Co-Operation Is Not Enough: Teacher Educators as Curriculum Developers in Times of Change

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory two site case study is to examine how teacher educators, student teachers and programme leaders experience their ‘curriculum developer role’ in times of change, against the background of a new national guideline for preschool teacher education being implemented in Norway. The multidisciplinary team approach established by policy for this reform is examined as a strategy to create coherent programmes. Data collected for the study include fifteen semi-structured interviews and four focus groups conducted at two educational institutions. Qualitative data processing software is used to process four stages of qualitative data analysis. The evidence indicates that the actors involved experienced the ‘reproduction’ of curriculum elements from before the recent reform to a modest extent. Most frequently, they describe incorporation of earlier practices, ‘moderate translation’, in order to meet the demands of multiple disciplines. ‘Radical translation’ also takes place as part of their new collaborative role.