Jane Thurgood Sagal

Shifting Horizons of Understanding: How Teachers Interpret Curriculum in Their Practice Jane Thurgood Sagal

In Saskatchewan, research-based evidence demonstrates the provincial curriculum-as-plan is not necessarily realized in practice. While contributing to an understanding of how teachers interpret curriculum in their practice, the author explores ways to facilitate such study with teachers. This qualitative study explores how four teachers interpret the provincial arts education curriculum. The author used Gadamer's (1975) philosophical hermeneutics as a conceptual frame to explore how teachers interpret the curriculum. In the ecological space between the provincial arts education curriculum (i.e., the curriculum-as-plan) and the curriculum that was brought to life by the teachers and the students (i.e., the curriculum-as- lived), new tentative understanding emerged. Based on the results of this study, the author claims there are at least four conditions that influence teachers' interpretations of curriculum. To assist in illuminating these conditions, a heuristic is presented in the final chapter of the book. Educators and educational policy makers interested in exploring how curriculum theory relates to classroom practice will find this book to be of interest.