Investigating the concerns of secondary school teachers towards curriculum reform

Abstract

This study examines the concerns of Irish secondary school teachers to the introduction of three reformed curricula, namely: English, mathematics, and Design and Communication Graphics. Major changes have been introduced in each of these subjects at different time periods over the past 12 years. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire was selected by the researchers to gain a quantitative measure of the levels of concerns teachers had towards curriculum reform in their subject area. The study aimed to assess how the change process had impacted on teachers and how their concerns compared or differed given the varying post-implementation time periods. The findings suggest that teachers make significant decisions about change early in the implementation process which may be based on limited information. The study also found that teachers may still have significant concerns about an innovation several years after its implementation. If such concerns are not addressed, they may affect how the change is implemented.