Teacher sense-making of english curriculum reform in China: a sociocultural perspective on teacher change and development
Teacher sense-making of policy-implementation has been a growing focus among education policy makers and scholars over the past decades but is currently under-theorized, especially in relation to top- town mandated education reforms. This study draws on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory to understand the nature of teacher sense-making of English language curriculum reform in China through the lens of the 'lived experience' of EFL teachers. The research reports on a case study of sixteen English language teachers from a regional university in China. Data was generated over a period of three months through multi-phased process consisting of documentation, story narration, semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. The data shows that EFL teachers' development trajectory is not linear when a new situation, such as the demands of a new curriculum reform, occurs. Teachers with different dispositions exhibit different modes of sense-making and thus, development as professionals. The research finds that the system of social relations between the teacher at a certain career stage and their social reality in a reform context reflects a negotiated process of sense-making between teacher self and external demands and constitutes a 'social situation of teacher development'. The Vygotskian construct of perezhivanie, is found to be a powerful analytical lens to understand teachers' reform-situated subjectivities and dispositions that shape their system of professional relations and consequently influence their trajectories of professional growth and development. The findings expand our understanding of the nature of teachers' responses to educational reforms and their trajectories of development. They will add to the current literature review about teacher learning and change in reform contexts, while also having practical implications for policy design and implementation, teacher professional development and leadership.
Perezhivanie, Sense-making, Sociocultural theory, Social situation of teacher development
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