Teacher agency under centralised curriculum reform: Divergent sensemaking in Türkiye's Life Studies curriculum

Abstract

This study examines how elementary teachers interpret and enact the Life Studies curriculum within the Century of Türkiye Education Model (CTEM), a large‐scale, centrally steered curriculum reform. Using Q methodology to model shared patterns of subjectivity, 39 teachers sorted 35 statements about curriculum aims, pedagogy, support and implementation conditions. Three distinct viewpoint profiles emerged: (1) Outcome‐Focused Supporters, who strongly endorse CTEM's intended aims while critiquing limited responsiveness to implementation challenges; (2) Process‐Focused Critics, who value participatory, activity‐rich learning but foreground shortages of time, materials and resources; and (3) Implementation Realists, who express relative confidence in system‐level problem‐solving channels while sharply questioning the extent of teacher voice in enactment. Across profiles, teachers converged on the curriculum's pedagogical and civic promise, yet diverged on the conditions that enable or constrain enactment in a centralised system. Drawing on sensemaking and ecological accounts of teacher agency, the findings specify how teachers position themselves within reform trajectories and how differentiated interpretations shape curriculum work. Implications are offered for participatory curriculum development, targeted professional learning and implementation infrastructures that better align reform design with classroom realities.