An Original Investigation into the Mechanisms of Curriculum Change Resistance in Nigerian Secondary Education

Curriculum change initiatives in Nigerian secondary education repeatedly encounter implementation resistance that frustrates reform goals, and developing an original theoretical understanding of the mechanisms of this resistance, drawing on empirical evidence from multiple reform contexts, constitutes a critical contribution to curriculum change management theory. This study conducted an original theoretical and empirical investigation into the mechanisms of curriculum change resistance in Nigerian secondary education, drawing on analysis of three major reform initiatives: the 2013 National Curriculum Reform, the 2016 STEM Policy, and the 2020 Revised Senior Secondary Curriculum. A multi-case theoretical analysis methodology was employed, combining policy document analysis, structured interviews with 45 reform participants (including curriculum planners, school principals, and teachers) from four states across three zones, and grounded theory qualitative analysis. Grounded theory analysis generated seven resistance mechanisms absent from or inadequately theorised in existing curriculum change literature: normative legitimacy deficit (change not seen as educationally justified by practitioners), professional sovereignty contestation (teachers perceiving change as threatening their professional authority), resource-trust gap (disbelief that implementation support will materialise), examination-reality misalignment (change incompatible with examination system demands), institutional memory resistance (accumulated scepticism from previous failed reforms), community cultural distance (change perceived as inconsistent with community educational values), and hierarchical change fatigue (exhaustion from accumulated top-down directives). The original Curriculum Change Resistance Mechanism Theory constitutes a significant contribution to curriculum change management scholarship.

Keywords: curriculum change resistance, secondary education, Nigeria, change management, grounded theory