From official intentions to classroom practice: How do Cypriot primary school teachers respond to the new language curriculum Christina Gennari Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Education September 2019 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his/her/their own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank my friends, my family. I was never alone during this very lonely process. My special thanks to my best friend, for reading this lengthy work as if it was her own. I am grateful to my supervisors who supported me throughout this process. Many thanks to the teachers who participated to my study. ii Abstract A new language curriculum for primary schools in Cyprus was implemented in 2012. This curriculum aimed to modernise not only the content of language subject matter, but also Cypriot society at large. Previous research in a range of contexts has shown that curriculum implementation is a complex process of negotiation between what is new and what is already there. This study investigates the enactment of the new language curriculum in Cyprus with a specific focus on personal factors (e.g. teacher cognitions), and context (e.g. school, professional development). The research adopted a sensemaking perspective on teachers’ language curriculum enactment with an emphasis on meaning making and agency. Through a qualitative multiple case study over six months, meaning making and agency were elicited from ten teachers working in five primary schools in a large city in Cyprus. Data were collected through two classroom observations and three semi-structured interviews per teacher. Teacher interviews were used as the primary data source. Whilst much previous research has focused on conceptualising agency as constrained or afforded by the context, this research demonstrates that agency is enacted by active agents who define what it is important to them during negotiations with their working contexts. Analysis suggests that teachers make meaning and enact agency in ways that show an active prioritisation work during which cognitions and contexts are contested and classroom priorities are manifested that direct teachers’ agency either towards change or continuation of existing trajectories of action. Analysis regards teacher cognitions as the most influential element during this process. Yet, the effect of the context emerges as one that can help teachers to unfreeze from current ways of thinking and doing, or to favour continuation. iii Table of Contents List of tables ................................................................................................................................. vi List of figures .............................................................................................................................. vii List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. viii Referencing Style ........................................................................................................................ iix Chapter: 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Conceptual Framework ................................................................................................. 2 1.2 Research Questions and Research Design .................................................................... 2 1.3 Research Context .......................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Thesis Structure ............................................................................................................ 5 Chapter 2: The Context of Curriculum Change ............................................................................ 6 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Approaches to Language Curriculum Policies in Cyprus ............................................. 6 2.3 Curriculum Development and Implementation ........................................................... 10 2.4 The Educational System in Cyprus ............................................................................. 13 2.4.1 Decentralisation of power and control ................................................................ 13 2.4.2 Teacher appraisal scheme ................................................................................... 14 2.4.3 Teacher learning and development ..................................................................... 15 2.5 Chapter Summary ....................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 3: The New Language Curriculum ................................................................................ 17 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 17 3.2 The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching .............................................. 18 3.2.1 Critique on the communicative approach to language teaching ......................... 20 3.3 The Change to Critical Literacy and Genre-Based Pedagogy..................................... 21 3.3.1 Influences on the 2010 New Language Curriculum............................................ 23 3.3.2 The changing role of Cypriot teachers ................................................................ 27 3.4 The Communicative Approach Vis-a-Vis the New Language Curriculum ................ 29 3.5 The New Language Curriculum: Is there a Future? .................................................... 32 3.6 Chapter Summary ....................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 4: Literature Review ...................................................................................................... 39 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 39 4.2 A Focus on Teachers’ Cognitions ............................................................................... 39 4.2.1 Teacher cognitions and the role of professional development ............................ 48 4.3 A Focus on Teachers and their Contexts..................................................................... 49 4.3.1 The role of school context ................................................................................... 50 4.3.2 Negotiations of meaning in the context of curriculum reforms .......................... 54 4.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 65 iv Chapter 5: Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................. 68 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 68 5.2 Why Explore Agency Through Sensemaking? ........................................................... 68 5.3 Meaning Making and Agency: From the Macro to the Holistic Perspective .............. 70 5.3.1 The sensemaking framework for teacher agency ................................................ 74 5.4 Chapter Summary ....................................................................................................... 76 Chapter 6: Methodology and Design .......................................................................................... 78 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 78 6.2 Interpretivist/Constructivist Approach ........................................................................ 78 6.3 Establishing the Central Research Question and the Research Questions .................. 79 6.4 Research Methodology ............................................................................................... 82 6.5 Research Design .......................................................................................................... 84 6.5.1 Document analysis .............................................................................................. 85 6.5.2 Recruitment and sampling techniques ................................................................ 85 6.5.3 Ethical considerations ......................................................................................... 88 6.5.4 Data collection .................................................................................................... 88 6.5.5 Process of data analysis ....................................................................................... 92 6.5.6 Issues of internal validity, reliability and external validity ................................. 99 6.5.7 Limitations ........................................................................................................ 101 Chapter 7: Analysis of the New Language Curriculum ............................................................ 102 7.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................