| Summary: | Negotiating the New Zealand English Curriculum, opening with a
contextualised look at the history and current educational environment surrounding
secondary practice under the English Curriculum, describes how secondary English
classroom practice in forms 3 to 7 relates to the principles of the English Curriculum set
out in the Ministry of Education document, English in the New Zealand Curriculum
(Ministry, 1994). Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with eight Canterbury teachers
were used to provide the basis for a qualitative analysis, and use is also made of current
literature, evaluative studies in the area, school documents and key figures in the
English Curriculum development process and debate. Because it was found that the
English Curriculum does not to impact participants' individual pedagogy directly and
that, in this context, classroom practice and response to the English Curriculum are
intimately connected, the researcher presents a Model ofthe Factors Influencing
Classroom Practice and Response to the English Curriculum. Factors in the Model
include Experience, Management Purposes, Consciousness of Professional
Environment, Teacher Interests, Context Constraints, Students and Teacher Beliefs.
Students and Teacher Beliefs, two of the more significant factors, are examined with
more detail in individual chapters. The author concludes with a theoretical discussion
of the curriculum-practice relationship, as well as a brief look at implications of the
Model for professional development.
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