This study is an exploration of power and how it is manifested in curriculum
making. More specifically, it examines the responses of actors in the physics
curriculum network to a proposal to introduce a Physics, Technology and Society
(PTS) version of physics in the secondary schools of Bahrain. The proposal to
introduce PTS created a point of entry to explore issues of power in curriculum
making and highlight some of the strategies that actors used to maintain or
reconstruct power relations. Data collection consisted of three phases during
which interviews were conducted with Ministry of Education personnel, university
physicists and physics educators, physics teachers, university and secondary
students, and industry representatives. Interviews focused on responses to: 1) an
example of PTS materials (Phase One); 2) the views of other actors (Phase Two);
and 3) the Ministry's decision to proceed with piloting of the PTS materials
(Phase Three). From Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the responses of the various
actors can be understood in terms of their efforts to maintain or reconstruct the
school physics network. Furthermore, the study shows that curriculum making can
be seen as a networking process in which the success of the various actors is
linked to the size and strength of the networks they are able to mobilize to their
position. From this point of view, the Ministry, drawing primarily on local
networks, is seen to move cautiously in response to the extensive international
network which university physicists maintain and which provides high status
pathways for students.
Power relations are network effects, and in exploring them one gains a better
appreciation of the network that constructed them. Therefore, this study
illuminates aspects of the school physics network, revealing its constituent
actors, the strength of the links between some of its actors, and the establishment
of the curriculum as an obligatory passage point. Conclusions pertaining to the
nature of this network and the strategies employed by actors in constructing and
maintaining power relations as they engaged in negotiating the physics
curriculum are drawn. Finally, these conclusions have implications for policy in
curriculum change and, more specifically, for addressing issues of power and
problems that emerge when fundamental changes in secondary science are
introduced. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/10085 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Rafea, Ahmed Mohammed |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 14827653 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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