Beyond the Script: Teachers of Nondominant Students Negotiating a Writing Curriculum

• In Event: Examining Assumptions Underlying Teaching Standards and Practices: A Focus on Equity

Abstract

To better understand the role curriculum-centric policies play in the learning/teaching that takes place in schools, we conducted an 18-month qualitative study of two K-5 teachers’ efforts to negotiate a mandated writing curriculum in an urban school serving predominantly low-income students of color. During the study, we met with the teachers to examine student writing and transcripts of students’ interactions. Initially, we found that both teachers were committed to using the curriculum, despite misgivings, and their experiences and institutional contexts, influenced this commitment to the curriculum. However, as we spent time with the teachers, sharing and discussing data, they moved beyond a strict adherence to the curriculum and made adjustments grounded in the interests, experiences, and needs of their students.

Authors

• Lucinda Pease Alvarez, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Katharine Davies Samway, San José State University