Dynamic and shared sense‐making in large‐scale curriculum reform in school districts

Shared sense‐making is suggested to be key for curriculum reform. Shared sense‐making entails constructing a collective understanding of the meaning for reform, its significance and its implications for schools, through dialogue and negotiation across the levels of the educational system. This study explored changes in hands‐on strategies of shared sense‐making, and ways of orchestrating curriculum reform work in the districts in Finland, following the introduction of new national curriculum policy. Longitudinal focus group interview data collected from curriculum coordinating groups during the reform work was utilised. The data were qualitatively content analysed. The two sets of shared sense‐making strategies were identified in this study, including those strategies utilised by the groups in building their understanding of what the reform is all about, and those concerning the reform orchestration. The strategies employed evolved from simple to more complex, during the progression of curriculum work. Results also showed that the coordinating groups were well aware of their high autonomy and resulting responsibility in orchestrating the district‐level curriculum work. However, the advance in shared sense‐making strategies employed by the groups indicated that they were highly committed to constructing collective understanding about the reform, its significance and implications for schools through dialogue and negotiation with practitioners.