The readings in Curriculum Leadership have made me aware of
the number of societal forces that influence school curricula, particularly those
of the federal government and state.
I have never taken much of an interest politics; however, in the past
couple years, I have started to realize the importance of my involvement as an
educator. With recent budget cuts
and teacher slander, it is obvious that political leaders, without previous
experience in the educational field, enter office with their own agendas and
ideas for reform. Tom Corbett, Governor of Pennsylvania, is on a mission to
promote school vouchers and teacher accountability tied to high-stakes
testing. According to Glatthorn,
Boschee, and Whitehead (2009), the Governor is one of the strongest political
influences in education along with the chief state school officer, state
legislature and education interest groups. Policies that mandate or reallocate money directly affect
curricula because two of the greatest things that effective teachers require are
professional development and materials and resources.
The evolution of curriculum over the past century is
fascinating to compare to developments in curriculum over the past couple
decades. The first five periods of
curriculum history lasted 27 years, 24 years, 16 years, 11 years and 7 years,
respectively (Glatthorn et al., 2009).
The sixth and seventh periods, taking place in the 80’s and 90’s, lasted
approximately a decade each. The trend illustrates that the future will bring a rapid
pace of change, which means that teachers and students will need to be flexible
and adaptable to new ideas. I
think the pendulum analogy is important to point out because it’s such a
commonly used term in education.
Those who have been in the field of education for decades constantly
refer to the pendulum that swings back and forth and represents the current
trend. Glatthorn, Boschee, and
Whitehead say, “…it might be more appropriate and more insightful to speak of
separate streams that continue to flow – at times swollen, at times almost dry;
at times separate, at times almost joining” (2009). This
makes more sense in my mind because we always integrate new knowledge with old
knowledge; it’s just that one idea always takes precedence over the
others. It is also important to
align with best practices than to move away (like a pendulum) and forget about
things that are already proven to be effective.
A school leader can be proactive in helping teachers cope
with new curricular influences by modeling a positive attitude and bridging the
gap between the old and new knowledge.
It is important for teachers to make connections to things they are
already doing in the classroom so they have a strong knowledge base off of
which to build. School leaders can
assist teachers in making these connections while being open about why the
change is occurring. Inspiring a
shared vision is a practice of exemplary leadership that is described by Kouzes
and Posner in The Jossey-Bass Reader on
Educational Leadership. When
change occurs, it is important for the leader to inspire others and help them
see the big picture, for if the leader only sees the big picture, change will
be difficult. At all times, student
success must remain the main priority.
Glatthorn, A. A., Boschee, F., & Whitehead, B. M. (2009). Curriculum
leadership: Strategies for development and implementation (2nd
ed). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (2007). The five practices of exemplary leadership. In The Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership (pp.
63-74). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
