Making Sense of Curriculum Change: Supporting Teacher Sensemaking Through Professional Learning

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 3:45 pm - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Curricular Resources for Mathematics: Friends or Foes?

Abstract

This study explores how teachers make sense of a new curriculum they perceive is less ambitious than their previous curriculum. Grounded in sensemaking theory, the research examines four teachers whose district adopted a new curriculum while they were participating in a NSF project focused on implementing an ambitious mathematics curriculum. Findings indicate that teachers' used what they learned about implementing a curriculum they perceived to be more ambitious to raise the cognitive demand of the new curriculum and maintain their ambitious teaching practices. Findings highlight how sustained professional learning can support teachers in navigating curricular changes and upholding their commitment to ambitious instruction.

Authors

• Margaret T Ellis, University of Delaware

• Kelly A. McKie, University of Delaware

• Erica Litke, University of Delaware

• Lynsey K. Gibbons, University of Delaware

• James Hiebert, University of Delaware