“I Have to Teach It to Them in a Certain Way”: Considering Sociopolitical Dimensions of Teacher Sensemaking in Curriculum Implementation

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: Teachers as Policy Implementers (Table 35)

Abstract

As debates rage about how schools engage with legacies of racism in the US, most research and policy advocacy has focused on curricular content. We know little about what happens when mandated curricula are enacted. What do they mean for the teachers and students whose diverse identities, histories and perspectives shape teaching and learning? Through interviews with 34 diverse teachers implementing a mandated curriculum on police torture, the Reparations Won Curriculum (RWC), I examine teachers’ sensemaking about curricular learning goals and their implementation environments. This paper shares findings on one aspect of teachers' sensemaking: how teachers grappled with perceived neutrality pressures and how their sensemaking shaped how they enacted curriculum with students.

Author

• Jessica Marshall, Spencer Foundation