Asu Altunoglu

Manifestations of Curriculum Change on Organizational Culture: Teachers' Perceptions Asu Altunoglu

The purpose of this work is to examine the manifestations of curriculum change on organizational culture of a primary school, with a specific focus on the culture of teachers. In this study, phenomenological design was used to investigate what meanings teachers attached to the changing nature and structure of their work, through the examination of the organizational culture of one primary school located in Ankara. Findings revealed that although teachers perceived the change as a threat at the initiation process due to their experiencing lack of choice, they later expressed approval of the values and beliefs of the constructivist curriculum. However, when their meanings and perceptions regarding implementation are examined, it seems that the constraints regarding implementation are more decisive than these values and beliefs. Besides, it was found that teachers mostly defined factors outside them as constraints to their implementation of the curriculum, such as physical limitations or insufficient in-service training. Finally, findings showed that the working lives of teachers outside the classroom manifested change especially in aspects like lesson planning and cooperation.