Teacher attitudes towards curricular innovation. The case of the University of Tarapacá

The present investigation was carried out in the University of Tarapacá located in the city of Arica, corresponding to the fifteenth region of Chile. Participated, many teachers who practice teaching in various training plans and executives who perform duties as head of career and deans. The dimensions that were established in the study corresponded to: to have disposition before the curricular innovation, change in the institution; structure and functioning, and the teacher as curricular agent of change. Hence, the purpose of the research was to determine the teachers’ attitudes towards curricular innovation. For this, it was necessary to analyze the teachers’ appreciation of their willingness to change curriculum, to know the degree of assessment in relation to how the process is being developed, and to inquire about their ideas, knowledge and beliefs about curricular innovation that is being done at the institution. The study is based on the theoretical references about change, the elements that shape the process of curricular innovation in the university context, university teaching staff and the theories of attitudes. Methodologically the research work is approached from a mixed approach, with a descriptive-transversal type of study and field research design with a sample size conformed by 174 teachers in which a questionnaire was applied consisting of 20 closed questions in scale Lickert, which was validated by expert judgment and its reliability was determined using Cronbach’s alpha whose value was 0.831. Interviews and focus group were also developed for a total of 18 teachers and managers. In the data processing, the statistical package SPSS version 22 was used for the descriptive statistics and factorial structure, as well as the software Atlas ti for the qualitative analyzes. The study allowed us to reach the following conclusions: (a) A favorable attitude is shown in most of the participants regarding the dimension: to have disposition for curricular change, particularly with openness, empowerment, commitment, purpose and improvement. (b) Regarding the dimension: change in the institution; structure and functioning, in general the participants present unfavorable attitudes, specifically in how the change in the institution has been managed, that is, in the diffusion and coordination has not achieved the participation and involvement of the protagonists. (c) Finally, in the dimension: the teacher as a curricular agent, favorable attitudes are manifested, because they believe and feel that curricular change will benefit the improvement of teaching, improvement of learning quality, and teacher updating. Nevertheless, the variables of the context emerge, provided with problems, needs, tensions and uncertainties. It is therefore necessary and appropriate to interpret the personal and professional nature of teachers through an openness to dialogue and reflection on situations of institutional context and culture that profoundly influence the implementation of change.