Classroom teaching practice facing curriculum reform

Abstract

This text seeks to reflect on the central role teachers should play in processes
leading to curriculum reform. Bearing in mind that the implementation of
proposals focussing on the classroom context is directly dependent on the
role played by the teacher, we would like to stress the need for this player to take on a leading role from the start of any such project. To this end, the
text puts forward two major arguments: the first one discusses the place
historically occupied by teachers in school reforms, taking as a starting
point Lawrence Stenhouse’s views on teachers’ professional development
based on research Carried out in the context of curriculum development. The
second argument put forward the point that teaching practice transcends the
technical dimension, often going beyond limits set by external curricular
prescriptions. This point is supported by arguments developed by a number
of authors such as Gauthier and Mellouki, Giroux, Vorraber Costa e Moreira
whose vision of the teachers’ role is that of mediators between different
players and pressures affecting classroom practice.