Article

Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence and History Teachers' epistemologies: a case of Curricular Epistemic Socialisation?

Details

Citation

Smith J (2018) Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence and History Teachers' epistemologies: a case of Curricular Epistemic Socialisation?. Scottish Educational Review, 50 (1), pp. 18-35. http://www.scotedreview.org.uk/online-content/2018/501/

Abstract
This paper proposes the concept of 'Curricular Epistemic Socialisation' as a process through which the school curriculum shapes the disciplinary epistemologies and identities of high school (11-18) teachers. Drawing on a survey of history teachers in Scotland (n=101), a cohort comparison is made between those trained since the introduction in 2010 of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and those who qualified to teach before this. Analysis of this data suggests that the CfE-trained cohort hold weaker subject identities (p=0.0002) and a more instrumental view of the purpose of the subject (p=0.052) than their more experienced colleagues. Although this is a small study, the paper proposes that something stronger than a performative response to policy change. Instead, the evidence implies that curricular framing can encourage teachers to adopt new epistemic frames. The paper concludes by suggesting a qualitative follow-up study to investigate the processes behind this socialisation and teachers' consciousness of it.

Keywords
Curriculum for Excellence; Teacher Identity; History Education; Social Studies; Teacher Socialisation

Journal
Scottish Educational Review: Volume 50, Issue 1

StatusPublished
Publication date31/12/2018
Date accepted by journal19/12/2017
URLhttp://hdl.handle.net/1893/26483
PublisherUniversity of Stirling
Publisher URLhttp://www.scotedreview.org.uk/online-content/2018/501/

People (1)

Dr Joseph Smith

Dr Joseph Smith

Senior Lecturer, Education

Research programmes