Conceptualizing Curriculum Adaptation: A Model Proposal
Abstract
Teachers must understand curriculum adaptation well to balance the goals of the official curriculum and the needs of local school contexts. From this perspective, as a third-grade teacher, I (the first author) conducted my doctoral research using self-study methodology during the 2022-2023 school year to examine, interpret, and articulate my teaching experiences regarding the dilemma of adhering to and adapting the official curriculum. After reviewing my dissertation data, my advisor (the second author) suggested developing a model to explain the curriculum adaptation process and emphasized the need for such a model in pertinent literature. At this stage, we added a new question to my dissertation study: How can the curriculum adaptation process be explained? The purpose of this study is to introduce the Five-Dimensional Curriculum Adaptation Model (5D-CAM), which my advisor and I developed through thematic analysis of my dissertation data. It comprises five dimensions: (1) Curriculum component for adaptation (learning outcome, content, teaching activity, or evaluation approach). (2) Adaptation format (timing, sequencing, or originality status of the curriculum component). (3) Adaptation purpose (designing engaging activities for students, reinforcing student learning, or creating a positive classroom environment). (4) Adaptation justification (teaching approach, student needs, or societal events). (5) Adaptation pattern (creating, enriching, or associating). This study significantly contributes to curriculum theorizing by proposing a systematic model to better understand teachers’ curriculum adaptation actions. It also enriches research literature by exemplifying the role of thematic analysis in model development.
Keywords
curriculum theorizing, curriculum adaptation, adaptation pattern, thematic analysis, model development
Ethical Statement
References
- Akbulut-Taş, M. A. (2022). An investigation of curriculum adaptation efforts of teachers working in disadvantaged secondary schools. Pegem Journal of Education and Instruction, 12(1), 10–24. https://doi.org/10.47750/pegegog.12.01.02
- Almeida, S. D., & Viana, J. (2023). Teachers as curriculum designers: What knowledge is needed? Curriculum Journal, 34(3), 357–374. https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.199
- Austin, T., & Senese, J. C. (2004). Self-study in school teaching: Teachers’ perspectives. In J. J. Loughran, M. L. Hamilton, V. K. LaBoskey & T. Russell (Eds.). International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (pp. 1231–1258). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
- Avşar, H. & Saban, A. (2023). A self-study on the use of imagination in the primary school teaching. Education and Science, 48(215), 143–171. https://doi.org/10.15390/EB.2023.11958
- Berry, A. (2009). Professional self‐understanding as expertise in teaching about teaching. Teachers and Teaching, 15(2), 305–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600902875365 Bradfield, K. Z, & Exley, B. (2020). Teachers’ accounts of their curriculum use: External contextual influences during times of curriculum reform. Curriculum Journal, 31(4), 757–774. https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.56
- Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
- Burkhauser, M. A., & Lesaux, N. K. (2017). Exercising a bounded autonomy: Novice and experienced teachers’ adaptations to curriculum materials in an age of accountability. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 49(3), 291– 312. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2015.1088065
- Bümen, N. T., Çakar, E., & Yıldız, D. G. (2014). Türkiye’de öğretim programına bağlılık ve bağlılığı etkileyen etkenler [Curriculum fidelity and factors affecting fidelity in the Turkish context]. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Bilimleri, 14(1), 203–228. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1038715.pdf
- Bümen, N. T., & Holmqvist, M. (2022). Teachers’ sense-making and adapting of the national curriculum: A multiple case study in Turkish and Swedish contexts. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 54(6), 832–851. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2022.2121178
- Bümen, N. T., & Yazıcılar, Ü. (2020). Öğretmenlerin öğretim programı uyarlamaları üzerine bir durum çalışması: Devlet ve özel lise farklılıkları [A case study on teachers’ curriculum adaptations: Differences in state and private high schools]. Gazi Üniversitesi Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 40(1), 183–224. https://doi.org/10.17152/gefad.595058