Background/Purpose Educational reforms are often impeded by the gap between policy intentions and their implementation (Penney & Jess, 2004). A common reason for success or failure is how teachers perceive the changes impact student learning (Ha et al, 2008). The purpose of this study was to examine the reflections of a physical education teacher after the first year of new curriculum implementation. The specific research question was: What were the teacher's perceptions of her experience of implementing a new curriculum?
Method Data were collected with interviews, field notes of classroom observations, documents, and artifacts.
Analysis/Results Data were analyzed using open and axial coding (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). Results indicated that the teacher perceived student response to change as extremely important. Student response included behavior and learning transfer. Change in behavior was not a direct response to the new curriculum but a multifaceted response to related factors resulting from curriculum implementation. The teacher also perceived that initially revised teacher practices, negatively altered student behavior. Learning transfer was described as the skills learned as a direct result of the new curriculum. Despite students' somewhat negative response to changes, the teacher perceived an improved ability by students to transfer concepts learned in one content area to another.
Conclusions Overall, the role of the teacher within the study was that of a change agent throughout implementation. The findings reinforce the importance of understanding how students respond to change. Additionally, teachers must recognize that change is difficult and must perceive it as contributing to student leaning.
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