Negotiating Policies and Practices A Systematic Review of Curriculum Enactment in Early Childhood Settings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21512/becossjournal.v7i3.14458Keywords:
Curriculum Policies, Early Childhood Education, Systematic Literature ReviewAbstract
Early childhood education curriculum implementation is complex and localized, impacted by teachers' attitudes, cultural backgrounds, and professional judgment. This study fills gaps in our knowledge of how early childhood teachers alter, implement, negotiate, and incorporate hidden meanings into curriculum policies in various educational settings. We used a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to examine 20 Scopus-listed peer-reviewed articles from 2019 to 2025 on early childhood education curriculum implementation. This study found themes synthesis examined teacher adaptation and operational curriculum (17 studies), enactment of official curriculum (18 studies), hidden curriculum (14 studies), and negotiated curriculum and teacher agency (17 studies). The results reveal that it will not be simple to put the curriculum into action. Instead, local requirements, cultural values, and teachers' teaching ideas shape it in a dynamic and intentional manner. Teachers have influence because they adapt content to students' needs, base learning activities on classroom activity, and include moral, ethical, and social elements in hidden curricula. It provides a complete picture of how early childhood and primary school teachers applied the curriculum in practice, adding to research.
References
Ahmed, K. S. (2019). Being A “Bridge Builder”: A Literacy Teacher Educator Negotiates the Divide between University-promoted Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and District- mandated Curriculum. Literacy Research and Instruction, 58(4), 211–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/19388071.2019.1655683
Anif, S., Sutopo, A., & Prayitno, H. J. (2020). Lesson study validation: Model for social and natural sciences teacher development in the implementation of national curriculum in Muhammadiyah schools, Indonesia. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(1), 253–259. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2020.080132
Baji, F., & Haeusler, C. (2022). Introducing Iranian Primary Children to Atoms and Molecules. Research in Science Education, 52(4), 1387–1418. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-021- 10008-8
Curriculum Flexibility and Autonomy. (2024). OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/eccbbac2-en Ebabuye, T., & Asgedom, A. (2023). A phenomenological study of the lived experience of minority students: The paradox of equitable education and school practices. Social Sciences and Humanities Open, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100673 Fazio, X., Kemmis, S., & Zugic, J. (2024). Viewing science teacher learning and curriculum enactment through the lens of theory of practice architectures. Science Education. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21901
Gutierez, S. B. (2019). Teacher-practitioner research inquiry and sense making of their reflections on scaffolded collaborative lesson planning experience. Asia-Pacific Science Education, 5(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41029-019-0043-x
Hyrkkö, S., & Kajamaa, A. (2025a). Expansive learning actions for leadership in a teacher training school’s Change Laboratory. Mind, Culture, and Activity. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2025.2491543
Hyrkkö, S., & Kajamaa, A. (2025b). Teachers’ transformative agency in a Change Laboratory in a Finnish elementary school. Teaching and Teacher Education, 159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2025.105011
Lynch, S., & Curtner-Smith, M. (2019). ‘You have to find your slant, your groove:’ one physical education teacher’s efforts to employ transformative pedagogy. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 24(4), 359–372. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2019.1592146
Mantei, J., Kervin, L., Weber, L. A., & Ryan, M. (2024). Teacher produced video tours of classrooms: what matters for their teaching of writing? Australian Educational Researcher. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-024-00769-2
Nalbantoğlu, Ü. Y., & Bümen, N. T. (2024). Changes in the curriculum adaptation skills of teachers as a result of professional development support: A Turkish case study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104386
Poulton, P. (2020). Teacher agency in curriculum reform: the role of assessment in enabling and constraining primary teachers’ agency. Curriculum Perspectives, 40(1), 35–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-020-00100-w
Priestley, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2013). Reinventing the Curriculum: New Trends in Curriculum Policy and Practice Teachers as “agents of change”: Teacher agency and emerging models of curriculum. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263766319
Rossouw, N., & Frick, L. (2023). A conceptual framework for uncovering the hidden curriculum in private higher education. Cogent Education, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2191409
Santagata, R., Villavicencio, A., Wegemer, C. M., Cawelti, L., & Gatlin-Nash, B. (2023). “I have been pushed outside of my comfort zone and have grown as a result”: Teacher professional learning and innovation during the pandemic. Journal of Educational Change. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-023-09491-9
Saparuddin, S., Istiqomah, I., Susilo, H., Ibrohim, I., & Ratnapuri, A. (2024). Subject-based lesson study supporting Merdeka Curriculum enactment: Findings from Malang City science teachers. Journal of Community Service and Empowerment, 5(1), 205–215. https://doi.org/10.22219/jcse.v5i1.29411
Sauer, P. C., & Seuring, S. (2023). How to conduct systematic literature reviews in management research: a guide in 6 steps and 14 decisions. In Review of Managerial Science (Vol. 17, Issue 5, pp. 1899–1933). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-023-00668-3
Syarnubi, Mansir, F., Purnomo, M. E., Harto, K., & Hawi, A. (2021). IMPLEMENTING CHARACTER EDUCATION IN MADRASAH. Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 7(1), 77–94. https://doi.org/10.15575/jpi.v7i1.8449
Uleanya, C. (2022). Hidden curriculum versus transition from onsite to online: A review following COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. In Cogent Education (Vol. 9, Issue 1). Taylor and Francis Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2090102
Wahyudi, I., & Wuryandani, W. (2024). Integrating Cultural Values in Nationalism Character Education: A Study on Merdeka Curriculum Implementation. Indonesian Values and Character Education Journal, 7(2), 120–131. https://doi.org/10.23887/ivcej.v7i2.84289
Yang, W., & Li, H. (2022). The role of culture in early childhood curriculum development: A case study of curriculum innovations in Hong Kong kindergartens. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 23(1), 48–67. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463949119900359
Yanko, M., & Lee, H. (2023). Resisting Heteronormative Traditions to Stage the Possible An Ethnodrama. Departures in Critical Qualitative Research, 12(4), 53–76. https://doi.org/10.1525/dcqr.2023.12.4.53
Zulaikha, I., & Wakhudin, W. (2023). Implementation of Civic Values through Flag Ceremony for the Character Development of Love for the Country. Proceedings Series on Social Sciences & Humanities, 12, 492–496. https://doi.org/10.30595/pssh.v12i.837
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Novtryananda Maryanti Stefani Ghunu, Anandi Lintang Utari
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License - Share Alike that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
USER RIGHTS
All articles published Open Access will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download. We are continuously working with our author communities to select the best choice of license options, currently being defined for this journal as follows: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike (CC BY-SA)
