The complexity of reform efforts in science curriculum and instruction: a case study of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy chemistry teacher

Teo, Tang Wee

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/24470 Copy

Description

Title

The complexity of reform efforts in science curriculum and instruction: a case study of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy chemistry teacher

Author(s)

Teo, Tang Wee

Issue Date

2011-05-25T14:27:44Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Osborne, Margery

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Osborne, Margery

Committee Member(s)

• Westbury, Ian
• Stake, Robert E.
• Pillow, Wanda S.

Department of Study

Curriculum and Instruction

Discipline

Secondary & Continuing Educ

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• science curriculum reform
• Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) school
• case study
• critical narrative inquiry
• teacher agency and structure

Abstract

This study explores how teacher-initiated site-based reform in a specialized STEM school is conceptualized and enacted, how and why curriculum reform ideas change in the process of enactment, what qualities of teacher agency are entailed, how these qualities are acquired, interplayed, become generative, and/or are influenced to effect different curriculum reform outcomes, and how different conditions support and further teacher agency to make a more defensible curriculum. In a critical case study of a highly experienced and qualified science teacher, I follow a teacher who initiated efforts to reform the advanced chemistry curriculum. This teacher wanted to make the curriculum more inquiry-based and less like the Advanced Placement—a College Board curriculum and examination. I conducted a critical narrative inquiry into aspects of his teacher agency in this highly contested sociocultural and sociopolitical context before, during, and after one year of curriculum change. I tracked the process using interviews with the teacher, colleagues, students, a student’s parent, and school administrators, lesson observations, and artifacts such as curriculum materials and school brochures. By uncovering conflicts and contradictions in various actors’ standpoints, I analyze tensions and coping strategies with aspects of teacher agency simultaneously enabled and circumscribed by multiple factors and forces of this specialized STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) schooling structure. The teacher’s initial curriculum change ideas became moderated, adjusted, and mediated. The findings of this study may be insightful to educators and legislators interested in specialized schooling and teacher empowerment.

Graduation Semester

2011-05

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/24470

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2011 Tang Wee Teo

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