Understanding teacher concerns in the Uganda lower secondary curriculum review through the lens of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model

Abstract

Teachers have been recognized as a fundamental condition for successful educational change. However, teacher engagement in educational change is still wanting locally and globally. This is evident in the recent implementation of the Uganda competence-based lower secondary curriculum. This study explored the concerns of secondary school teachers tasked with the implementation of this curriculum in Uganda and thus aimed to examine: the trends in teacher concerns, and the relationships between teacher concerns and their demographic characteristics. Teacher concerns were analyzed through the lens of the Concerns Based Adoption Model. The study took a positivist approach, employing quantitative methods to collect and analyze data. 387 secondary school teachers were selected using cluster random sampling from forty secondary schools within the central sub-region of Uganda. A structured questionnaire, comprising a demographic section and the Stages of Concerns Questionnaire which is one of the diagnostic tools of the Concerns Based Adoption Model, was administered to research participants. Analysis of data was both descriptive and inferential. The group profile of the participants was found to be a non-user concerns profile with intense concerns at personal, unconcerned, and informational stages respectively. A tailing up of refocusing concerns indicated a degree of resistance to the reviewed curriculum. Linear regression revealed that demographic characteristics predicted 2% of teacher concerns. Qualification and subject group taught were found to impact teacher concerns significantly while gender and experience were found to have 

no significant impact on teacher concerns. The study therefore concluded that a significant proportion of Ugandan secondary school teachers are yet to fully embrace the new curriculum at a personal and professional level. Based on this, the study recommended that policy makers at the Ministry of Education and Sports together with its statutory bodies like the NCDC and school leaders consistently track teacher concerns.  In-service teacher refresher training also ought to be tailored to the specific concerns voiced by the teachers regarding their implementation of the curriculum.