Gauging Fidelity to an Implemented Teaching Model through the Lens of the Documentational Approach to Didactics

Abstract

We examine the feasibility of combining elements from the framework of program theory with the Documentational Approach to Didactics to gauge the fidelity and character of teachers’ implementation of scripted teaching sequences for primary school. By analyzing two video-recorded lessons from two teachers’ implementation of the program Thinking, Reasoning, and Reckoning, we found that the teachers made adaptations to the prescribed organization of teaching. Both teachers attended to the intended organization of content, but their attendance to the intended classroom interaction patterns differed. Through the Documental Approach to Didactics, we could explain some of the differences between the teachers. The findings provide a background for a discussion of teachers’ adaptations to the new resource and the documental genesis process initiated by the implementation. The results will be used for revising the teacher guide used in the implementation.