Constructing a Personal Practical Philosophy for Classroom Curriculum: Case Studies of Second-Career Beginning Teachers

ABSTRACT

In this article I report one phase of a longitudinal research study associated with a selected group of second-career beginning teachers. Grounded in the perspectives of personal practical knowledge and social constructivism, the purposes of this study were to explore how beginning teachers develop personal philosophies for their classroom curriculum, and to examine how these philosophies were shaped by prior experiences and by the curriculum that was prescribed by their school district. Using methods consistent with the research program of personal practical knowledge, I studied factors that influenced how two English teachers and two science teachers constructed personal philosophies for their classroom curriculum. From the year-long study, I discovered that the school district's prescribed curriculum, the district's practice of homogeneously grouping students, and teachers' beliefs about curriculum collectively shaped their practical philosophies and influenced their ability to make a personal classroom curriculum. Based on these discoveries, I discuss implications for teacher education and for making classroom curricula.