Curricular Decisions Research Articles

The Secondary School Curriculum: Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the perspective of teachers and students within the same secondary schools on the physical education (PE) curriculum offered. Method: Semistructured interviews with secondary school PE teachers and a focus group with their students were conducted within a large school district located on the east coast of the United States. The collaborative qualitative analysis procedures suggested by Richards and Hemphill were used. Results: Three main themes were identified: (a) fitness with two subthemes of (i) what fitness means and (ii) fitness in PE, (b) the PE curriculum, and (c) curriculum decisions. Discussion/Conclusion: Teachers discussed wanting students to be active and improve their cardiovascular fitness and, from their own account and that of their students, acknowledged “rolling the ball out” so that students could play and not be bothered with drills and learning tasks. This lack of instruction, unfortunately, left low-skilled students more vulnerable.

Why is ‘powerful knowledge’ failing to forge a path to the future of history education?

The concept of ‘powerful knowledge’ has become extremely influential in discussions about curriculum in England over the last ten years. However, the concept seems to have done little to revolutionise curriculum design, and in some cases it has led to curricular narrowing and a focus on an increasingly nationalistic narrative in history. Michael Young (2019, 2021) has argued that the failure of the concept of ‘powerful knowledge’ to underpin meaningful curriculum reforms has been mainly due to its misinterpretation and loose definition. This paper explores these claims and finds that key voices in education in England, and history education specifically, have misunderstood and misapplied the concept of powerful knowledge. However, it also makes the case that powerful knowledge cannot be meaningfully defined in terms of history education, and that attempts to make curricular decisions based on the concept are therefore a distraction from more meaningful curricular work.

Curricular policies and flexibility – anathemas and beliefs

This paper discusses some issues and concepts within the current curriculum debate in both a diachronic and international perspective. Recent curriculum changes have been mostly determined by massification of student bodies, bringing into the school system a variety of social and cultural backgrounds. From the point of view of this analysis, the concept of flexibility is critical in this discussion as it explains the long‑term change of policies from 1990 on, with respect to levels of curriculum decision, namely the articulation between national level responsible for establishing the common core, and local level responsible for adapting curriculum to micro-social contexts. The author refers to this dialectic as curriculum binomial. Contributions from both curriculum research and international macro‑policies are mobilized, in order to clarify the response in our time to the classic curriculum question; What is worth to learn – and therefore to teach – in formal educational systems, so that they may meet the needs of our time, and why? In line with this problematization, we propose an analysis of Portuguese curriculum changes after the implementation of school massification (after the 1960s) and synthesize key‑concepts in international recommendations. Finally, we discuss some implications of this process for teachers and schools.

Four- and five-year-old children’s views and perceptions related to their teachers’ expectations

Teacher expectations influence how children fare in education. However, we know little about how 4- and 5-year-old children in Aotearoa New Zealand perceive their curriculum experiences. This qualitative study utilised interviews to explore the perceptions of 12 children (attending kindergarten and school) regarding their teachers’ expectations of ability/mixed ability grouping, the learning environment, and goal setting. Findings showed that the children held positive views of their learning environment, especially their teachers’ support, care, and expectations, and were also cognisant of their curriculum experiences and what improvements could be made to support their learning. These findings suggest that a mana-enhancing education can occur when teachers promote high expectations of all children and ensure that children have opportunities to contribute to curriculum decisions.

Toward a conflict-sensitive approach to higher education pedagogy: lessons from Afghanistan and Somaliland

ABSTRACT Higher education has become an important agenda in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. A major aspect of this agenda is the conceptualization of education as a tool not just for development but for peacebuilding. Yet there are few studies examining how university educators might be equipped as frontline peace workers. This study explores: How might conflict affect teaching in higher education, especially in and with students from conflict-affected contexts? In what ways does higher education pedagogy serve to ameliorate or exacerbate conflict? How could the practices of academics working with students in conflict-affected contexts inform approaches to higher education pedagogy? Data for the study was collected through interviews with university educators working in Afghanistan and Somaliland, and analyzed through the lens of Santos’s ‘post-abyssal thinking’. Findings indicate that educators who work in conflict-affected contexts have numerous practical strategies that inform their thinking, curricular decisions, teaching, and policymaking. Implications are discussed.

Instructor Methods and Curricular Effects on Students' Value of Lectures.

BackgroundLectures remain a common instructional method in medical education. Instructor methods, curricular factors, and technology affect students’ use of scheduled live lectures that may impact faculty job satisfaction.AimThis study identified instructor methods and curriculum issues that influenced preclinical medical students’ use of scheduled lectures as well as faculty perceptions of lectures and students’ attendance.MethodsFirst- and second-year osteopathic medical students (n = 304) were invited to complete a voluntary, anonymous semantic differential scale, Likert scale, and dichotomous question survey, rating 22 lecturer methods and 9 curriculum factors that influence use of live lectures. Preclinical faculty (n = 35) were also asked to complete a differential scale survey, rating 17 issues regarding live lectures and student attendance. Student and faculty surveys were analyzed using the appropriate central tendency and variability measures.ResultsStudents that completed the survey (n = 144) rated the ability to explain complex concepts in an understandable manner as “Very Important” and wearing professional attire as “Not Important” for attending lectures, respectively. Availability of recorded lectures, time to an upcoming exam, and unscheduled time gaps between lectures were rated as Very Important curricular factors for attending lectures. Faculty completed the survey (n = 21) and agree that lectures should continue as a major mode of instruction, while the majority reported spending over 9 h preparing new lectures.ConclusionsFaculty lecture methods and overarching curricular decisions greatly impact students’ attendance of live lectures. Regardless, most students and faculty believe that scheduled lectures should continue as an option for students who prefer to attend live lectures.

Integrating global sustainability into social studies teachers' education: a collaborative self-study

PurposeThere have been increasing calls for social studies educators to engage issues of sustainability. Proponents argue that the very survival of the planet depends on the degree to which teachers can move learners away from unsustainable beliefs and behaviors to those grounded in interdisciplinary approaches to solving community and global challenges. How to implement this vision of sustainability education? The purpose of the paper is to report the results of teacher-educators' curriculum and pedagogical approaches to implement the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) C3 framework to engage and empower prospective and practicing teachers to teach for a sustainable future.Design/methodology/approachThe study is guided by the growing field of self-study in teacher education, a type of research undertaken by teacher-educators with the dual purpose of personal professional development and a deep understanding of teacher-education practices. Most data were derived from multiple, recursive conversations (both formal and informal) around curriculum decisions and pedagogical choices to integrate sustainability issues into teacher-education courses. Additional data sources include classroom lecture notes and PowerPoint presentations, course readings and resources.FindingsThe authors' three years of collaborative work has shown that an issues-centered, interdisciplinary approach to select and integrate global issues, the current event article analysis, young adult literature and discussion and deliberation of local sustainable development issues that are some of the most effective pedagogical tools to engage and empower teacher candidates in learning about issues that affect the sustainable development of global community. The NCSS C3 provides a powerful framework to scaffold the process of analyzing sustainable issues while also teaching social studies curriculum and standards and skills.Originality/valueScholars of global education have called for shifting from an anthropocentric philosophy to a bio-centric worldview emphasizing the embeddedness of humans within the environment. How can social studies teacher-educators implement this vision of global education What instructional resources strategies and learning activities can be effectively integrated into existing courses to help candidates develop competences and commitment to teaching for global sustainability The study examines the innovative approaches to addressing these critical topics in teacher education.

Teachers’ feelings of curriculum ownership: the Estonian case

ABSTRACT The post-Soviet transition agenda in the Baltic states included changing the role of teachers from passive recipients of top-down orders to active curriculum developers who feel ownership over curriculum decision-making. Recent studies have seriously questioned the achievement of this goal. In this article, we aim to elucidate Estonian schoolteachers’ feelings of curriculum ownership as expressed in a questionnaire that asked about their role as curriculum developers and curriculum users. We found that most of the respondents did not express feelings of curriculum ownership. We will discuss the potential reasons for this finding and the implications for further enhancing teachers’ curriculum ownership.

A creative non-fiction account of autistic youth integrated physical education experiences

In the United States (US), the drive to integrate, or mainstream, disabled students into the same educational settings as their non-disabled peers has resulted in disparate opportunities and experiences. With that, more autistic youth than ever before are expected to assimilate into systems that are often not considerate of their needs and capabilities. We use a creative non-fiction narrative, crafted from qualitative interview data generated with eight autistic youth from the US, to explore subjective feelings of inclusion in integrated physical education contexts. Through Caleb’s story, we explore the complexity of relationships and interactions between autistic youth and their peers and teachers in physical education, and how they may influence the ways and extent to which autistic youth experience feelings of belonging, value and acceptance in physical education spaces. We also consider the role of teacher expectations, curriculum decisions and pedagogical actions in shaping the PE experiences of autistic students. Points of interest This research explores autistic youths’ perspectives about their experiences in integrated PE contexts in the US and the inclusiveness of those experiences. Findings are presented in a story about Caleb, which shows what challenges within integrated physical education classes may look like from the perspective of autistic youth. Some autistic youth may experience challenges with the hyper-competitive culture often present in integrated physical education classes. Physical educators, like Mr. Jones, can exacerbate these challenges in physical education, perhaps unintentionally, by fostering competitive and physically aggressive behaviors. Caleb’s story highlights often unnoticed repercussions of being dumped into an integrated context, which include the (lack of) meaning he finds in his engagement in activities and (lack of) sense of belonging, acceptance, and value he finds in his overall experiences.

Preparing to Engage in Culturally Sustaining Practices in Urban Education Environments

It is important for special educators in urban environments to have a deep understanding of the values, beliefs, and practices of diverse students with disabilities and their families. Research indicates, however, that educators are often underprepared to understand the perspectives of members of their school community and often center their own perspectives on curricular decisions in urban environments. Therefore, it is important for special educators to engage in knowledge generation that provides them information about the assets and beliefs of their urban school community while also challenging their mindsets so that they can better center the perspectives of their students when making decisions. This column provides recommendations for special educators to prepare themselves by developing a deep understanding of their school community that they can use to subsequently link to the implementation of culturally sustaining practices.

Conceptualizing Curricular Reasoning:A Framework for Examining Mathematics Teachers’ Curricular Decisions

ABSTRACT Mathematics teachers make a number of decisions that shape their lessons, which therein impact their students’ opportunity to learn mathematics. Past research has often focused on teachers, students and the mathematical content as key classroom elements that drive teachers’ decisions. In this article, we propose that a fourth element – the curriculum – along with teachers’ curricular reasoning also hold considerable influence on teachers’ decisions. Using data collected from middle grades teachers’ curricular decisions, we share the Instructional Pyramid model for Curricular Reasoning to organize the interactions among these four key classroom elements and to delineate aspects of curricular reasoning. This model serves as a multi-dimensional framework to make sense of teachers’ curricular decisions.

A Model to Promote University High-Impact Practices Through Community-Based Participatory Research

There has been a shift in higher education from traditional lecture-based learning to incorporating high-impact practices and experiential learning. These practices offer students an opportunity to engage in real-world settings that allow them to apply course content directly into practice. In order for high-impact practices to be effective, both program implementation and evaluation should be conducted collaboratively with community stakeholders, also known as community-based participatory research (CBPR). The Girls Empowering Movement (GEM) initiative, an out-of-school time physical activity program, is an example of CBPR in that it was developed by middle school girls, for middle school girls. The purpose of this article is to provide the framework used to recruit and train undergraduate students to collaboratively lead the GEM initiative in the southeastern United States. This article discusses how community partnerships were created, how specific content and curricular decisions were made to foster a unique learning experience, and how evaluation protocols were created to ensure undergraduate learning and community collaboration.

Transgender Education in North American Family Medicine Clerkships: A CERA Study.

Transgender persons face many barriers to accessing health care, including identifying a knowledgeable physician. Medical schools have made curricular changes addressing cultural competence in transgender medicine, but changes are inadequate to graduate physicians competent in gender-affirming health care. The aim of this study was to assess the current state of education on the comprehensive health care of transgender patients, including gender-affirming health care (GAH) strategies (hormone therapy, surgical interventions) in US and Canadian family medicine clerkships (FM clerkships) in addition to the beliefs and actions of the directors making those curricular decisions. Questions regarding transgender education within FM clerkships were included in the 2018 Council of Academic Family Medicine's Educational Research Alliance (CERA) survey of family medicine clerkship directors. The online survey was distributed via email invitation to 128 US and 16 Canadian FM clerkship directors between June 21, 2018 and August 4, 2018. Seventy-two percent (68/94) of FM clerkship directors agreed transgender health care should be a required part of the medical school curriculum. Sixty-six percent report active advocacy within their institutions for increased curricular time devoted to transgender health care. Fifty-six percent (53/94) treat transgender patients in their own clinical practice, but just 26% agreed they were comfortable teaching transgender health care to medicals students. While the presence of transgender patients within the clinical practice did not have a significant impact on FM clerkship directors' comfort teaching this subject, having transgender friends or acquaintances did. FM clerkships are primed for inclusion of comprehensive transgender and GAH education in their curriculum. Increasing comfort of FM clerkship directors in teaching this subject area by providing accessible curriculum may encourage further uptake of this content into FM clerkships.

Alternative Education; is someone crazy about your young people?

Alternative education provides learners, teachers, schools, and communities with disengaged young people with a rare opportunity to rethink, reimagine and reform the way that learners can own and manage the ecosystem that leads to their success (context, process, time, and people - including themselves at the center). When educators make curriculum decisions it is beneficial to have a guiding set of pillars, as Tipu Whare does, to ensure the time and funding available is directed towards learning experiences that support the pillars of belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity. When schools and communities appoint teachers to work with disengaged young people, the educators must be passionate individuals who have a history of being crazy about their students, willing to be engaging and committed to a student-first perspective. This is not an easy path, but as demonstrated by Nga Tamaiti Rangatira (Children of Chiefs) it is a worthwhile endeavor.

Readiness for Graduate Social Work Education: Does an Undergraduate Social Work Major Make a Difference?

ABSTRACT This study assessed the extent that a large sample of MSW-level social workers perceived that their undergraduate programs prepared them for graduate social work education. A survey collected data using the Undergraduate Preparation Subscale of the Preparation for Graduate Social Work Education (PGSWE) Scale. The sample (N = 1,056) consisted of MSW graduates from CSWE-accredited social work programs in the United States. Females represented 83.6% of the sample. Most respondents (64.1%) were White, followed by Black/African American (32.5%), Latinx (1.9%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%), and Native American (0.5%). The remaining 0.1% of respondents were categorized as “other.” While 35.7% were undergraduate social work majors, followed by psychology (21.8%), sociology (11.7%), education (2.7%), and English (2.3%), an array of other majors was reported (25.8%), primarily business administration, liberal arts, history, political science, and criminal justice. The vast majority of respondents received their MSW degrees in the States of Tennessee (70.8%) and Florida (13.2%). The other 16% received MSW degrees in 28 other states. Most respondents (64.3%) had undergraduate degrees in majors other than social work. A surprising finding was that social work majors did not feel significantly more prepared for graduate social work education than non-social work majors. Implications are discussed regarding a need to strengthen the BSW/MSW continuum and seek evidence to guide curricular decisions in social work education.

Coordinating, communicating, and combining languages in local immersion education policy reform in Finland

Abstract The aim of this article is to examine local enactment of new curriculum policy, paying special attention to combining the language of instruction in the school (Finnish) and the immersion language (Swedish) in an early total one-way Swedish immersion programme in Finland at a programmatic level. The study combines ethnography with educational language policy by focusing on coordinative and communicative discourses surrounding local immersion curriculum. The participatory observation data consist of 36 hours of audio-recorded curriculum working group meetings with immersion teachers and researchers. The findings showed that the curriculum task assigned to municipalities and cities providing immersion education was extensive. They also revealed how discursively oriented policy research on immersion education opens up new ways to develop immersion education. The actual curriculum decisions implied that the Swedish portion of the immersion programme is multilingual and rich in connections between multiple languages, contesting the common belief of monolingual practices in immersion instruction.

Enhancing the Facilitation of Interprofessional Education Programs: An Institutional Ethnography.

Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) among health care professionals has been identified as essential to enhance patient care. Interprofessional education (IPE) is a key strategy towards promoting IPC. Several factors including the nature of facilitation shape the IPE experience and outcomes for students. Stereotypes held by students have been recognized as a challenge for IPE and IPC. This study aimed to explore institutional rules and regulations that shape facilitators’ work in IPE interactions problematized by students’ stereotypes at a university in Atlantic Canada. Employing institutional ethnography as a method of investigation, data were collected through observations, interviews, focus groups, and written texts (such as course syllabi). Participants included three facilitators, two undergraduate nursing students, and two IPE committee members of an IPE program. Findings revealed four work processes conducted by facilitators in local IPE settings related to students’ stereotypes. These processes were shaped by translocal discourse and included the work used to form teams, facilitate student introductions to team members, facilitate team dynamics, and provide course content and context. Study results included the identification of several strategies to address student stereotypes and enhance collaboration, including directions for future curriculum decisions and the pedagogical organization of IPE.

Contribution of English Textbooks to an EFL Curriculum and Teachers’ Professional Identity: The Case of Four EFL Teachers and a Private Language School in Iran

AbstractDriven by Beijaard, Verloop and Vermunt’s (2000) theory of Professional Identity (PI), this study aims to investigate teachers’ perception of their PI in relation to the English textbooks they use in EFL classes. In-depth interview with four Iranian EFL teachers and the school principal was conducted. The teachers’ reports were employed to investigate their PI in relation to the textbooks they used. Furthermore, the school curriculum was analyzed through an interview with the school principal and examining the school documents. Content analysis of the interview data revealed that all the teachers viewed the content knowledge dimension of their PI reliant on the textbooks. Over the years, they had gained more autonomy in adapting the content or selecting more supplementary sources. Overall, the participants in this research highlighted the pivotal role of textbooks in the construction of their PI, most importantly in the formation of their content knowledge and the least in the development of their pedagogical knowledge. The analysis of the school curriculum revealed a heavy reliance of many decisions on textbooks directly or indirectly. The findings in this study will provide more insights for curriculum developers, language school managers, teacher educators and teachers who have a say in curriculum decisions when learning about the crucial role of textbooks in PI.

Teachers’ perceptions on development and implementation of History 2167 syllabus in Zimbabwe

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of teachers on the development and implementation process of the History 2167 syllabus reform in Zimbabwe. Successful implementation of syllabus reforms depends on teachers’ ownership and knowledge about the reform ideas. Teachers are the closest individuals to the circumstances of the decisions made and their role as implementers gives them a significant influence on curriculum decisions. However, studies on syllabus development and implementation have often explored these processes using the input from other stakeholders while overlooking teacher perceptions. Data for this qualitative phenomenological study were generated from transcripts of in-depth interviews with five purposively sampled history teachers drawn from five secondary schools in the Glen. View/ Mufakose District in Harare Metropolitan Province. Findings showed that the success of curriculum reforms largely rests on the shoulders of teachers, since they are the ones who put reform ideas into practice. We conclude that in order for curriculum reforms to succeed, the policy-makers and teachers should work harmoniously to cultivate appropriate instructional practices. We recommend that teachers should actively participate in the syllabus development process, as well as have the power to influence the decisions about the implementation of the curriculum. Key words: development and implementation; History 2167 syllabus; syllabus reform; teachers’ perceptions.

Risk aversion in a performativity culture – what can we learn from teachers’ curriculum decision making in history?

ABSTRACT Using the notion of risk aversion, this study explores the decisions teachers make when constructing a curriculum. Adopting a qualitative, grounded approach, this study used semi-structured interviews with nine history teachers to examine the decisions they were making during a period of considerable curriculum change in England. Five key categories were identified, which were then defined as risk averse or high risk. The findings show that teachers largely adopt a low-risk approach when constructing a curriculum. In particular choice of content, pedagogical and assessment approaches are affected. Also, changes to the curriculum in high stakes examination courses have a major distorting impact on the curriculum choices for the phase of schooling prior to the examination course. This study would suggest that teachers generally aim to maximize examination outcomes through adopting a low-risk approach to curriculum change. However, according to the literature, these low-risk approaches appear unlikely to improve examination outcomes, whilst at the same time narrowing students’ experience of the curriculum.