Running head: TEACHER FEELINGS

Teachers Feelings of Efficacy and Value in Curriculum and Policy

Change: How Teachers View Their Self Worth and Effectiveness in the
Eyes of Others

Harley Walden

Research Paper submitted for

CI 704 Social and Political Determinants of Curriculum
at Marshall University
in partial fulfillment for the requirements
for the degree of

Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction

Nega Debela, Ph. D., Instructor

Graduate School of Education and Professional Development

South Charleston, West Virginia

2015

TEACHER FEELINGS

Abstract
For the past twenty years there has been little written about teachers
perceptions for how others view them as professionals (e.g., the way
that teachers are discussed and treated in their communities and
reflected in educational policy reform). Teachers are one of the primary
stakeholders in a childs education; however, recent legislation reduces
teachers roles in this process and the narrative regarding teachers is
that they are easily replaceable and low in skills that would identify
them as a profession. In sum, the ways that others view teachers is an
important component of the development for educational policy
reform. This has the potential to negatively impact the teaching
profession. The purpose of this study is to see what are teachers
perceptions for how other view them as professionals, and to
determine how these perceptions relate with recent educational policy
reform. The research participants are nine voluntary elementary school
teachers. The research methods of this study involved a five question
multiple choice and two short essay question survey that was given to
the research participant via email link. The results of this study
indicated that participants perceived they had little to no say in the
development of educational policy reform. Recommendations for future
research should include research regarding educators from other
counties in West Virginia and other states across America. This
knowledge could lead to chains of dialogues and discussions aimed at
developing educational policy that takes into consideration teachers
own perceptions of the profession and how others view them.
Keywords: teacher perceptions, control, education policy
reform

TEACHER FEELINGS

Teachers Feelings of Efficacy and Value in Curriculum and Policy

Change: How Teachers View Their Self Worth and Effectiveness in the
Eyes of Others
Educational policy reform is usually developed during a long and
complex process that fails to consider the needs, goals, and desires of
all stakeholders (teachers, students, parents, and administrators). All
too often, this development of educational policy reform originates
from a top-down approach that is created with the business model
approach to education in mind and is currently failing stakeholders in
the education sector. This is a contradictory vision of educational policy
reform, especially in light of Tyack and Cubans (1995) advice that
educational policy reform be created from an inside-out approach that
is teacher-centered. This has resulted in what Pinar (2011) calls the
cram school mentality where teachers have been forced to teach to
the test because of the out of touch demands placed on them through
narrowing the curriculum via standardization testing measures.
These initiatives also leave out the advice from educational
psychologists and practitioners, such as Woolfolk (2013) and Diane
Ravitch (2013), who argue that the perceptions of educators are a
crucial element for successful educational policy reform. The
development of educational policy reform is further complicated by the
fact that politics have also influenced the process, as explained by
Kumashiro (2008), when neo-conservative right-wing Republican
American politicians framed the issue as an us versus them battle for
educational survival waged over the allegorical battlefields of highstakes standardized tests. This paper examines teachers perceptions
for how others view them as professionals, and to determine how
these perceptions correlate with recent educational policy reform. This
research is vital because there is a large gap in the existing body of

TEACHER FEELINGS

knowledge that fails to address these perceptions and what their

perceptions are regarding educational policy reform in a time where
policy is created by out of touch politicians and policymakers, who do
not consider teachers perspectives in this process.
Literature Review
The previous research on teachers feelings for how others view
them as professionals is limited and outdated, especially in light of
recent educational policy reform that erodes teachers roles in these
important decisions. The existing body of knowledge relating to
teachers perceptions for how others view them as professionals is
small in quantity and varied in scope. In fact, the dearth of this
literature is vaguely related to teachers perceptions in general and
ranges in its focus from discussing their perceptions of principals, their
effectiveness, and how they view certain pieces of educational policy.
These different portions of the existing body of knowledge
demonstrate the need for recent research that focuses on the role of
the educator in shaping educational policy reform and curricular
change conceptualized in a Freirean (1970) framework centered on a
dialogue between educators and the politicians and policymakers
involved in the process. Regardless of this need to update the body of
literature, the current body of knowledge focuses on teachers
perceptions of principals, their effectiveness, and their views on policy
impacting their school district.
Teachers Perceptions of Principals
Schulz and Teddlie (1989) focus on the power dynamics
associated with teachers level of job satisfaction and their perceptions
about principals use of power and their effectiveness in the school.
The researchers used an ex-post facto design where 445 teachers from

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38 different public and nonpublic schools in southeastern Louisiana.

Interestingly, the researchers found that the teachers reported levels
of job satisfaction were statistically significant and related to their
perceptions of principals use of power and the school effectiveness
(Schulz & Teddlie, 1989). Some results of the study were fairly
predictable. For example the higher the teachers reported levels of job
satisfaction, then they perceived their principals use of power was
lower and the effectiveness higher. Also the lower the teachers
reported levels of job satisfaction then they perceived the higher the
incidents of principals using their power and the higher and lower
levels of school effectiveness (Schulz & Teddlie, 1989). The
researchers suggested that teachers should have a dialogue with their
principals to foster a sense of communication so that their levels of job
satisfaction would increase and reciprocity would occur with lower
levels of principals use of power and higher rates of school
effectiveness.
Building off Schulz and Teddlies research on teachers
perceptions about principals, Schechter (2012) focused on the
incorporation of professional learning communities (PLCs) in schools to
increase dialogue between teachers and principals across content
areas. The researcher argues that PLCs serve as a common ground for
educators and administrators where instructional issues with the
curriculum and student learning are discussed in meaningful and
productive ways. The study explored Israeli teachers, principals, and
superintendents perceptions of fostering and inhibitive factors
associated with PLCs. Schechter (2012) used a qualitative research
design consisting oral interviews with 15 teachers from elementary,
middle, and secondary schools in order to gauge their perceptions of
the administrators (15 principals an 15 superintendents) at their

TEACHER FEELINGS

schools. Interestingly, Schechter (2012) found that many of the

perceived factors regarding PLCs overlapped between teachers and
principals, including: overload, a lack of resources and top-down
commands were all PLC-inhibiting factors (p. 717). Both teachers and
superintendents viewed the principals leadership style as a PLC
fostering factor. The researcher concluded that teachers, principals,
and superintendents perceptions about one another were correlated to
their schools likelihood of adopting PLCs and creating a learning
environment where all stakeholders are considered.
Lee, Walker, and Bodycott (2000) took a different angle
regarding teachers perceptions about principals. The purpose of this
research was to explore the perceptions of pre-service teachers in
Hong Kong regarding their expectations for their principals. The
researchers looked at how the pre-service teachers perceptions
influence their behaviors once they get a job and how these
perceptions formed in the first place (Lee, Walker, & Bodycott, 2000).
The researchers found that pre-service teachers do not perceive
principals as wanting to help them during their first several months on
the job and that some principals have helped them while in school, but
not once they become an employee at the school full-time. These
perceptions are based on the pre-service teachers personal beliefs
about the hierarchy at the school, the school authority, and their
principals workload (Lee, Walker, & Bodycott, 2000). Also many of the
pre-service teachers did not view their principal as receptive to change
or willing to support innovative teaching techniques and that some
believed in order to be successful you had to be self-reliant.
Interestingly, the researchers concluded that these perceptions were
created during the pre-service teachers experiences in school and that
many of these perceptions are negative and prohibit positive channels

TEACHER FEELINGS

of communication between them and their principal (Lee, Walker, &

Bodycott, 2000).
Perceptions of Teacher Effectiveness
The research of Morrow, Gilley, Russell, and Strope (1985)
focused on principals perceptions of teacher effectiveness. The
researchers surveyed 93 elementary, 56 middle school, and 60 high
school principals in order to find out perceived instructional
inadequacies (flaws) of teachers at their respective schools. Using a
basic Likert scale, the principals ranked the difficulty levels that
teachers experienced in ten instructional problem areas. Morrow,
Gilley, Russell, and Strope (1985) found that these rankings varied
from a score of 1 recorded as no difficulty to a 5 recorded as great
difficulty. The researchers used an ANOVA test in order to determine
the statistical significance of the difference between perceptions of
difficulty in the different instructional groups. Interestingly, the
researchers concluded that the instructional areas where educators
were reportedly having the most difficulty were areas of professional
knowledge and skill, instead of content matter knowledge (Morrow et
al., 1985). These perceptions influenced what educators got promoted
and which were terminated, which is unfortunate given the fact that
these were solely subjective criterion.
Rice, vonEschenbach, and Noland (1988) added to the research
of Morrow, Gilley, Russell, and Strope (1985), by including the
perceptions of teachers and career incentive plan coordinators in their
study. The study utilized a questionnaire given to 91 randomly selected
career incentive plan coordinators, 72 randomly selected elementary
school principals, and 65 randomly selected elementary school
teachers. The questionnaire sought to measure to what extent which
of 23 pre-selected teaching competencies was reflective of effective

TEACHER FEELINGS

teaching methods (Rice, vonEschenbach, & Noland, 1988). The

researchers found that only 9 of the 23 teaching competencies were
thought to have been reflective of effective teaching methodologies.
These different teaching domains represented the incorporation of
different educational psychology terms and applications, as well as
pre-service teaching approaches. The researchers found that the
teachers, principals, and coordinators did not express comparable
perceptions regarding what constitutes effective teaching strategies
(Rice, vonEschenbach, & Noland, 1988). The researchers suggested
that all stakeholders should be involved in collaborative channels of
communication in order to increase understanding between one
another and that everyone is considered in the development of
educational policy.
Teachers Perceptions of Policy Impacting their School District
The research of Drummond, Grimes, and Terrell (1990) focuses
on educators perceptions regarding policies that impact pre-service
and teacher training programs. Drummond, Grimes, and Terrell (1990)
accumulated over five semesters worth of data culled from
questionnaires regarding the perceptions of those involved in teacher
training programs about suggested policy changes that would place
interns in the field to act as liaisons to help new teachers better
transition to the field. The researchers found that program directors,
educators, and school principals were supportive of a program that
placed interns in teacher training programs in order to ease students
into the field in a more gentle way other than a trial by error
methodology (Drummond, Grimes, & Terrell, 1990). The researchers
concluded that more studies need to be completed that explore
teachers perceptions of teacher training programs and the transition

TEACHER FEELINGS

periods that all professionals eventually experience (Drummond,

Grimes, & Terrell, 1990).
Expanding on Drummond, Grimes, and Terrells (1990) research,
DeMitchell and Connellys (2007) research focuses on how different
groups view the term academic freedom and what it means for
educators in relation to the U.S. Constitution. This research is very
theoretical in nature and is based on teachers perceptions about their
sense of educational and academic freedom in relation to their job and
their understanding of state and federal laws. Of most interest, is the
articles discussion of policymaking in academe and the fact that the
courts' view of academic freedom impacts policy-making and practice,
yet the impact is inconsistent and not easily discerned (Demitchell &
Connelly, 2007, p. 83). The courts and educators have not always seen
eye to eye on policies and the development of educational policy
reform has typically kept educators at a distance and failed to consider
them in the development of new approaches to learning. The
researchers concluded that teachers perceptions about academic
freedom were not aligned with federal mandates and legal
understandings of the concept and as a result suggested that
educators and policymakers open channels of communication so that
all stakeholders can express themselves in relation to their goals.
Although Demitchell and Connelly (2007) focused on the legal
understanding of academic freedom, the research of Mulvenon,
Stegman, and Ritter (2005) studied test anxiety for students and the
impact that the 2001 No Child Left Behind legislation has on forcing
educators to teach to the test. Mulvenon, Stegman, and Ritter (2005)
acknowledge the fact that most of the research studying the impact
that test anxiety has on students fails to account for the perceptions of
all stakeholders, whereas their study surveyed students, parents,

TEACHER FEELINGS

10

teachers, principals, and counselors in order to gain a comprehensive

understanding of the perceptions of standardized testing (p. 37). The
researchers surveyed 251 fifth-grade students and parents, 141
teachers, 7 principals, and 8 counselors in order to gauge their
perceptions regarding the impact of standardized test anxiety on
students. The researchers found that most of the dangers of
standardized testing are overstated and misrepresented and that most
students, parents, principals, and counselors value these tests and do
not report increased levels of stress or anxiety, however, teachers as a
group do present strong misgivings about standardized testing
(Mulvenon, Stegman, & Ritter, 2005, p. 37). This study shows that
teachers perceptions should be just as valued as other stakeholders
perceptions regarding policies impacting their schools.
Policies against Bullying. Goryl, Neilson-Hewett, and Swellers
(2013) research focuses on how early childhood educators viewed
bullying in Australia and whether their schools had anti-bullying
policies in place. The researchers surveyed 180 early childhood
educators in Queensland, Australia in order to determine their
perceptions about bullying in their schools and if they thought that it
was a major area of concern. Goryl, Neilson-Hewett, and Sweller
(2013) found that 93% of these educators thought that young children
could bully their peers and that they could identify manage bullying
incidents if they occurred at their school. The researchers concluded
that there was a significant relationship between a teachers education
level and their perceived ability to identify and manage incidents of
bullying among youth at their schools with university-qualified
educators feeling more confident than TAFE-trained educators (Goryl,
Neilson-Hewett, & Sweller, 2013, p.32). Their findings indicated that
anti-bullying policies were vital for teachers and their students in

TEACHER FEELINGS

11

terms of policing bullying and successfully managing bullying among

students.
Building off of Goryl, Neilson-Hewett, and Swellers (2013)
research, Skinner, Babinski, and Gifford (2014) focused on sixth
graders and incidents of bullying. The purpose of the study was to
explore why incident of bullying were being reported in higher
numbers statistically in sixth grade than any other grade
comparatively. The researchers surveyed 239 sixth grade teachers,
who completed a questionnaire trying to ascertain their perceptions of
four components of school climate: high-risk student behaviors,
school-wide barriers to learning, principal support, and cooperation
among teachers (Skinner, Babinski, and Gifford, 2014, p. 72). Using
these four different psychological domains, the researchers concluded
that teachers perceived levels of principal support was significantly
related to teachers expectations and self-efficacy in relation to
managing incidents of bullying among their students. A major
implication of this research is that principals and school administrators
need to be cognizant of how teachers perceive their level of support
and that these perceptions tie in with teachers ability to work with
bullies and manage incidents of reported violence.
Method
Participants
The participants were nine volunteer elementary school teachers
from an elementary school in Appalachia (ages 18+). They were asked
to complete an anonymous Teachers Feelings of Efficacy and Value in
Curriculum and Policy Change Survey developed by the
researchers/co-investigators. The survey was stored on and
administered by surveymonkey.com with the access link contained in

TEACHER FEELINGS

12

an email addressed to the schools faculty. There were no links to

individual emails or course enrollment rosters made. The survey was
comprised of questions regarding the participants demographics,
feelings related to educational policy-making, perceptions for how
others view them as professionals, and their thoughts on who controls
educational policy decisions. None of the questions on the survey were
required and the respondents were able to skip questions they did not
wish to answer or leave the survey at any time. The survey neither
requested nor collected any personally identifiable information.
Procedures
Upon IRB approval, participants were recruited from volunteer
teachers at an elementary school in Appalachia. A call for participants
was sent via email with a link to the survey. The first section of the
survey includes an anonymous informed consent form that the
teachers selected to indicate that they understood the purpose and
procedures of the study and are willing to participate. Additionally, the
volunteers were informed that their participation or decision to decline
to participate would not affect their academic standing. Data was
housed on the Surveymonkey.com website and no personally
identifiable information was obtained, as the group of co-investigators
instructed Surveymonkey.com not to record IP address of participants.
Finally, all efforts were made to ensure the participants anonymity and
identity.
Instrument
The research was based off of a voluntary multiple-choice survey
sent. The survey took approximately 15 minutes to complete in one
sitting. The survey consisted of 5 multiple-choice and 2 sort answer

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13

questions that explored how the participants perceive themselves to

be valued as professionals by their colleagues, including their feelings
of agency in creating curricular and/or policy change. External factors
that were also explored include: personal opinions about policy-making
and curricular change, how their contemporaries and colleagues view
them as professionals, and their views on which entities control
decisions about educational policy reform. The survey results were
utilized to form this paper and explain some of the teachers
perceptions of their efficacy and value in curriculum and policy change.
Risks of the Research
There are no known risks of this study.
Potential Benefits of the Research
The potential benefits to this research include gaining a more
complete understanding of how teachers perceive themselves to be
valued as professionals by their colleagues, including their feelings of
efficacy in affecting curricular and/or policy change. This knowledge
could lead to chains of dialogues and discussions aimed at creating
educational policy reform that takes into consideration teachers
individual perceptions of their profession and how others view them.
Scientific or Scholarly Rationale
The previous body of knowledge regarding teachers feelings for
how others view them as professionals is small in quantity and
outdated, especially in light of recent educational policy reform that
reduces teachers roles in these important decisions. This research is
meant to add to the existing body of research and knowledge
concerning teachers perceptions for how others view them as
professionals and to also explore the connections between these

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14

perceptions and recent legislation that impacts teachers, which ignores

their significant contributions to their communities and their
experiential wisdom as well.
Results
The analysis of the survey focused on the respondents answers
to questions gauging their perceptions for how others viewed them as
professionals, as well as their thoughts on the development of
educational policy reform on the Teachers Feelings of Efficacy and
Value in Curriculum and Policy Change Survey (see Appendix A). This
seven question multiple choice and short answer survey included: an
acknowledgement of rights as a participant and consent to participate
for question one, demographic information (age and gender) for
questions two and three, years of teaching experience for question
four, Likert scale rating participants agreement with statements
concerning the development of educational policy reform for question
five, an open-ended question regarding participants experiences and
feelings related to educational policy-making for question six, and
question seven was an open-ended question asking if there was
anything not covered on the survey that participants wanted to share
regarding educational policy-making and curriculum change.
Question 1
All nine respondents answered, yes to the first question, which
indicated that they understood their rights as participants in the study
and that they agreed to consent in order to participate in the survey.
Question 2
On question two, demographic information regarding the
participants age was recorded. Five respondents (56%) reported that

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15

they were between the ages of 25-34. One respondent (11%) reported
that they were between the ages of 35-44. Two respondents (22%)
reported that they were between the ages of 45-54. One respondent
(11%) reported that they were between the ages of 55-64.
Question 3
Question three also dealt with demographic information
regarding the respondents gender. Eight respondents (89%) reported
that they were female and one respondent reported that they were
male (11%).
Question 4
On question four, information regarding the respondents years
of experience as educators was recorded. Two respondents (22%)
reported that they acquired two-three years worth of teaching
experience. One respondent (11%) reported that they had four-five
years worth of teaching experience. Two respondents (22%) reported
that they acquired six-seven years worth of teaching experience. One
respondent (11%) reported that they had eight-nine years worth of
teaching experience. Three (33%) respondents reported that they had
ten-plus years worth of teaching experience as an educator.
Question 5
Question five used a Likert rating scale to determine
respondents agreement with twelve different statements concerning
the development of educational policy reform. The Likert rating scale
rating respondents agreement ranged from: strongly disagree,
disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree, and strongly agree. The
twelve statements provided on question five included: I feel valued as
a teacher by my peers, I feel valued as a teacher by parents, I feel

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16

valued as a teacher by administrators, I feel valued as a teacher by

local leaders, I feel valued as a teacher by national leaders, I feel
valued as a teacher by society as a whole, I have control over
curriculum in my classroom, My voice is heard in educational policy
decision-making, Educational policy decisions are controlled by
teachers, Educational policy decisions are controlled by parental
concerns, Educational policy decisions are controlled by local
lawmakers, and Educational policy decisions are controlled by federal
lawmakers. One of the respondents did not answer any portions of
question five.
I feel valued as a teacher by my peers. Five (63%) of the
respondents reported that they agreed with this statement. Two
respondents (25%) reported that they strongly agreed with the
statement, whereas one (12%) respondent reported that they
disagreed with the statement.
I feel valued as a teacher by parents. Two respondents
(25%) reported that they agreed with this statement. Three
respondents (38%) reported that they strongly agreed with the
statement, whereas one respondent (12%) reported that they
disagreed with the statement. Two respondents (25%) reported that
they neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement.
I feel valued as a teacher by administrators. Four
respondents (50%) reported that they agreed with this statement,
whereas the other four (50%) respondents reported that they neither
agreed nor disagreed with this statement.
I feel valued as a teacher by local leaders. One respondent
(12%) reported that they agreed with this statement. Three
respondents (38%) reported that they disagreed with the statement

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17

and four (50%) reported that they neither agreed nor disagreed with
this statement.
I feel valued as a teacher by national leaders. One
respondent (12%) reported that they agreed with this statement.
Four respondents (50%) reported that they disagreed with the
statement and three respondents (38%) reported that they neither
agreed nor disagreed with the statement.
I feel valued as a teacher by society as a whole. One
respondent (12%) reported that they agreed with this statement.
Four respondents (50%) reported that they disagreed with the
statement, whereas one respondent (12%) reported that they
strongly disagreed with the statement. Two respondents (25%)
reported that they neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement.
I have control over curriculum in my classroom. Two
respondents (25%) reported that they agreed with this statement
and two respondents (25%) reported that they disagreed with the
statement. Two respondents (25%) reported that they strongly
disagreed with the statement and two respondents (25%) reported
that they neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement.
My voice is heard in educational policy decision-making.
Three respondents (38%) reported that they disagreed with this
statement, whereas two respondents (25%) reported that they
strongly disagreed with the statement. Three respondents (38%)
reported that they neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement.
Educational policy decisions are controlled by teachers.
Only seven respondents answered this portion of the question. Four
respondents (57%) reported that they disagreed with the statement

TEACHER FEELINGS

18

and two respondents (29%) reported that they strongly disagreed

with the statement. One respondent (14%) reported that they neither
agreed nor disagreed with this statement.
Educational policy decisions are controlled by parental
concerns. Only seven respondents answered this portion of the
question. Two respondents (29%) reported that they agreed with
this statement and three respondents (43%) reported that they
disagreed with the statement. One respondent (14%) reported that
they strongly disagreed with this statement and one respondent
(14%) reported that they neither agreed nor disagreed with the
statement.
Educational policy decisions are controlled by local
lawmakers. Eight respondents answered this portion of the question.
Five respondents (63%) reported that they agreed with this
statement and two respondents (25%) reported that they disagreed
with the statement. One respondent (12%) reported that they neither
agreed nor disagreed with this statement.
Educational policy decisions are controlled by federal
lawmakers. Seven respondents answered this portion of the question.
Four respondents (58%) reported that they agreed with this
statement. One respondent (14%) reported that they strongly
agreed with this statement. One respondent (14%) reported that they
disagreed with the statement and one respondent (14%) reported
that they neither agreed nor disagreed with this statement.
Question 6
Question six asked respondents to describe their personal
feelings and experiences related to educational policy-making in an

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19

open-ended format. Four respondents answered the question, while

the others left it blank. One respondent said, I feel the people who
make these decisions do not spend enough time in classrooms. All
they care about are test scores. Another respondent said that if a
parent calls the Board of Education about a policy, they are heard
much stronger than a teacher. A third respondent said, I feel like I
don't have a say in educational policy making. The fourth respondent
to answer question six replied, The control over my classroom has
been taken away by administrators and how they have interpreted
NCLB, Common Core, and Race to the Top. It is no longer about what
is best for each individual child. I, as a teacher, am no longer valued
for my knowledge and ability to teach children.
Question 7
Zero of the nine respondents answered question seven, which
asked them in an open-ended format if there was anything else they
would like to share about educational policy-making and curricular
change.
Discussion
The results of this study have proven that my initial hypothesis
was correct in that the participants did not perceive they had great
control over the development of educational policy reform or curricular
change in their own classrooms. In fact, one respondent stated, The
control over my classroom has been taken away by administrators and
how they have interpreted NCLB, Common Core, and Race to the Top.
It is no longer about what is best for each individual child. I, as a
teacher, am no longer valued for my knowledge and ability to teach
children. These perceptions were to varying degrees were echoed by
all of the participants who answered all of the questions on the survey.

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20

Limitations of this Study

The sample size of this study was limited, as it contained only 9
participants. Any discrepancies between the participants perceptions
and experience and those from other educators could be attributed to
the differential in sample size. A larger sample size would yield more
varied results and demographic factors that would be indicative of
sampling teachers from various regions around the state and the
country. Time was also a limitation, as the parameters of the class
dictated how long the group had to conduct this research and gather
data.
Conclusions
This research has concluded that the participants perceived that
others viewed them in low regard and not as professional educators
instructing children in the classroom. The study also showed that to
some degree all participants who completed the survey felt as if they
had little to no control over curricular change and were ignored in the
development of educational policy reform. The previous research on
how teachers feelings for how others view them as professionals is
lacking and outdated and fails to consider the implications of recent
educational legislation. This research contained the results of a seven
question multiple choice and short answer survey. The results of the
survey were the basis for this paper and the results concluded that the
participants perceived themselves to be ignored in the development of
educational policy reform and curricular change (see Appendix B).
They also perceived that others viewed them not as professionals, but
as merely instructors. Studies similar to this are currently needed in
order to address the recent developments in educational policy reform

TEACHER FEELINGS

21

and curricular change that threaten to erode the role of the teacher in
their own classroom.
Recommendations
Some areas for future research should focus on incorporating
more participants, which was outside the scope of the present study.
In particular, research could explore educators from multiple schools,
grade levels, and content areas from other counties and states, in
order to gauge a broader spectrum of the kinds of perceptions that
teachers have about educational policy reform and their own
effectiveness. It would be interesting to gauge the same questions
across the gambit of educators from various regions around the
country and quantitatively provide statistics that can generalize about
educators and their attitudes toward educational policy reform on the
state and federal levels, as well as their perceptions about their
effectiveness as teachers. Educators from non-Appalachian classrooms
could yield particularly interesting statistics regarding educational
policy reform, in terms of analyzing different approaches to curricular
change and how teachers believe others view their value as
professionals. Some questions for future research include: What are
the generalizations that can be made be asking the same set of
questions in a different survey format to a larger sample size? How is
educational policy reform accounting for teachers perceptions of
agency and effectiveness? Are politicians and policymakers interacting
with experienced teachers in efforts to truly create educational policy
reform from the inside-out approach? How can politicians and
policymakers seek to incorporate teachers in a meaningful and direct
way from the beginning of the educational policy reform process?
Educators in the post-modern classroom perceive educational policy
reform in meaningful and different ways, as evidenced by this study,

TEACHER FEELINGS

but further research needs to be ventured in order to better

understand how teachers can be included in this important process
that impacts all stakeholders (teachers, students, parents, and
administrators).

22

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23

References
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Drummond, R. J., Grimes, M. L., & Terrell, M. S. (1990). Beginning
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Appendix A

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Appendix B

Teachers' Perceptions that Educational Policy Decisions are Controlled by Teachers

Disagreed

14%

Strongly Disagreed
29%

57%

Neither Agreed nor

Disagreed