School leaders' and teachers' concerns during the process of adoption of new curricula in elementary schools in Cyprus.

摘要

This explanatory mixed methods study aims to identify and explain school leaders' and teachers' concerns during a curricular innovation in elementary schools in Cyprus. It draws on the Stages of Concern (SOC) dimension of the Concern-Based Adoption Model (Hall & Hord, 2006) to discuss issues of change management and implementation. 31 school leaders and 342 teachers completed the SOC questionnaire (George, Hall & Stiegelbauer, 2006) and 3 superintendents, 10 school leaders and 20 teachers participated in online interviews. Data revealed that neither school leaders nor teachers made major advances toward the successful implementation of the innovation. Both groups expressed intense, lower level concerns (informational and personal concerns) because of the limited supportive resources, the issues of polyphony among key stakeholders, and the practical discrepancies between theory and practice. This created a gap between intended and implemented outcomes. The study makes recommendations for addressing school leaders' and teachers' concerns, bridging the gap.