The research presented is an example of a practitioner research case study whose purpose was to investigate a specific case of curriculum change; that of organizing teacher training courses around learner outcomes in line with the Bologna process. The aim of the doctoral thesis presented was to examine how discourses in Bologna policy documents were re-interpreted and recontextualised in my own field of practice.

 

The research uses Ball’s(1993) ideas of policy recontextualisation and Bernstein’s theoretical concepts of classification and framing to understand the processes of implementing the Bologna reforms and the influence of changes made locally on power relations as well as pedagogic practice. Using Bernstein’s(1996) concepts the reforms can be seen as representing a shift from strong classification and framing, associated with internal criteria defined by specialists, to weak classification based on the needs of the knowledge economy.

A variety of methods were used to collect and analyse the data produced. A form of discourse analysis, as well as a survey of research literature, was used to identify policy discourses connected with the Bologna process. At the local micro level, local documentation as well as teacher talk in planning meetings were analysed to throw light on how the Bologna process was implemented locally.

A number of discourses were found in policy documents; including the need to modernize higher education and to move towards a more student centred approach to learning. The analysis made locally showed that these discourses were mediated by a regulative discourse portraying teachers as role models who have the task of passing on knowledge that is essential for the students to obtain before entering the profession. Instead of challenging the pedagogic identities for teachers and students, the introduction of learning outcomes acted to strengthen the fundamental vertical relations between teachers and students, cementing and confirming the level of control that teachers had over all aspects of the curriculum. Changes made in connection with the introduction of learning outcomes had a minimal influence on practice and were contested by some teacher educators. Teacher educators resisted and mediated the changes made by continuing to use their traditional practices.The research reiterates the point that the implementation of policy reforms is a complex process and that policy messages are re-interpreted and recontextualised at various points of the implementation process. While the importance of alternative local traditions and cultures appears to have been underplayed in policy documents, this research draws attention to the need to appreciate practitioner responses to the changes made in the local environment, and the need to understand how disciplinary cultures and discourses can act as a mediating factor on how change processes are interpreted and carried out.