Problematising scripted curricula: Stenhouse’s vision of teacher enquiry in new times

This paper critically examines the proliferation of scripted curricula across Anglophone educational systems. Building on Nikolaidis, Fitz and Warnick’s (2024) prescriptive continuum, we identify three distinct but interconnected script typologies: pedagogical, curricular, and behavioural. Drawing on examples from the United States, England and Australia, we analyse four interrelated problem framings - efficiency, quality assurance, expertise, and consistency - that construct scripted curricula as solutions to perceived educational deficiencies. We interrogate how these framings construct particular conceptions of teaching and teacher development, while marginalising or foreclosing alternatives. Stenhouse's vision of teachers as curriculum researchers serves as a critical counterpoint, highlighting what is at stake across the prescriptive spectrum when professional judgement is subordinated to external direction. This discursive analysis advances understanding of how scripted curricula affect teacher professionalism, contextual responsiveness, and educational equity.