Curriculum reform is high on the agenda in the EU, especially since the Lisbon Treaty which reflected the  need to develop a high wage, knowledge economy.  Evidence suggests that progress has been very limited, thereby demonstrating a remarkable resistance to change in educational systems.  National politics (Ball, 2003), academic subject communities, public opinion, assessment and general conservatism in education are all cited as reasons. The assumption underlying this symposium is that teacher enquiry and engagement in change are fundamental to ambitions for reform (McLaughlin et al. 2005).  Our view of teacher enquiry, inspired byStenhouse (1975), has amongst its essential features:

·          the motive force of questions which reflect professional and personal identity;

·          a systematic approach to evidence;

·          addressing issues of values and practice;

·          an exploration of the boundaries between self and context.

The symposium draws on papers from three countries, Holland, Scotland and England to examine both the general and particular issues in enacting curriculum innovation through teacher enquiry. It explores the constraints and possibilities impinging on teachers when they become ‘active’ professionals to experiment and improve curriculum structures and pedagogic practice. The symposium represents cases in which there are varying degrees of freedom and support (high, mid and low) for teachers, for both enquiry processes and reflecting on the implications and thus reflects different architectures for curriculum change. The  papers draw on qualitative data primarily from interviews, meetings and self reports.  In Paper 1 from Holland, teachers worked in data teams, which included a school leader and a university facilitator to work on an educational problem. They applied a structured approach to exploring a specific topic based on research activities in their own school. This leads to solving a concrete problem at school and professional development of the teachers in enquiry skills. These teams had considerable support. Paper 2 from Scotland  reports that Chartered Teachers (CTs), a national designation denoting excellence, take on a mediating role between experimenting teachers and school managers. The managers exhibit a need  for control, while the teachers report that undertaking collaborative professional enquiry with aspiring CTs, benefits themselves and their pupils..

In the Paper 3 from England, teachers were working relatively independently, through engaging in enquiries as part of a masters’ module focused on pupil  enquiry based learning.  Generally  they are very positive about the impact on their practice and students, but frustrated by the constraints they encounter.  They face friction with colleagues and leaders and some resistance from pupils expectations. In this last paper we will draw together the threads of the symposium to argue that there is an important boundary zone between individual/group enquiry and educational systems where mediation is both desirable and often essential.

Ball, S.J. (2003) The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity.  Journal of Education Policy, Vol.18, No.2, pp.215-228.

McLaughlin, C., Hawkins, Townsend, A.  (2005) Practitioner learning, enquiry and research, Paper given at the BERA conference, September 2005.

Stenhouse, L. (1975) An Introduction to Curriculum Research and Development London: Heinemann.