The new Australian curriculum, teachers and change fatigue
Document Type
Journal Article
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Faculty
Faculty of Education and Arts
School
School of Education
RAS ID
17871
Abstract
A new national curriculum has recently been implemented across Australia. This paper reports on a case study of a regional Western Australia government school as they re-wrote and taught the phase one learning areas: maths, English, science and HASS. Results showed what it is like to work in an environment where continual change is not only expected, but also seen as best practice. Cynical, realistic and even enthusiastic teachers suffer change fatigue after years of rapid and continual curriculum change. The research traces back the reasons why teacher change fatigue might occur using Intuitive Inquiry (Anderson & Braud, 2011) as a hermeneutical process. It captures the reactions of teachers as they struggle to adapt to another top-down curriculum framework, badged as 'continual school improvement.' It documents that change fatigue negatively impacts on what is now known as the Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline.
Additional Information
Jessica Lyle was previously known as Jessica Dilkes
DOI
10.14221/ajte.2014v39n11.4
Access Rights
free_to_read
Comments
Lyle J., Cunningham C., & Gray J. (2014). The new Australian curriculum, teachers and change fatigue. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(11), 45-64. Available here