Representing teachers’ voices: An ethnodrama of Mauritian teachers under times of curriculum reform

Abstract

This article emphasises the motivation for a methodological representation choice that captures teachers’ voices in a small island developing state context during the introduction of a curriculum reform. The diverse voices of teachers, as they inhabit a context that gears towards compliance and managed intimacy demands, are explored through the representational choice of an ethnodrama. A narrative inquiry methodology led to an ethnodrama representation which protected the anonymity and confidentiality of participants and simultaneously revealed multiple forms of agencies in entangled spatial and temporal dimensions. The findings foreground teachers’ choice of agencies and representations serve different interests which are influenced by whom they dialogue with in specific spaces. Ending with a fictionalised future enactment of the ethnodrama, this article closes with teachers negotiating their agency and opening reflections for future research in new normal COVID-19 spaces.