Author: Nancy Ann NikolayPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Research suggests that most reform efforts do not bring about the changes needed. Curriculum reform efforts are written at the state and national level by bureaucrats but carried out at the local level by teachers in the classroom. To improve reform efforts educational leaders and researchers must examine the place where curriculum implementation happens: the hearts and minds of teachers. This research represents a basic qualitative case study that examines how teachers make sense of a curriculum reform effort. The study is informed by sensemaking theory, frame analysis, and attribution theory. The study expands upon the multidimensional nature of sensemaking theory by examining how problem framing, sense of efficacy, and power influence understanding during a curriculum reform effort. This research builds upon extant literature and aims to provide instructional leaders with a deeper understanding of how political factors influence teachers' understanding during curriculum implementation. This case study examines how five elementary teachers and an instructional coach make sense of a literacy curriculum reform effort. Information was collected through interviews, observations, and artifacts and analyzed using a constant comparative method of data analysis. The results of this study support existing sensemaking theory: Meaning is constructed through interactions with others over time within a given context. This study builds upon the conceptual model of sensemaking by suggesting that how problems are framed, a teacher's sense of efficacy, and issues of power may influence the understanding teachers' build during a curriculum reform effort.
