Teachers’ response to curriculum change: balancing external and internal change forces

Abstract

The present study investigates teachers’ perceptions of curriculum change targeting the expanded freedom teachers were given as curriculum developers in the implementation process of the 2006 school reform in Norway. The new curriculum marks a distinct shift, moving from a content-driven to a learning outcomes-driven curriculum. Policy makers expressed confidence in teachers’ professional autonomy: local curricula had to be designed in all subjects to meet the learning outcomes defined in the curriculum. This qualitative study uses focus group interviews and addresses teachers in primary and lower secondary school. Teachers do not see their expanded freedom as real freedom; their world is deeply contextualized and they see a gap between their experienced world and the intended world of the curriculum. What was communicated as extended freedom by policy makers is perceived as extended demands. In this initial phase the teachers place themselves in the position of respondents rather than being progressive change agents themselves.

Keywords:

• teacher development
• curriculum change
• change forces
• curriculum developers
• professional autonomy
• freedom