Learning journals in a British curriculum school in Dubai: how relevant is the concerns based adoption model in measuring teacher concerns
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Date
2006-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The British University in Dubai (BUiD)
Abstract
This study uses the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) to investigate teacher concerns as they implement a new policy called ‘Learning Journals’ during the academic year 2005-06. The setting is an English curriculum school in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Teachers’ concerns are identified through a questionnaire and translated into six ‘stages of concern’ (SoC) on a hierarchical scale from 0 where the teacher is not aware of the innovation, through to the final stage 6 where the practitioner seeks to improve or replace the innovation. Previous CBAM studies found that at the beginning of an innovation most teachers will have peak concerns at the personal (2) and management (3) stages. As practitioners become more experienced using the innovation and with appropriate interventions, concerns become more focused on the innovation’s impact. This study hypothesises that after one year of using Learning Journals, teachers’ concern profiles will peak at the personal and management stages. It is also hypothesised that more experienced practitioners and those with management responsibilities will have lower personal and management concerns and higher concerns about impact or consequence compared to their colleagues The findings show that average personal and management concerns were high after the first year of the Learning Journal innovation but so were all other concern stages with the exception of the consequence stage (4). Moreover, there was no clear difference in the concern profiles of more experienced teachers or managers compared to their colleagues.
Description
DISSERTATION WITH DISTINCTION
Keywords
British curriculum school, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), teacher concerns, Concerns Based Adoption Model