Towards a more democratic model to English language curriculum development through task−based action research

Abstract

In the 21st century, the need for countries around the world to circumnavigate through the impact of globalization with more responsive school curricula was evident. In Algeria, curriculum reform of the year 2003 was an effort towards this end. In view of the crucial role that teachers play when involved in curriculum reforms, the study seeks to recommend a model to curriculum development that seeks to involve teachers by combining top-down government mandates with bottom-up teachers-based initiatives. More explicitly, the study aims at exploring and identifying perceptions, views and concerns of secondary school English language teachers’ on their implementation of Curriculum 2003 for English language teaching. The study also aims at revealing barriers to their autonomy and involvement in curriculum development in order to pave the way for a deeper understanding and planning towards such an involvement. Ultimately, the definitive purpose of the investigation was to illustrate how teacher action research can be encouraged in schools to allow for teachers’ initiatives to supply top-down attempts to develop curricula. The critical paradigm was the conceptual framework guiding the present research with data availed through a questionnaire survey for secondary school English language teachers at Sétif province and asynchronous email interviews with five national education inspectors of secondary schools. Proportional stratified random sampling provided the 156 participants of the study. Quantitative data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS 23.0 whereas the process of analysis for qualitative data was built upon the techniques of thematic analysis. The findings advocated the existence of imbalanced power relation between the government and teachers with the former controlling and dictating curriculum from the centre as well as excluding teachers from the whole process of curriculum development. Though the good intentions of the curriculum 2003 are acknowledged, these were constrained by a multitude of curriculum, instructional, organizational, and institutional factors. Several concerns to be considered for teacher training and support also evolved from analysis of teachers’ perceptions of the curriculum reform and implementation. The findings and recommendations of this research are expected to alert both teachers and policy makers to consider seriously and acknowledge the delicate role that teachers should play and the status quo they should have in curriculum development. The findings of the study have also implications for policy makers, who can either encourage or discourage curriculum reforms and therefore possibly affect the sustainability of the teaching power and overall education effectiveness.