Curriculum change: what does it really mean to teachers?

Ms Anne Clennett Mount Erin College Frankston, Victoria, Australia

Introduction

A myriad of change processes and challenges are facing Australian schools. There has been a requirement to change educational practices to better address the needs of young people. Curriculum in schools is constantly under review, and changing. One example is the emergence of outcomes of schooling being characterised as ‘essential learnings’. Such ‘learnings’ downplay the traditional discipline-based structure of the curriculum and focuses on more generic outcomes. Such curricula have implications for the ways in which teaching and learning is organised and conducted in schools. It is aimed at better preparing students for life and work beyond 2020 and reflects a paradigm shift towards a more relevant school curriculum.

Against this background, this paper draws on an interview with one teacher involved with the implementation of a contemporary curriculum, in one school, in the State of Victoria. The interview explores the struggles of a teacher in moving from teaching in a traditional curriculum structure to teaching based around generic ‘essential learnings’. In doing so, it identifies ways in which the curriculum and pedagogical work of teachers is being redefined and puts forward ideas about their future professional preparation. The interview explores the repositioning of one health and physical education teacher into a year seven team, where she has been expected to teach maths, science, HPE and other year levels to meet the outcomes of the VELS curriculum. The teacher taught at a school with a curriculum structure for 2006 that consisted of domain leaders in maths, English, science, humanities/arts and health and physical education. However, the structure was reviewed and changed for 2007. The school moved to a curriculum leader for the year seven and eight team and a curriculum leader for nine and ten, plus a Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) leader.

Interview

The data was generated from an interview with one health and physical education teacher, in one school, around the theme of how teachers are working with the VELS framework and the ways that an ‘essential learnings’ curriculum is impacting on their practice. The teacher taught predominantly in the middle school year seven team.

A teacher’s understanding about curriculum change

Anne: Have you been involved in a curriculum change process before?

Subject A: ‘I suppose, yes, CSF (Curriculum Standards Framework) looking at new frameworks, yes, I have had a part of it … I am not grasping VELS as well as I possibly could, um, so obviously that is something I have to work on.’

Anne: ‘What are the things you see inhibiting curriculum change?’

Subject A: ‘People; would be one, previous teachers, they have their set ways they do things; the way they want to do things. I think you have got to have someone who knows it inside out; what they want; and be able to deliver that in an effective manner. I think that people that deliver it have to be teachers themselves and try and get it through …  for me it is best one-on-one. Look, this is what you have gotta do, things you are doing at the moment are ‘xyz’ - this is why they are wrong and this is why you have to change it. To me, that is what works. Concrete examples - you show me how to do things once right - I will do it 100 times spot on but ‘just go do it’ won’t work for me … the change process could be a lot smoother; the real life examples and how you can apply it make the process quicker.’

Anne: ‘As a year seven team, do you believe you can create a shared vision for 2007?’

Subject A: ‘I think individual classes yes as a whole … in terms of what we do in our office, it is a group conclusion. What does a year seven student have to achieve by the end of 2007 - no idea?’

Anne: ‘What is your philosophy on education?’

Subject A: ‘You have gotta get kids to where they want to be, wherever that might be, the problem is being at a junior level, you don’t know what you want to do (the student) … to get them motivated, to get them happy, to get them working, um … they have got to be happy, you get kids that come to school that aren’t because of home life and stuff like that … if not as happy or happier going home as what they were at the start of the day.’

Anne: ‘With this being your understanding and philosophy of teaching, how do you see the VELS fitting into all of this?’

Subject A: ‘Good point!’

Anne: ‘How well do you understand VELS?’

Subject A: ‘I understand it, you know that it has got to change, um, and what you have got to do. That there are certain things like PE, I find it difficult anyway, maybe in terms of theory. In terms of prac., I don’t see it as a being a monumental change. I think if you spoke to any teacher that has been teaching for 30 years, they are going to say exactly the same thing – they’re teaching the same way, regardless of what is happening with VELS. In a year it is going to change again and it just going to keep on changing. Until a new government, or new whiz bang person, comes and says this is not the way to do it, oh hang on, everything changes again. I think what VELS is trying to achieve is to get as much engagement out of kids, which means variety and change in the way you direct things, having group work and having individual time and not all chalk and talk - that is the way I see it at the moment.’

Anne: ‘Under the VELS they are focusing on the principles of teaching and learning, which is the POLT stuff. Are you aware of any of the principles and what this actually means for you, as a teacher?’

Subject A: ‘Mmm, not as well as I probably should, um. To be quite truthful, you have a look at the ways in which we are expected to deliver information in our classes, um, and you go to a meeting after a four-on day and they (the leadership) do the same as exactly what you’re not meant to do. You get all this paper that says ‘there it is’ (VELS/POLT) and someone talks to you; it goes in one ear and out the other, um, I couldn’t really tell you much more about POLT, really … you get bogged down with everything else.’

Anne: ‘Do you see VELS as having an impact on your teaching?’

Subject A: ‘In certain ways, sure, every time you go to a PD … I am more of the opinion I want stuff I can use, you know the things that are practical. As good as George Otero (all-school professional learning day) was, for me it didn’t achieve what I wanted it to achieve. ‘Relational learning’ - that is my basis of what I do, you know … for me it was useless. I already do that. I am only a fourth-year-out teacher; I get a different idea, I think what can I do better; the things you keep developing every time you teach, so whether or not that fits under VELS, who knows?’

Anne: ‘Do you think your teaching is going to have any impact because of the VELS?’

Subject A: ‘In terms of VELS, no, me as a teacher, yes, but I doubt any change in delivery. Maybe if you can get more computers and more access to ICT … you have two computer rooms for the school and that is about it.’

Anne: ‘Because you are teaching year 9s and 10s, do you find there is much difference in how you approach your teaching?’

Subject A: ‘No, because they are so far below what I expect. Look at Fitness (a subject), they barely know a bone or a muscle; for me to try and get them ‘up to standard’ for year 11 and 12 PE - it is not going to happen. I got a 1 out of 10 today; you have a year 10 kid who has been doing PE for three years … to even start to contemplate what you might want to teach; it is ridiculous, you have gone way back to try and get any momentum forward.’

Anne: ‘What about health and physical education in relation to the VELS?’

Subject A: ‘When it comes to year 9s and they participate in physical education, they are not as enthused. It generally comes from the people who don’t want to be there. Year 7 and 8, they want to do it. I think when it comes to skill level, it becomes such a big gaping hole, you have got kids that are advanced and kids that just don’t want to be there. It is extremely hard to extend those kids and get the others involved - it is a challenge sometimes.’

Anne: ‘As you know, the restructuring of the school has changed. The school is trialing the idea of someone leading years 7 and 8, and someone for years 9 and 10. What knowledge and skills can you bring as being apart of this team.’

Subject A: ‘I am a mentor at the moment - I would like to think I bring some sort of, ahhh, leadership - it is more bonding between the kids, I think. I tend to treat as many ‘on side’ as I possibly can early on, through the use of nicknames, whatever they might be. Year 10s call me ‘Sir’. I say “I am not knighted, who is Sir? My name is ‘Wiggo’ get it right.” To get them on side, I high five, just saying ‘hello’, stuffing around with them, pick them up spin them around anything you can to build the relationship … I think I can deal with kids in a way that gets through to them. I can discuss one-on-one and use restorative type practices’.

Anne: ‘What do you think will be different with the curriculum using VELS for 2007? Already there are a couple of things you have been working on (integrated unit). Can you just talk a bit about the things that might be a bit different this year?’

Subject A: ‘The thing that has made a difference are the progression points, I think. It actually tells you; you have to do this, you know, you must cover ‘xyz’; you have to cover those things and if you don’t, you are not really applying the curriculum in the right manner. For me, that is the biggest step forward. From my perspective, there are certain things you must cover … that is the best thing.’

Anne: ‘How do you feel about the new office set up being apart of a year 7 team?’

Subject A: ‘I think it very much depends on who, because you always have people you work well with and people you don’t work well with. For instance, this year seven group is fantastic, you know, it, um, I have been in an PE office with ‘X’ for four years now. The advantage of having an office with him (previous years), you could have a lot more fun. We played table tennis every recess and lunch time with the kids; for it gave them something to do. But now if I have any questions, ‘Y’ is really excellent at science. She will tell me and say “I have got this …”. In that situation, it works really well. Um, like I said, if you have a clash of personalities, you tend to alter the way you work and act. I like to have fun … it definitely is a good thing, provided you have the right people.’

Anne : ‘You are relying on each other for expertise and skills?’

Subject A: ‘That is right. In some ways that is not a good thing. Let’s take maths - you have myself, who is not maths trained. ‘X’ is in the same boat as me; there is ‘Z’ … you have two or three people that are not trained in maths making decisions that are going to affect the outcomes of future years in year seven, who have no leadership. We need some leadership from someone who has been doing it for 30 years but they might not be willing to change things … to say it (maths) has no leadership is definitely an issue … without someone tapping you on the shoulder, you only base it on your own experience.’

Discussion

This short interview sought to explore how one teacher perceives the process of change in implementing the VELS through being part of a year seven team. Through this teacher’s discussion, there were indications that they were trying to implement change with limited knowledge of the VELS and POLT documents. The interview highlighted the level of understanding at this stage of the VELS implementation. The response of the teacher from the interview tended to reflect her willingness to try and understand the VELS document and its relationship to teaching. However, as the findings indicated, the participant had a hard time understanding the requirements of the curriculum change. The participant acknowledged the lack of specific professional learning as a frustration to their understanding and progress. It has been established in previous research (Fullan, 1993) that support is required for the implementation of change.

The teacher in the interview expressed willingness, determination and commitment to try and embrace the VELS into her teaching and learning. Curriculum innovation brings significant challenges for teachers. One of these challenges is to question current teaching practice and to find ways in which the values, purposes and outcomes of a contemporary curriculum (VELS) can be incorporated into teaching practice. It must be acknowledged that the level of a teacher’s involvement in a curriculum innovation is grounded in his or her own value system and based on an subjective assessment of what will benefit them in relation to their investment (Sparkes, 1990). Also, for the VELS to be successful, teachers need to understand the framework and how it can be developed through their particular learning area and in collaboration with other learning areas.

With curriculum reform, the challenge for teachers is to question their current teaching practices and to find ways in which the values, purposes and outcomes of a contemporary curriculum (for example, VELS) can be incorporated into their teaching practice. It is interesting to note in this interview that the resistance to change was minimal, as the teacher was taking on the challenge to try and implement the VELS as part of the year seven team. A possible explanation for this ‘compliance’ was the perception that the new curriculum would bring little challenge to their beliefs about teaching. As supported by the literature, governments have the power to introduce curriculum change. However, the success of curriculum reform is reliant on the acceptance and genuine commitment of the teacher (Sparkes, 1990; Tinning et al., 2001).

The ultimate outcome of any curriculum offering should be to improve the educational experience of teachers and learners. As Tinning et al. (2001) state, ‘It is ultimately up to the teacher as to whether curriculum change or reform will live or die’. The parameters of curriculum decision-making at the school level usually reflect tightly defined and controlled outcomes (Tinning et al., 2001). Macdonald (2003) explained that curricularists have the knowledge and experience to implement meaningful curriculum change, however the goals and processes of change are narrowly proscribed by existing structures, resources and traditions, with the result that schools always fall short of meeting the needs of young people and their communities. Students and teachers are confronted with ongoing change. The change process is creating a school for the future and preparing students to work in the 21st century - but have we prepared our teachers?

References

Sparkes, A (1990). Curriculum change and physical education: towards a micropolitical understanding. Geelong, Vic: Deakin University.
Tinning, R, Macdonald, D, Wright, J & Hickey, C (2001). Becoming a physical education teacher: contemporary and enduring issues. Sydney: Prentice Hall.
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (2006). Victorian Essential Learning Standards. VCAC: Melbourne, Victoria. See: vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au
Victoria Department of Education & Training (2004). Principles of learning and teaching P-12. State of Victoria. See: www.sofweb.vic.edu.au