Understanding the underlying issues that drive the success or failure of curriculum enactments is an important step in redesigning school reform efforts. This paper describes a phenomenological study of five elementary teachers as they participated in the selection and enactment of a new reading curriculum for a period of two and a half years. Steven Searle’s theory on status functions and the role that binding operational decisions and language play within social systems describes the process by which attenuating mythologies arise and ultimately threaten the viability of curriculum initiatives. The connection between status functions, the leaders that declare them and maintain status function relationships, and the social categorization processes that define roles within the organization are examined. This research suggests defensive bias and defensive mythology are expressions of interests and, as such, are evidence of the exercise of power and illustrate the context-transcending nature of power. Initiatives such as curriculum enactments are often under threat within school organizations due to these processes. Attenuating mythologies generated by low-status members of the organization persist well after leaders leave their roles within the organization and become a meaningful narrative that is difficult, if not impossible, to debunk.
","abstract_html":"<p>Understanding the underlying issues that drive the success or failure of curriculum enactments is an important step in redesigning school reform efforts. This paper describes a phenomenological study of five elementary teachers as they participated in the selection and enactment of a new reading curriculum for a period of two and a half years. Steven Searle’s theory on status functions and the role that binding operational decisions and language play within social systems describes the process by which attenuating mythologies arise and ultimately threaten the viability of curriculum initiatives. The connection between status functions, the leaders that declare them and maintain status function relationships, and the social categorization processes that define roles within the organization are examined. This research suggests defensive bias and defensive mythology are expressions of interests and, as such, are evidence of the exercise of power and illustrate the context-transcending nature of power. Initiatives such as curriculum enactments are often under threat within school organizations due to these processes. Attenuating mythologies generated by low-status members of the organization persist well after leaders leave their roles within the organization and become a meaningful narrative that is difficult, if not impossible, to debunk.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sharon, Lester Culver, Jr."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Leadership and Counseling","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["David Anderson, PhD, Chair","James Berry, PhD","Wendy Burke, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:13Z","subjects":["curriculum","implementation","power","social facts","status functions","Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/777","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["David Anderson, PhD, Chair","James Berry, PhD","Wendy Burke, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sharon, Lester Culver, Jr."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-03-05T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Leadership and Counseling"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["curriculum","implementation","power","social facts","status functions","Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/777"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Understanding the underlying issues that drive the success or failure of curriculum enactments is an important step in redesigning school reform efforts. This paper describes a phenomenological study of five elementary teachers as they participated in the selection and enactment of a new reading curriculum for a period of two and a half years. Steven Searle’s theory on status functions and the role that binding operational decisions and language play within social systems describes the process by which attenuating mythologies arise and ultimately threaten the viability of curriculum initiatives. The connection between status functions, the leaders that declare them and maintain status function relationships, and the social categorization processes that define roles within the organization are examined. This research suggests defensive bias and defensive mythology are expressions of interests and, as such, are evidence of the exercise of power and illustrate the context-transcending nature of power. Initiatives such as curriculum enactments are often under threat within school organizations due to these processes. Attenuating mythologies generated by low-status members of the organization persist well after leaders leave their roles within the organization and become a meaningful narrative that is difficult, if not impossible, to debunk.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Curriculum implementation: A phenomenological study of a reading curriculum adoption and power relationships in one school district"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["David Anderson, PhD, Chair","James Berry, PhD","Wendy Burke, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Sharon, Lester Culver, Jr."],"dc:date.available":["2018-03-05T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Understanding the underlying issues that drive the success or failure of curriculum enactments is an important step in redesigning school reform efforts. This paper describes a phenomenological study of five elementary teachers as they participated in the selection and enactment of a new reading curriculum for a period of two and a half years. Steven Searle’s theory on status functions and the role that binding operational decisions and language play within social systems describes the process by which attenuating mythologies arise and ultimately threaten the viability of curriculum initiatives. The connection between status functions, the leaders that declare them and maintain status function relationships, and the social categorization processes that define roles within the organization are examined. This research suggests defensive bias and defensive mythology are expressions of interests and, as such, are evidence of the exercise of power and illustrate the context-transcending nature of power. Initiatives such as curriculum enactments are often under threat within school organizations due to these processes. Attenuating mythologies generated by low-status members of the organization persist well after leaders leave their roles within the organization and become a meaningful narrative that is difficult, if not impossible, to debunk.
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