Designing for scale: How relationships shape curriculum change

While much is known about factors affecting curriculum change, much less knowledge is available to guide the process of designing for change on a large scale. This study explores how large scale innovations can achieve alignment between curricular components through interactions among various system actors. Eight prominent large-scale curriculum innovation projects were analyzed. Six key themes emerged from interview and document analysis data. Three themes related to salient relationships -i.e. strategic partnerships with (local/national) organizations; identification of individuals acting as linking pins; teacher involvement in design. Three other themes pertained to the relationships’ maintenance -i.e. visible presence; aligning goals; acknowledging the complex and interpersonal nature of relationships. Findings suggest that attending to relationships (professional and personal; strategic and unplanned; formal and informal) should be a key consideration in shaping the process of designing large scale curriculum innovations, and offer examples of how this has been accomplished.