Teacher agency in curriculum reform: the role of assessment in enabling and constraining primary teachers’ agency

Abstract

Demands of a globalised knowledge economy and drive in accountability and performativity systems have seen top-down approaches to curriculum innovation dominate education reform efforts. Standards-based policies, prescribed curricula and standardised student assessment consistently challenge teachers’ agency. Although there is a growing interest in the role of teachers’ agency in curriculum reform contexts, limitations exist in the range of contexts explored, particularly those involving primary schools and dynamic top-down, bottom-up curriculum reform efforts. This article draws on a case study of an Australian primary school engaging in a top-down, bottom-up approach to curriculum reform from a teacher-researcher perspective. Framed within an ecological conceptualisation of teachers’ agency (Priestley et al. 2015), this article explores primary teachers’ reported experiences of agency and identifies potential enablers and constraints to agency in top-down, bottom-up curriculum reforms. Factors associated with assessment emerge as enablers and constraints to teachers’ agency in curriculum planning and teaching. Implications regarding the use of top-down, system-developed assessment and teachers’ assessment literacy exist for teachers, school leaders and governing authorities.