Secondary English in the Australian curriculum : English teachers' perspectives of implementation in Tasmanian schools

This research, a qualitative case study (Roller & Lavrakas, 2015; Stake, 2006), focuses on the implementation processes of the Australian Curriculum: English in Tasmanian secondary schools 2012-2015. Curriculum reform, in Australia particularly, has often been difficult (Garsed, 2013; Marsh, 2009). Government control of the curriculum and education standard benchmark testing has resulted in reduced teacher agency. Teachers are only marginally included in the process of curriculum reform. Exclusion of teachers has a significant impact on classroom practice (Rowan, 2012b). This research is vital for consideration of future educational reform processes. The data for this research were obtained from eight schools which represented the three Tasmanian education sectors. This research has two main aims. Firstly, to describe Tasmanian teachers' perspectives of the implementation of the mandated Australian Curriculum and, secondly, to explore what professional needs teachers perceive as necessary to improve teacher practice during curriculum reform. Data were gathered from teacher participant questionnaire responses, follow-up semi-structured interviews, and extant texts. Constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2000, 2001, 2006) and critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2001b, 2003) underpinned by poststructural feminist theory (Foucault, 1980, 2003), were used to determine and examine the dominant themes from the data. The themes which emerged from the employment of constructivist grounded theory were reconstructed into dominant discourses. The dominant discourses are informed by poststructural feminist theory (Foucault, 2003; Gee, 2011; Gee & Handford, 2012; Hiller, 1998). This research into teacher perspectives of education reform revealed tensions located in the Tasmanian educational system, particularly in schools. This research exposes the need for further research into the most appropriate reform processes to enhance professional capital (Darling-Hammond, Wilhoit, & Pittenger, 2014; Rogers, 2002a). This research contributes to the literature surrounding education reform experiences of teachers in the Tasmanian context, but also has implications for education reform globally.