Curriculum Fidelity and Factors Affecting Fidelity in the Turkish Context

Abstract

Although a centralist education system is in place in Turkey, studies show that while implementing the curriculum developed by the Ministry of Education, teachers make changes based on their own preferences or depending on students. Curriculum fidelity can be defined as the degree to which teachers or stakeholders abide by a curriculum's original design when implementing it. Even though no clear position has been determined as to whether teachers' abiding strictly by the designed curriculum is beneficial or not, it is argued in the related literature that by determining fidelity of implementation, it is possible to explain the reasons for success or failure of curriculum innovations, and to specify the changes in the curriculum and their outcomes. In this study, the concept of curriculum fidelity is introduced through a review of the literature, then its historical background, importance, and methods of measurement are explored. Factors affecting curriculum fidelity and related research in the Turkish context are presented, and prominent features of curriculum changes reflected on the practice of education are studied. It is concluded from the study that the factors affecting curriculum fidelity in Turkey are teacher characteristics, curriculum properties, teacher training, institutional features, regional, social, economic, and cultural characteristics, a centralist education system, high-stakes tests, and student characteristics. Because of the understanding of viewing teachers as technicians responsible for implementing a curriculum designed by experts and directors, it cannot be possible to have expert staff that can adapt the curriculum to the conditions of their region, school, or class. This vicious circle drives teachers to ambiguity in planning and implementation; teachers having difficulties abiding by the curriculum under the conditions of the region, school, and class carry out curriculum implementations different in theory and in practice. Suggestions for practice and future research are also included in this study.

Literasi Baca Tulis Dan Inovasi Kurikulum Bahasa

“…Faktor-faktor perubahan kurikulum antara lain, perubahan kebijakan, munculnya teknologi baru dan globalisasi (Aydin, Ozfidan, & Carothers, 2017). Memastikan akuisisi pengetahuan siswa dan keterampilan yang diperlukan untuk beradaptasi dengan perubahan kondisi dunia menentukan dasar untuk inovatif upaya dalam bidang kurikulum (Bumen, Cakar, & Yildiz, 2014).…”

A Case Study of Curriculum Unpacking Practices of a Kindergarten Teacher

“…The concept of curriculum fidelity is defined by Pence, Justice, and Wiggins (2008) as the extent to which teachers implement an intervention, curriculum, innovation, or program as intended by the developers. However, a review of related studies in the area of curriculum implementation (Azano, Misset, Callahan, Oh, Brunner, Foster & Moon, 2011;Bümena, Çakarb & Yildizc, 2014;Hord & Huling-Austin, 1986;Koo, 2009;Ntumi, 2016;Phaeton & Stears, 2017;Rusman, 2015;Satchwell & Loepp, 2002;Shadan & Oliver, 2016) reveal inadequate attention into how teachers unpack the intended curriculum into classroom instruction. This indicates an implied need to conduct a study in the area of curriculum unpacking practices of teachers where a knowledge gap exists.…”

The Implementation Fidelity of Competency Based Curriculum for Nursing and Midwifery Programme in Tanzania: A protocol for a Mixed Methods

“…Moreover, infrastructures were refurbished to provide conducive learning and teaching environment. Despite of these intervention, there has been no any assessment to ascertain whether the CBET curriculum for nursing and midwifery is implemented with fidelity [9]. In the Nursing and Midwifery curriculum, nurse educators are the main curriculum implementers, while students, parents, and clinical instructors are directly or indirectly involved in the implementation process.…”

“…The successful implementation of the curriculum is ruled by many things; implementation fidelity is one of them [10]. It is only by exploring how curriculum is being implemented that policy makers and training officers can gain a better understanding of how and to what extent they can make improvement [9].…”