Teacher Agency and Curriculum Making in Classrooms

Based on a two-year ethnographic study of K-4 teachers, Teacher Agency and Curriculum Making in Classrooms grew out of one question: what might transpire if teachers were granted greater authority and autonomy in curriculum matters? The author clearly describes, then analyses, the experiences of four teachers as they create, adapt and revise their own word processing curriculum, but the issues she addresses are far broader. Dr. Paris locates her case studies in their complex physical, historical, interpersonal and ideological contexts. She then demonstrates how the process of curriculum change is neither linear nor predictable, but is recursive, episodic and characterised by individual experimentation, discovery and learning.