The axiological dimensions of the Romanian National Curriculum: a qualitative analysis of educational values

This study examines the Romanian National Curriculum from an axiological perspective, in the context of recent normative developments, including the Pre-university Education Law (2023). It aims to explore how democratic, civic, and socio-emotional values are embedded and operationalized across key curricular documents. The research employs a qualitative, document-based approach grounded in systematic content analysis. The corpus consists of six normative and curricular documents covering primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary education, selected based on their relevance in structuring the national curriculum. The analysis is guided by explicit semantic indicators and coding criteria, enabling the identification and comparison of value-related competences and curricular formulations across educational levels. The findings reveal a model of dual axiological integration within the curriculum. The structural dimension is reflected in educational aims and subjects with an explicit civic and ethical focus, while the functional dimension emerges through competences and methodological guidelines. Although the curriculum promotes a broad spectrum of values such as participation, responsibility, empathy, and self-regulation, significant discontinuities are identified in their vertical progression from primary to secondary education. Additionally, the study highlights a “systemic delegation trap,” whereby responsibility for value internalization is largely transferred to individual teachers, in the absence of sufficient methodological support and coherent assessment mechanisms. The results suggest that, while the Romanian National Curriculum provides a necessary framework for values education, it remains partially insufficient in ensuring its effective implementation. The study proposes an analytically grounded framework for assessing axiological coherence, based on explicit coding and comparative analysis across curricular components. This framework demonstrates potential applicability in broader curriculum studies and offers empirical evidence of the gap between normative intentions and institutional practices within the Romanian education system.