School Teachers' Perspectives on and Significant Contributions to a Curriculum Transformation Effort: A Case Study

Curriculum innovation and change is intended to enhance the quality of student learning, achievement, and preparation for participation in society. Research findings have shown that teachers are the driving force behind the sustainment of any successful change. Implementing intended curriculum change in schools requires the effective participation of teachers as primary instructional delivery stakeholders. The role of teacher involvement in identifying the intended curriculum changes and translating those desired changes into the actual daily curriculum is an important aspect of the school reform and curriculum change dialogue. Policy makers often omit teachers' input from the curriculum transformation discussion and decision. The specific problem is the omission or exclusion of teachers' ideas, experiences, and contributions in the implementation process of comprehensive curriculum change that has been associated with hindering the effort of successfully enacting curriculum transformation in the classroom. A single-case qualitative research study was designed to explore the perspectives and contributions of selected schoolteachers, specifically, general education classroom teachers from three grade levels (sixth, seventh, and eighth) on a specific curriculum change within the boundary of a particular public middle school. The study provided unique opportunities to gather deeper insights, greater analysis of the phenomenon, and allow for transference of the findings to other similar school situations. The research consisted of in-depth interviews with teachers. The results show that teacher perceptions regarding what contributed to or detracted from the curriculum change effort has a direct effect on their evaluations of the success of the curriculum change endeavor. The results confirm that teacher perspectives serve as a substantive indicator of program implementation success. They also reveal that in spite of challenges the curriculum implementation proceeds inexorably toward institutionalization in the school. The teachers' perspectives on what helped or hindered the change process provided implications and recommendations that can facilitate advancement of curriculum change efforts in the future.