Curriculum development as a tool for professional development

Abstract

This study investigates teacher participation in national curriculum development in Myanmar. The purpose of this study is to explore teacher learning and reflection during the process of curriculum development through collaboration and communication. A qualitative research method has been applied in this study. Six participants participated in the study through individual interviews. The participants include six school teachers from Basic Education High Schools, specifically, two curriculum developers, two teachers who delivered the subject content of the new curriculum to their colleagues and two school teachers who were trainees for the content. The results showed that teachers experienced significant development in their professional knowledge, especially in their understanding and connection to the subject matter content across different grades and pedagogical content knowledge when they learnt from their colleagues. Moreover, the results also highlighted improvement in their reflective thinking and analytical skills. Because of the challenging tasks during the curriculum development process, teachers became more motivated in their teaching and learning which led to enhance their work performance.

Keywords

• teacher learning
• curriculum development
• professional development
• collaboration and communication
• reflection