| Abstract: | abstract New government policies have to be mediated through teachers. Research among some teachers in primary schools revealed a number of creative adaptations to the National Curriculum. Some were strongly ‘resisting’ some elements. Where conditions were favourable, this developed into ‘appropriation’. A powerful aid towards appropriation can be ‘resourcing‘—ways in which the teacher role can be enhanced. At times, the teacher's work might be ‘enriched’ by the National Curriculum. However, at other times, another teacher might be forced to ‘re‐route’, and retire from teaching. Running through all these modes of adaptation is the interconnecting theme of self‐determination. Four aspects of this—self‐defence, self‐reinforcement, self‐realisation and self‐renewal—are revealed in the adaptations. The changes have been cathartic for teachers’ sense of self, but some, at least, are emerging stronger than before, whether they are still teaching or not. |
