Primary determinants of a large-scale curriculum reform. National board administrators’ perspectives
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-10-2016-0119 |
| Pages | 702-716 |
| Date | 04 September 2017 |
| Published date | 04 September 2017 |
| Author | Lotta Tikkanen,Kirsi Pyhältö,Tiina Soini,Janne Pietarinen |
| Subject Matter | Education,Administration & policy in education,School administration/policy,Educational administration,Leadership in education |
Primary determinants of a
large-scale curriculum reform
National board administrators’perspectives
Lotta Tikkanen
Faculty of Educational Sciences, Helsingin Yliopisto, Helsinki, Finland
Kirsi Pyhältö
Faculty of Education, Oulun Yliopisto, Oulu, Finland and
Faculty of Educational Sciences, Helsingin Yliopisto, Helsinki, Finland
Tiina Soini
School of Education, Tampereen Yliopisto, Tampere, Finland, and
Janne Pietarinen
School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education,
University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of how national board administrators,
more precisely, officials at the Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) have perceived the primary
influencing factors, or “regulators”, of the national core curriculum reform and the success of the
implementation. The alignment between the identified regulators was also explored.
Design/methodology/approach –Altogether, 23 FNBE officials participated in this mixed methods study.
Findings –The resultsshowed that the officials perceivedthe core curriculumreform as a systemic entity: the
reform was implemented using a top-down and bottom-up strategy, and several regulators were identified at
differentlevels of theeducation system.The officialsalso viewed the implementationas successful, andidentified
more promoting than hindering factors in it.However, they emphasisedregulators at the administrative level,
whereas regulators at the district or national levels were less often identified. They also highlighted the
importance of orchestrating collaboration in comparison with the other regulators.
Practical implications –The results imply that in addition to considering separate determinants of reform
success, it is important to pay attention to sufficient alignment between the regulators at different levels of the
education system in order to better understand and promote the implementation of a large-scale reform.
Originality/value –This study provides new knowledge on national board administrators’perspectives on
what regulates the implementation of a large-scale curriculum reform.
Keywords Curriculum reform, School administrators, Large-scale school reform, School development,
Top-down and bottom-up implementation strategy
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Curriculum reform is a central tool for school development (Vitikka et al., 2012). However,
reformingthe curriculum doesnot automatically result in sustainable changesin the everyday
practices of schools (Fullan and Miles, 1992). The r eform implementation strategy has been
shown to contribute to reform outcomes (Fullan, 2007; Petko et al.,2015).Duetothecomplex
nature of school systems, the reform implementation is simultaneously affected by several
complementary, sometimes even contradictory, factors at different levels of education system
(e.g. Leithwood et al., 2002; Priestley et al., 2015; Tieso and Hutcheson, 2014). For instance,
structures and resources, the understanding and attitudes of the stakeholders involved in
the reform work as well as well as curriculum coherence, i.e. a clear, shared vision, and the
alignment within the curriculum, are shown to be determinants of reform success (e.g. Cheung
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 55 No. 6, 2017
pp. 702-716
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/JEA-10-2016-0119
Received 11 October 2016
Revised 26 May 2017
Accepted 4 June 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
This work was supported by the Academy of Finland and the Ministry of Education and Culture.
702
JEA
55,6
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