During the last decade, considerable attention has been paid by various researchers, policy makers and mathematics teachers to the limitations of traditional statistics courses. Many students leave secondary education (and enter higher education) with statistical misconceptions (Ben Zvi & Garfield, 2004; Castro Sotos, Vanhoof, Van den Noortgate, & Onghena, 2007; Gal, 2002) and negative attitudes towards this domain (Gal, Ginsburg, & Schau, 1997). At the same time, however, statistics education takes place in a new context where various social, technological and educational developments have led to a broad consensus regarding the value and importance of statistics education. Furthermore, the statistical domain is receiving increasing scientific attention and has gradually acquired the status of an autonomous discipline. In Flanders these evolutions have recently (in the school year 2006-2007) manifested themselves in the introduction of new standards for the mathematics (and statistics) curriculum, an increase in the proportion of the statistics education content in the mathematics curriculum and a change in the instructional methods. The history of mathematics and statistics education, however, learns that this integration and expansion of statistics within the mathematics curriculum is anything but a matter of course. An effective implementation of a curriculum innovation goes beyond the mere disciplinary discussions, as teachers play an important role in the interpretation of an innovative design and its translation to educational practice. Over the past decades, educational research has made it clear that the implementation of educational innovations is far more complex than the straightforward execution of policy prescriptions. Individual and collective processes of interpretation and sense making, as well as the actual working conditions in the school determine the (lack of) implementation practices (see for example Fullan & Stiegelbauer, 1991, Hopkins, 2001; Ballet & Kelchtermans, 2008; Van den Berg, 2004, Vandenberghe, 2004). Therefore, teachers’ perceptions and interpretation of the recent innovations in statistics education in Flanders were of major importance in the current study. This paper reports an exploratory study of the perception and the determinants involved in the actual implementation of the new mathematics curriculum by secondary school teachers in Flanders (Belgium). Specifically, we asked the following research questions: 1. How do mathematics teachers experience the recent curriculum developments in mathematics education (with a specific focus on the prominent position of statistics in the mathematics curriculum)? 2. What factors play a role in the implementation of this curriculum innovation in the local classrooms (determinants)?

To develop meaningful, detailed understandings of contexts, people, interactions and behaviours, we opted for an interpretative-qualitative research methodology (Kelchtermans, 1999; Kvale, 1996; Patton, 1987). Using semi-structured interviews, a picture was developed of how 20 mathematics teachers have experienced and implemented this curriculum innovation. The interpretative analysis consisted of two phases: a within-case and cross-case analysis (Miles & Huberman, 1994). In the within-case analysis the individual teacher was taken as the unit of analysis. After transcription and coding, a systematic summarising report (or synthesis text) was written, presenting the relevant data of the respondent in a structured form. This synthesis texts laid the ground for the cross-case analysis, wherein systematic similarities and differences between the respondents could be identified. Therefore, we used the technique of continuing comparative analysis; a cycle of repeated reading, interpreting and controlling of the data set (Kelchtermans, 1999).

A curriculum implementation depends on the congruence between the innovation content and teachers’ perceptions regarding their educational tasks. Central to this, is the relationship between the normative vision of good (mathematics) education as defined in the standards and teachers’ normative view about their responsibilities. One striking finding was that a deep concern for the pupils’ interests, future learning and job opportunities operated for some teachers as a justification of dedicated implementation, whereas the same argument was used by others to resist the reform. The actual ‘weight’ of mathematics in a study programme turned out to be a crucial factor in teachers’ interpretation of this innovation. For instance, mathematics teachers responsible for study programmes with an extensive mathematical component tend to regard statistics as an unimportant part of their teaching job, because of its limited preparation for future mathematical training. Therefore, educational innovations have to take into account teachers’ professional identity.