In this paper, we introduce an integrated framework developed from both Vivien Schmidt’s (2008, 2010, 2012a, 2015) ‘discursive institutionalism’ (DI) and curriculum theory (CT) to provide a more multifaceted set of concepts to explore the lending and borrowing of transnational education policies and their actual application at a national and local level. The concepts have been applied as analytical tools in a research study on the most recent curriculum reform in Sweden, and they may serve as an example of how different ideas, discourses and levels can be distinguished in research studies, thereby maintaining the complexity that is always built into the field of education policy and reform. We argue that a theory of discursive institutionalism  might contribute to a deeper understanding of what happens within the ‘black boxes’ of curriculum codes (Lundgren 1989) and conceptions of education (Englund 2005) built on curriculum theory by introducing a more articulated notion of institutional change as well as drawing attention to the discursive nature of transnational policy transfer (Steiner-Khamsi 2012).

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to an on-going conceptual discussion of how to trace the influence of policy on different institutional arenas. The key question that foregrounds the conceptual inquiry in this paper is ‘What concepts can form an analytical framework that considers the different arenas, discourses and social actors through which education policies are framed and performed?’