Publication Date

1994

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Miranda, Wilma

Degree Name

M.S. Ed. (Master of Education)

Legacy Department

Department of Leadership and Educational Policy Studies

LCSH

Education; Elementary--Illinois--Curricula; Elementary school teachers--Illinois--Psychology; Education; Elementary--Illinois--Evaluation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived obstacles to curriculum implementation of twenty kindergarten through fourth-grade public school teachers. An obstacle was defined as an intrusion external to classroom practices caused by institutional policies. Coping methods used by teachers were also examined. Perceived obstacles were elicited from teacher interviews in a selected elementary school. Follow-up interviews were then conducted individually to gather information about specific coping strategies and decision-making methods. Participants were also asked to share how they found support to aid in countering these external obstacles to teaching. The results describe the predicaments teachers face in 1993. Coping strategies, though widely shared, required individual private and personal solutions in this particular school located in a western Chicago suburb. This investigation supports the notion that the difficulties teachers face in the 1990's have not changed since Waller's ground-breaking sociological study of teachers in the 1930's or Dan Lortie's teachers in the 1960's. Implications for further research and practice are drawn.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (leaf [70]).

Extent

iv, 72 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

Download

Share

COinS