Teacher Identity and Curriculum Change: A Comparative Case-Study Analysis of Small Schools in England and Finland.

In Finland and England, national policy on subject- versus child-centered curriculum are moving in opposite directions. Comparative studies of four small elementary schools indicate that teachers' beliefs, values, and practices were powerful mediators of their interpretations and responses to imposed changes, and the ethos of very small schools enabled teachers to preserve prior value systems. Contains 73 references. (SV)