Differences in state- and district-level stakeholders’ perceptions of curriculum coherence and school impact in national curriculum reform

Abstract

Purpose Shared understandings of curriculum reform within and between the levels of the educational system are suggested to be crucial for the reform to take root. The purpose of this paper is to explore variation in perceived curriculum coherence and school impact among state- and district-level stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach The participants (n=666) included state- and district-level stakeholders involved in a national curriculum reform in Finland. Latent profile analysis was employed to identify profiles based on participants’ perceptions of the core curriculum’s coherence and the reform’s impact on school development. Findings Two profiles were identified: high coherence and impact, and lower consistency of the intended direction and impact. State-level stakeholders had higher odds of belonging to the high coherence and impact profile than their district-level counterparts. Practical implications The results imply that more attention needs to be paid in developing a shared and coherent understanding particularly of the intended direction of the core curriculum as well as the reform’s effects on school-level development among state- and district-level stakeholders. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature on curriculum reform by shedding light on the variation in perceived curriculum coherence and school impact of those responsible for a large-scale national curriculum reform process at different levels of the educational system.

Trajectories of Teachers’ Perceived Curriculum Coherence in the Context of Finnish Core Curriculum Reform

“…According to our recent research findings, curriculum coherence perceived by district-level stakeholders involved in the development of local curricula contributes to their perceptions of the reform's impact on school-level development work, in terms of committing teachers to the development work and supporting development of locally functional solutions (Sullanmaa et al, 2019a). We also found that district-level stakeholders responsible for the construction of local curricula were more likely to perceive the consistency of the intended direction of the core curriculum and the school impact of the reform lower than state-level stakeholders responsible for constructing the core curriculum (Sullanmaa et al, 2019b). Thus, teachers' perceptions of curriculum coherence may also vary depending on how the curriculum development process has been organized and supported on the district and school levels, and on how individual educational practitioners have constructed shared and coherent understandings of the change.…”

The Coherence Challenge Between Policy Makers and School Leaders: Exploring a National Pedagogical Reform

“…This qualitative study aims to describe a "lived experience" of a phenomenon, focusing on the experiences and beliefs of principals and policy makers during the implementation of a national reform. This method is similar to previous work that has been done in the educational field (Colestock & Sherin, 2009;Sullanmaa et al, 2019).…”

“…Coherence between the primary stakeholders involved in educational reform is a key determinant of its success (Sullanmaa et al, 2019). Coherence refers to the individual and collective ability to build a shared depth of meaning, capacity and commitment to action (Fullan & Quinn, 2015).…”

“…This allows the external demands of the reform to connect to the school’s internal practices, by motivating the school staff to draw upon and adapt their interests, values, and beliefs within the new reform framework. As the nature of generally outlined reforms lead to several challenges, such as uncertainty regarding new practices and expectations to change previous work habits (Allen & Penuel, 2015), this theoretical background enhances the importance of coherent perceptions by both policy makers and school leaders of educational reform (Fullan & Quinn, 2015; Sullanmaa et al, 2019). Exploring the coherence of interpretations between policy makers and principals explains what promotes the adaptation or the disharmony of new instructional ideas and pedagogical practices.…”

“…It has been postulated that coherence between primary stakeholders involved in an educational reform is a key determinant of its success (Sullanmaa et al, 2019). Administrators, principals, teachers, and government policy makers are all key actors in implementing educational reforms successfully.…”