How Teacher Efficacy And Receptivity Affect The Perceived Outcomes Of Curriculum Reform In Myanmar Basic Education

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of primary teacher efficacy and receptivity to the implementation of Myanmar basic education curriculum reform and to explore the relationship between them and their impact on perceived outcomes of curriculum reform.To successfully achieve this aim,a mixed method inquiry was applied.For quantitative part,the representative sample size was 800 primary teachers from selected eight townships and the number of participants was eight for the qualitative case study.The participants were selected in accordance with stratified random sampling.The quantitative data were collected by using survey method organizing into three dimensions with five-point Likert scale.One dimension is teacher efficacy consisting of two factors(independent variables).The second dimension is teacher receptivity consisting of five factors(independent variables)and the last dimension is perceived outcomes of the curriculum reform(dependent variable).Telephone interview with semi-structured interview questions was employed for collecting qualitative case study.The test items were calculated whether there was reliability and validity or not.For reliability,pilot test was first administered and calculated by using Cronbach's alpha.The validity of the instruments was evaluated and assessed using content validity and construct validity.The content validity was used to determine the information,content areas,the relevance and difficulties of the items in the instrument.In testing the construct validity,Exploratory Factor Analysis(EFA)was used to extract the factors through a principal component analysis and varimax rotation with Kaisee-Meyer-Oikin(KMO).Moreover,Confirmatory Factor Analysis(CFA)was also used to specify the number of factors required in the data to decide which measured variable(item)is related to which latent variable(factor).If the items were not validity,they were removed in analyzing the final data for structural equation model.The quantitative data were analyzed by using Statistical Packages of the Social Sciences(SPSS)version 23 and AMOS version 23.In analyzing descriptive statistics,primary teachers feel assured that they have the ability and skills to influence their students' achievement in the new curriculum rather than the external factors such as family background and home environment.Moreover,they are more acceptable the new curriculum than the old one and teachers and students occupy the necessary skills and knowledge in the implementation of basic education curriculum reform.In analyzing inferential statistics,primary teachers who have graduated had more teacher efficacy and receptivity than those who have not graduated although there was no significant difference in perceived outcomes of curriculum reform.Moreover,primary teachers from urban areas were more acceptable in implementing basic education curriculum reform rather than those from rural areas and old service primary teachers are more acceptances the new curriculum than less-experienced primary teachers.In examining SEM,primary teachers' personal teaching efficacy,the practicality of the new curriculum,their feelings on the new curriculum and their behavioral intentions predict the perceived outcomes of curriculum reform although some variables had no effect on it and the correlation of teacher efficacy and teacher receptivity was a very novelty one and the relationship between them was very high.Qualitatively,a thematic analysis approach was used with manually and NVivo 12 version to analyze the telephone interview.With great expectations on Myanmar's educational system,primary teachers encounter the challenges in the implementation of curriculum reform though they can perceive the outcomes of curriculum reform.The common challenges are workload,students' ability,insufficient resources(including time,inadequate of instructional materials,teacher-student ratio,poor school infrastructure,and shortage of training),expertise(consisting of language barrier,difficulty of core subjects,and low proficiency in co-curricular subjects),and external factors(involving shadow education and parental concerns).This study thus highlights teacher efficacy and receptivity bring to the successful implementation of basic education curriculum reform.It is essential for primary teachers to be efficacy and receptivity to improve behavior intentions and percptions of curriculum reform.The findings of this study also provide the challenges facing primary teachers in implementing the new curriculum and this information reminds stakeholders and curriculum reformers to take appropriate measures in addressing these issues.