DefiningEffective Curriculum Leadership

1 11De finin g EffectiveCur riculumLea der shipCurriculum leadershi p in schoolsis prettymuc h whatthe individ-ual leaderma kes it. Thereare manytasksas sociate d wit h th ecur ricul um developmentprocess and the leaderis pro fessionally respon-sib le for sort in g out and prioritizing this stronglybelievethatcurriculumle ader shi p mus t be morethanthe managementof existingpro curriculummanagerwouldfocuson reviewingma te rial s,control issue s, dailyproblem-solving,and encouraginga predictableroutine from ye ar to yea r. Suchan orientati on to the jo b is stati c. Effec tiv ecurriculumleadershipdo es all of thosethingsplu s establish newdirec-tion,alig n peopleandres ourc es, motivateparticipants,andproducemea nin gful change for schoolimprovement.

2 In short,effe ctivecurricu-lu m lead ershipis mo re thanmaintenance,it is dyn amicin natu is di stinction betweenjust runningsmoothly and respondingto change is veryimportanton the job and refl ects the gener al or ienta-tion (or philosophy)of the curriculumlea der. The read er mus t ask, Arewe ope ratingin a staticworldwhereschools ar e unchangi ng, or are welivi ng in a dynamicworldin whichsig nificantchangeis ev er present? The worldviewof the schoolcurriculumlea der, sta tic or dynamic,wil ldeterminewhatis co ns idereda priorityon a daily bas Lea di ng Curriculum Devel opmentWHAT IS Curriculum ?Professionals working in the fiel d of curricul um do not full y agree on adefinition of the term.

3 Some may see curriculumas subject matter or ase ries of written documents like books and syllabi . This definition is thegeneral understanding o f the time, ma ny writers in the field have defin ed Curriculum as a set of school experie nces . This definition is larger than simply subjec ts, andin clud es wh at school people refer to as extracurricular activities. Lunch, play,sports, and othe r n onacademic activities qualify as a part of the curricu third, and more modern, d efinition of curricul um is a pl an tied togoals and related objectiv es. Thi s definition s ugg ests a p rocess of cho osi ngfrom among the many possi ble activities those that are pre ferred and,thus, value-laden. The curricul um is purposeful and defi ne d.

4 Activitiesshape student ally , a fourth definiti on of Curriculum is drawn fro m outcomes orre sults. This position sees Curriculum lea ders hip as tar get ing specificknowledge, behavior, and attitudes for stud ents and engineering a s cho olprog ram to achieve those ends. This is a highl y active definition thataccepts change in s cho ols as a normal varia bl e i n p differences in the d efini tion of curricul um are not idl e or sup er-fluo us, but are important because the y focus the responsi bili ty of curricu-lum Leadership . Such focus ca n be narrow or broad d ep end ing on theworldview of the curricul um leader. I favor a dy namic and adaptive defin-ition of Curriculum work suc h a s the following:The Curriculum represents a set of desired goal s o r v alues that areactivated through a dev elopment process and culmina te i n suc-cessful learning experiences for students.

5 (Wiles & Bondi , 2007)CUR RICULUM IS THE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONCurr ic ulu m development is the essential function of scho ol this role is carried out by a pr incipal, an assistant principal forcurriculum, a team leader, a department head, o r by lea ding clas sro omteachers, t he Curriculum defines all other roles in a rece nt years, c lassroom teach ers hav e taken on much more responsi-bi lity f or t he development of c urriculum at the school level. Operating underlabel s s uch as teacher lea ders, these individuals achieve advanced train-ing and return to th ei r schools to wo rk closely with colleagues. Thi s newpatt ern works well be cause the new Curriculum leaders are also work is always value-laden; Curriculum work is a matter ofchoosing from among many possibilities the set of values to be promoted in theclassroom.

6 We can think of t he Curriculum as a design for lear ning, much likethe blueprint f or a house. The Curriculum is what we intend for students toexperience. We ho ld expectations for t he student because they experience thecurriculum, and we meas ure c urriculum success by student outcomes. Du ring the past 40 yea rs , curriculu m has focused prim arily on resul g beyond what is intended , cur riculum Leadership has determined out-comes that should be promoted and achieved by the Curriculum . Selectingth ose things that are best done by t he school, as opposed to the family orth e church, the Curriculum leader targets the l earning experience of thestudent. Because the student experiences the Curriculum , he or she cannow do new things (read, play a n instrument, get along with others, etc.)

7 Onc e th e g lobal goals for the cur ric ulum are determined, the curricu-lum leader follows a deductive process to give more and more definition toth e program. Analogous to an a rchit ect designing a house, the curriculumleader helps t he school community and the teachers provide a highlydeta ile d def inition of what is int ended for st udents. This definition includesgoals, objectives, standards, programs, content, and even lesson t he Curriculum leader defines the vision, his or her tasks transitio nfrom ana lysis to desi gni ng a comprehensive p lan, imp leme nting the cur-ric ulum, and, finally, eva lua ting the results . This sequence is kno wn as acurriculum evolving roles for the Curriculum lead er include b uildi ng a teamto w or k together over a per iod of time.

8 A s chool curricul um team is com-pos ed of individuals chosen f or their rol es a nd abili ty to contribute to suchwork. A larger school co mmunity, made up of tea chers, administrators,par ents, involved citi zens, and loc al businesses, forms the human el ementof curricul um work. Curriculum work is always dependent on t hishuman element for it s together, and coordinated by deta iled planning, the teamand school community translat e curricul um intentions i nto nuts-and-bolts cla ssroom activiti es tha t pr oduce outcomes. A series of programsheets defining tasks, activities, responsibi lities, timelines, and outcomescomprise a comprehensive Curriculum manag ement pla n. Such prog ra mparts must be webbed together according to their importa nce and depen-dence.

9 All members of the school curricul um team, as well as anymember o f the sc ho ol community, should ha ve full access to this b ird s-eyevie w o f what is happening. Change will o ccur more smoothly if thoseaffe cted by the change know what is to na lly, as t he teams implement the Curriculum plan, the curriculumlead er must monit or and coordinate the work being done. Such supervisionis b est done using a kind of review and validation technique that identifies,in a dvan ce, what is being done and what the work product is to be. Using t hecurriculum object ive or outco me as a guide to managing Curriculum workDefin ing Effective Curricul um Leadership 3hel ps motivate eve ryone inv olved.

10 Like a bathtub filling up, everyone involvedwil l kn ow t hei r part and see the fruits of their l abor. A successful curriculumdevelopment pro jec t will instill confidence and a winning RICULUM MAINTENANCES imple Curriculum maint ena nce at the school l evel is no t ea sy, and can bea full-time job if done correctly. Any number of recurring t asks wil l det er -mine the readiness o f the school to deliver the pla nned curricul um asintended. Without tip -top maintenance, the curri cul um can become dis-torted and even ineffici ent. I n fact, in some schools, there i s no overviewof w ha t th e Curriculum should be and no pla n fo r ma intaining the exist-ing program. Figure identifies some sample Curriculum maintenancefun ctio ns at the school th e most important mainten an ce functions for the school-basedcurriculum leader is serving as a conduit for information ab out classroominstructio n.