Language Teachers’ Evaluation of Curriculum Change: A Qualitative Study

Authors

Seyyed Ali Ostovar-Namaghi, Shahrood University of TechnologyFollow

Abstract

This study aims at theorizing language teachers’ evaluation of a top-down curriculum change by eliciting their perspectives through open-ended qualitative interviews. In line with grounded theory procedures, concepts and categories were theoretically sampled from the perspective of participants who were willing to share their views with the researcher. Iterative data collection and analysis revealed a set of categories which show the conflict of interest between practitioners and policy-makers. Practitioners focus on immediate classroom concerns and reject the syllabus change because of its lack of small-scale try-outs, inappropriate timing, vague methodology, inappropriate in-service program, learner homogeneity fallacy, unrealistic expectations and increased absenteeism among learners. On the other hand, focusing on issues beyond immediate classroom, policy makers advocate it since it is conducive to uniformity, convergent practice, efficiency and covert privatization. This conceptualization of teachers’ perspectives on curriculum change has clear implications for policy makers and teachers in this context and other similar contexts.

Keywords

Unwarranted Change, Syllabus, Teachers’ Perceptions, Grounded Theory

Author Bio(s)

Seyyed Ali Ostovar-Namaghi (PhD in TEFL) is currently a full-time associate professor of TEFL at the department of applied linguistics, Shahrood University of Technology (SUT), Iran. He teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses including language teaching methodology, research methodology, materials development, and EAP. His chief research interest is language teacher education, grounded theory, and theories of practice. He has published in a number of leading peer-reviewed journals. He is also a member the editorial board of some journals in applied linguistics and language teaching. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: Seyyed Ali Ostovar-Namaghi at, saostovarnamaghi@yahoo.com.

Publication Date

2-5-2017

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2538

Recommended APA Citation

Ostovar-Namaghi, S. A. (2017). Language Teachers’ Evaluation of Curriculum Change: A Qualitative Study. The Qualitative Report, 22(2), 391-409. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2538