Teachers' attitudes in implementing a new high school mathematics curriculum

The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of teachers' attitudes in relation to implementing a new Applied mathematics curriculum and the implications for professional development. In the study, teacher attitudes were examined in the context of the first two years of optional implementation of a new mathematics curriculum in Alberta, Canada.; Data was collected through interviews, which were structured to encourage story telling on the part of the participants. An effort was made to simulate the casual conversations between teachers. The analysis involved organizing explicit and implicit attitude statements around themes.; The findings include factors influencing teacher attitudes, implications for implementation and implications for professional development. This study supports the importance of attitudes in implementing a new curriculum. It draws attention to the fact that attitudes could be influenced by classroom and school variables. The findings suggest that there is an important relationship between attitude and effort. Professional development could be enhanced and enriched by attending to attitudes.