New Zealand and Queensland teachers' conceptions of curriculum : potential jurisdictional effects of curriculum policy and implementation

The conceptions teachers have about curriculum are part of teachers' implicit beliefs about education. The study investigated the structure of teachers’ conceptions and the impact of curriculum policy on those conceptions. Two survey studies in New Zealand and Queensland used items from the Curriculum Orientation Inventory (COI). Confirmatory factor analysis provided robust modelling of teachers’ conceptions of curriculum. Multigroup analysis showed the model was statistically invariant between Queensland primary and secondary teachers. The teachers in both jurisdictions and in both sectors gave most agreement to the Academic-Humanistic conception and least agreement to the Social Reconstruction conception. The technological orientation elicited divergent opinions between New Zealand and Queensland teachers. The structure of teachers conceptions appeared to be predominantly independent rather than pluralistic and aligned with the priorities of their own employment context.