Curriculum Implementation: Decisions of Early Childhood Teachers

Abstract

THE ENGAGEMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD teachers with curriculum initiatives reflects the decisions and factors surrounding an educator's relationship with a single curriculum initiative or across multiple curriculum initiatives. Factors such as the available form of professional development and workload intensity may influence decisions teachers make. This paper presents the results of an investigation of the decisions early childhood teachers made about their engagement with state government curriculum initiatives. A teacher's response to a curriculum initiative can be evidenced in attitude, training attendance and the adoption of ideas from an initiative. Critically, for change in early childhood education, the initial decisions teachers make about a curriculum initiative may act as personal gatekeepers as they may lead to engagement or to irretrievable rejection.