| Curriculum is a field of study that invites a variety of research possibilities. This study contributes to the curriculum field in Canada and to Canadian curriculum theory in particular. Set against the backdrop of Ontario's sweeping educational reforms from 1998 to 2002, the study examines the role of classroom teachers in writing curriculum policy. The primary purpose of the study was to examine teachers' perspectives of what characterized the process of writing, and teaching, the reform-driven curriculum. Grounded theory methodology was chosen for this qualitative study. A secondary purpose was to learn how to do grounded theory research. The goal was to develop a theory from the research data. My autobiographical perspective, conversational interviews with other teachers involved, and literature about the reform process provided data for comparison. Symbolic interactionism, postmodernism, and reconceptualism framed the study, while literature pertaining to definitions of curriculum, turning points in curriculum thinking, and neoconservative educational reforms provided the context. In keeping with grounded theory, analysis and interpretation were ongoing using open, axial, and selective coding. Open coding identified concepts that characterized the phenomenon. Axial coding regrouped concepts into categories that illustrated the story of the experience. Through selective coding, three themes emerged. The data were then re-presented as a chronology following the themes of Promise, Reality, and the Reconciliation of our collective experience of writing and teaching the reform-driven curriculum. From the data, the theory of teachers' relationship with curriculum was discovered. Our personal relationship with curriculum---both as text and as lived with students---led us to accept the invitation to write the curriculum, sustained us through the tensions that arose when writing and teaching it, and shaped our convictions regarding teachers as writers of the official curriculum. The level of abstraction was raised by reconceptualizing the theory as one that applies to all teachers in that every teacher has a personally defined relationship with curriculum that changes over time. The theory of teachers' relationship with curriculum has relevance for pre-service teachers, school administration, government, practicing teachers, and graduate education. The discovery of this curriculum theory also generated a number of possibilities for further research. |
