Collaborative curriculum-making: the interplay of ownership and dialogue

The complexity of curriculum change in schools is widely researched (Fullan, 1991, 1993; Hargreaves, 1995; Datnow, 1998; Bascia & Hargreaves, 2000; and DinanThompson, 2001 a, 2001 b) and yet there is still much to be learned from further studies. The emphasis in these studies lies with the notion that change is a process, not an event. It is contested, convoluted and exceptionally complex. The interaction between teachers, students, parents, community members, the educational organisation (both school and system) and the curriculum is the key to gaining an understanding of this process. This interaction though may arise from top-down or imposed change, bottom-up or teacher/school-generated change, or a combination of both (Fullan, 1999). More recently the locus in curriculum change studies has shifted to the role of the teacher. McInerney, Hattam, Lawson and Smyth (2000) recently reported on a project called 'Teachers at Work'. One of their key findings was the ignorance of the role of the teacher in curriculum change and, more specifically, teachers' learning. Bascia and Hargreaves (2000) complemented this notion in stating that change needs to connect teachers to the system and society in an activist way. Teachers need to 'see themselves not just as effects of the context, but as part of the context, contributors to it, and as agents who can and must influence how others perceive, shape and support their work' (Bascia & Hargreaves, 2000. pp. 33-34)