlands and the German state North Rhine-Westphalia. Utilizing Basil Bernstein's theories on knowledge recontextualisation and a newly developed Geography Task Categorisation Framework, four sub-studies were performed, including textbook analysis, curriculum context analysis, lesson observations, and teacher interviews.
While the Dutch curriculum should promote higher order thinking skills, the central exam and textbooks predominantly emphasize geographical thinking skills like describing and explaining correlations between spatial phenomena. Conversely, North Rhine-Westphalia adopts a more systematic approach to higher order thinking tasks, where students analyse, evaluate and formulate their own viewpoints. This results in constructive alignment among curriculum aims, assessments, and higher order thinking tasks. It was also found that Dutch teachers without and North-Rhine Westphalian teachers with a focus on the central exam used evaluation assignments more often. Furthermore, subject knowledge and participation in subject didactic networks correlated positively with the use of higher-order thinking tasks.
The findings indicate that the curriculum context significantly influences task selection, revealing that higher order thinking skills receive inadequate attention in the Dutch examination system. In contrast, North Rhine-Westphalia’s constructive alignment and clear focus promote higher order thinking. Suggested improvements include curriculum adjustments and exam reform in the Netherlands, increased task differentiation in North Rhine-Westphalia, and enhancement of textbook tasks and stronger subject teaching networks to foster higher order thinking in both regions.