SRI LANKAN TEACHERS’ CONCERNS TOWARDS IMPLEMENTATION OF CURRICULUM REFORMS IN THE COMPETENCY BASED CURRICULUM REFORMS

Abstract

This study was carried out in the period of 2010-2015 when the new changes were implemented in the Sri Lankan school curriculum. The purpose of this study was to evaluate teachers’ concerns over the implementation of 5E model under the modernised the competency-based curriculum reforms for geography in Sri Lanka. The Concern based adoption Model (CBAM) was employed as theoretical and conceptual framework underlying the study. The respondents for quantitative approach on Stages of Concern (SoC) consisted of 311 geography teachers from secondary schools in Kalutara district, Sri Lanka. A total of nine (9) geography teachers who has shown their high concerns in the survey was selected for the qualitative methods on Levels of Use (LoU) and Innovation Configuration (IC). The study used adapted instruments such as Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ), basic interview protocol and innovation configuration map from the actual instruments of CBAM. The findings from analysis of SoCQ showed teachers remained at the initial SoC over the implementation of the 5E model. The results from the interviews revealed that geography teachers overall use of the innovation ranged from LoU II-preparation to LoU IVA- routine, whilst many remained at LoU II- preparation. The classroom observations showed that many teachers did not reach acceptable level of teaching in using the 5E model. The study suggested several intervening strategies to take geography teachers to the higher SoC and LoU as well as motivate teachers to practice at the ideal level of teaching using the 5E model. The results of the study are significant at a time when there is a greater attention on introducing new curriculum reforms in the country. In an any curricular reforms, teachers should be given greater attention as they are the main agents of implementation. There should be a continuous evaluation on the teachers’ responses to the implementation of curriculum reforms using a good model like CBAM.