Journal of Curriculum Studies 46卷5期文章

1. Characterizing teaching effectiveness in the Joint Action Theory in Didactics: an exploratory study in primary school

Author:Gérard Sensevy

Source:Journal of Curriculum Studies. Sep2014, Vol. 46 Issue 5, p577-610.

Abstract:This paper presents an exploratory study of two consecutive reading sessions conducted in primary school by two different teachers. Our purpose is twofold. From a theoretical viewpoint, we propose a tentative set of conditions of teaching effectiveness by relying on the Joint Action Theory in Didactics. From a methodological viewpoint, drawing on a conjectural paradigm, we attempt to articulate various types of analysis (didactic analyses, speech analyses, statistic analyses), in order to test the putative conditions. We consider two generic factors in teachers’ effectiveness: how they manage to expose students to the core meanings of the relevant content; and how they maintain a relevant dialectic between uncertainty and certainty in the argumentation process in order to increase the deliberative quality of the constructed certainty.

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2. Can autonomy be imposed? Examining teacher (re)positioning during the ongoing curriculum change in Cyprus

Author:Stavroula Philippou, Stavroula Kontovourki, and Eleni Theodorou

Source:Journal of Curriculum Studies. Sep2014, Vol. 46 Issue 5, p611-633.

Abstract:For the past few years, the Republic of Cyprus has been pursuing a major educational reform across all levels of mandatory education, focusing especially on curriculum change, for the implementation of which in-service teachers have undergone a series of professional development seminars. Individual and focus group interviews with in-service elementary teachers, regarding their sense of professionalism within this curriculum change process, revealed that teachers positioned themselves largely onto different points on a continuum. These are conceptualized as positions veering between teachers’ sense of minimum and maximum autonomy over their participation in the development and introduction of the new official curriculum. Framed by a traditionally centralized context, these positions were discursively negotiated in contradictory ways which allowed multiple positionings by each teacher. The paper concludes with the implications of these findings for understanding teacher professionalism and positioning, as well as for considering how this might relate to curriculum change and implementation processes.

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3. Remaking the professional teacher: authority and curriculum reform

Author: Jessica Gerrard and Lesley Farrell

Source:Journal of Curriculum Studies. Sep2014, Vol. 46 Issue 5, p634-655.

Abstract:Globally, national curriculum policies are up for renegotiation. These negotiations are shaped by international and national top-down accountability regimes, and an increasing turn towards curriculum centralization and standardization. The new Australian Curriculum (AC) is no exception. The AC is an important educational policy event, one in which understandings about teacher professional authority is being redefined. In this paper, we examine how judgements about teachers’ professional authority are used to defend, promote and explain the AC. Drawing on an analysis of policy documents and interviews with high-level policy-makers, we argue that the AC is opening space in the policy field to reposition teachers’ work by promoting a view of teachers’ professional authority as constrained and defined through the written curriculum documentation.

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4. Narrative understandings of a school policy: intersecting student, teacher, parent and administrator perspectives

Author:Elaine Chan and Vicki Ross

Source:Journal of Curriculum Studies. Sep2014, Vol. 46 Issue 5, p656-675.

Abstract:In this article, we examine one school’s experience with policy, as a means of shedding light on the intersection of factors contributing to challenges of implementing policies to support the academic achievement and social adaptation of immigrant and minority students in their school context. We begin with the presentation of a ‘big fight’ between two students of different ethnic and racial backgrounds, and consider multiple perspectives of how the disagreement was addressed by teachers and administrators, to offer insight into how issues of race and policy might have been understood by members of the school community. We use a narrative inquiry approach to examine ways in which a policy designed to enhance student participation was interpreted by various members of this school community. This study reveals nuances of the intersection between culture and (hidden) curriculum as it relates to the implementation of policies aimed at creating and maintaining safe school communities.

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5. Exploring the use of complexity theory and action research as frameworks for curriculum change

Author:Phil Wood and Graham Butt

Source:Journal of Curriculum Studies. Sep2014, Vol. 46 Issue 5, p676-696.

Abstract:This paper considers the impact of a small-scale action research project which focused on the development of an emergent approach to curriculum making in a general certificate in secondary education course in geography. In this context, we argue that complexity thinking offers a useful theoretical foundation from which to understand the nature of dynamic pedagogic change resulting from the application of action research methods. Results show that process-focused curriculum change can bring about shifts in both learning and assessment. This is seen as being the result of an emergence orientated approach to action research as a counter to more reductionist approaches which are often used and advocated in educational settings by teachers. We conclude that a combination of complexity thinking and action research can offer a valuable medium through which the educational needs of learners and teachers can be addressed in different, localized contexts.

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6. Tensions in teacher community: competing commitments in the teaching of US middle school physical education

Author:Cheryl J. Craig, JeongAe You, and Suhak Oh

Source:Journal of Curriculum Studies. Sep2014, Vol. 46 Issue 5, p697-728.

Abstract:In this article, tensions in teacher community arose when the school’s ‘rainy day’ policy was invoked in the middle of a class period, disturbing instruction on the athletic field and subsequently in the gymnasium. The narrative inquiry takes a multiperspectival stance towards competing commitments to educational policy, on one hand, and high quality instruction, on the other hand, through threading in viewpoints of six, diverse teachers comprising the physical education department in a US middle school. The narrative exemplar shows how the teachers and the administrator shifted from absolute fidelity to the school’s ‘rainy day’ policy to a reflective fidelity stance. The international significance of this research study is that it demonstrates why tensions in teacher community occur around commonplace matters in schools, the complexities and emotions that enter into decision-making situations and the ways tensions are addressed in pedagogical contexts, regardless of country of origin and subject matter focus.