從教師成長看課程改革的意義

What Does Curriculum Reform Mean to Teachers﹖

本文試圖呈現兩個課程改革的教師個案，描述台灣與美國兩所小學的三位教師參與課程改革的經驗歷程，再以杜威的經驗理論為詮釋架構，比較分析其中的意義。從個案的比較分析，我們可以得到的啟示是，若要邀請教師參與課程改革，應該儘可能使其從中獲得正面的成長經驗，而儘量避免造成負面的成長經驗。課程改革若是不能給教師帶來正面的成長經驗，我們很難認為此種改革能夠延續。我們主張，把教師的成長置於優先，並將課程改革視為教師成長的延伸，而非倒過來，將課程改革的成功當作目的，再把教師看作執行的手段。在我們探討「怎麼讓課程改革成功﹖」之前，我們必須先回答「怎麼讓教師成長﹖」這個更基本的問題。如果能夠提供使教師持續成長的外在條件，而教師的內在條件也達到一定的成熟階段，課程改革應能水到渠成。我們如果希望孩子得到什麼，就先要讓老師得到什麼。

This study examined two qualitative case studies of teachers' participation in curriculum reform. One American teacher and two Taiwanese teachers were compared and analyzed in terms of their experiences in the curriculum change processes. Dewey's theory of experience was employed as the interpretive framework. The findings suggest that curriculum reform should not be viewed as an end to which the teacher is seen as a means. Instead, we argue that curriculum reform should be pursued only when teachers' professional needs are met throughout the process. Teachers might take various forms of resistance against the reform policy if their needs are neglected. Unfortunately, teachers often feel exploited or alienated in the reform process due to such negligence. Providing teachers with a nurturing environment for continuous professionalm growth is more fundamental and practical than simply trying to reform the curriculum every now and again. Teachers are often blamed for being unprepared or uncommitted when reform efforts fail, but people seldom ask why teachers are not prepared and not committed. We seem to pay much attention to what our children need, a primary reason for most reforms to occur. However, we often forget that it is the teachers who must have what we want our children to have first before they can deliver it.