Week 5: The Role of the Curriculum Leader
The topic of this week is Curriculum Design and Implementation: The Role of the Curriculum Leader. In article Leadership role the school administrator in curriculum and instruction,Tyler holds that the administrator should have the comprehensive concepts about the curriculum and instructional process and sound concepts of the dynamics of leadership which could free them from much of this current confusion.
In the past, I thought the administrator is a person with high power who just needs to supervise the faculty and students in the school, just as beginning the article said, “planning buildings, securing financial support, and conducting public relations programs.” (p.200) Besides the four types of the administrators mentioned in this article, I also meet some administers who will just pay more attention to the curriculum related to his or her educational background, as a result, the performance of students in one subject would be more outstanding than other subjects. The reason behind these phenomena is that they have no clear idea about “the significant features of the total complex involved in giving needing leadership to the instructional program of a public school.” (p.200)
The author points out that the administrator should have two clear sets of concepts to guide their activities: one for understanding the process of curriculum development and instruction, and the other for a view of what educational leadership involves. A helpful concept of the curriculum and instructional process will include not only an idea of the major elements involved but also a knowledge of the specific aspects. The specific concepts about the curriculum and instructional process, including “how significant objectives are derived”, “accepted functions of fields of study” (they are supposed to hold attitudes towards the function and position of various field of study), “characteristics of good learning experiences”, “evaluating the program”, and “value of these concepts of the leader.” As for understand the characteristics of good learning experience, I think if they can keep touch with each teacher from different subjects via conferences, meetings or personal communications, they could better understand some subject and have more clear ideas of which experience could be called good learning experience.
In addition, the administrator is supposed to have the concepts of educational leadership. They have to know the necessity for leadership, function of leadership and skills in leadership. I agree with Taylor that “the fundamental element of democracy in administration is the respect for human personality, that is respect for the dignity and worth of the individual” when he is talking about the power of the administrator. I think a leader means to organize and lead a group of people to achieve a common goal. During this process, the administrator, on the one hand, should have more voice than other people, on the other they should hear the voice from other people.
After the administrator have these above concepts of the curriculum and instruction, their voice in curriculum designing would be more effective and persuasive because they have background knowledge and information of this topic.
From this article, it seems there are overwhelming responsibilities and requirements for an administrator. However, I think, one person couldn’t cover each aspect since he just has maximum 24 hours one day to work if he doesn’t need rest and sleep. It is impossible for a human. So, the question is how an administrator balance all these aspects in terms of curriculum design and implementation. Are there any ways that could make an administrator have a more effective access to this process without sacrificing personal spare time?
Thank you for sharing! I have learned from Tyler that "the fundamental element of democracy in administration is the respect for human personality, for the dignity and worth of the individual", which helps me think about how to manage all kinds of work in our life, such as family, job, education, and interpersonal development. It makes me develop my thinking not just in educational leadership, but also in evoking individuals' mind for the future of the society. And I agree with your saying that "a leader means to organize and lead a group of people to achieve a common goal", which reminds me a famous saying "unity is strength". There is nothing we can not succeed if we all united together, such as in achieving common educational goals.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post, and for the question you pose at the end, which I think is a great question and one I don't think I know how to answer (yet).
ReplyDeleteLast semester I took an organizational theory of education class and we learned about the idea of a leader as a "broker"--someone who is a hub for information and communication in an organization and a person who makes sure that everyone knows what they need to know. This Tyler chapter reinforced the importance of this and how a good leader is someone who is comfortable in that broker role and who can make sure that everyone else in the school knows that they're the broker.
Something else I learned in that class was something from a study that had been done on school leaders. Apparently, leaders who are struggling are less likely to ask for help even though they're the ones who need it. So if we're going to answer your question--how do administrators make the best use of time when there's so much to do--we must also make sure that those who are struggling the most aren't hiding it, but, rather, speaking up or asking for assistance. I'm not sure how to do that, though...
I agree that the role of the administrator can be overwhelming. I think the overarching message is that in order to be an effective administrator, one has to be a well rounded and thoughtful individual in the manner in which educational goals, policies and procedures are implemented in an educational environment. The stakes are high and the educational outcome of students in jeopardy if there is no harmony in the ecosystem that is a school, thus it is important that the objectives remain true to the mission of the organization while keeping in mind that there will always be a need for circumstantial change and adaptation to these goals as they evolve with the organization. Yes, the shoes are hard to fill and standards for administrators are paramount, but I think that Tyler lays down a good foundation of principles and guidelines.
ReplyDeleteAnother post for week 5, made me think about how much the responsibilities of a principal can be overwhelming, so I will paste my thoughts in here.
ReplyDeleteA principal's responsibilities begs the question, if there is too much for a principal to manage AND be someone responsible for the professional development of their staff. Not saying that this is impossible, because I know principals who balance these responsibilities with grace. But at what cost? Thinking about burnout.
Why not a model where there is enough money to have a leadership team that distributes a principal's responsibilities more evenly? Although, I would normally resist the urge to use a business model such as a c-suite in schools. But I'm thinking what would schools look like if principals could spread their responsibilities across a leadership team and spend more time observing and managing staff? Also with principals having a lot of experience (most likely starting as teachers) imagine the impact they could have on creating a unified curriculum vision within the school.
I will add that I interviewed a principal once at a public charter school who could work more closely with the community to bring resources -- financial, social, etc., -- into the school. I'm thinking about the bureaucracy of public education preventing principals from engaging and utilizing the community. Navigating the bureaucracy of CPS, even as an education nonprofit that is a certified vendor with the district can be tricky. There are many rules for "safety." Which is ultimately about safety and liability. I believe these things limit the capacity of principals.
The reading from this week hit very close to home due to the fact that I am considering exploring the option of administration for my own career.
ReplyDeleteI first want to touch on the fact that I have seen first hand administration focus on the content area that they have their background in school wide. For example, at my first CPS school the principal was a former math teacher. It was obvious that he took observations more serious when the subject was math. The reason being is because he felt that he could provide more meaningful feedback because he as comfortable in that subject area. He made sure that there was a leadership team for all subjects BUT the school wide initiatives revolved around math were more prevalent. For example, every morning for 15 minutes the entire school would log onto a program created by the math team to work on math fluency. I loved this idea but many could argue that there was no similar school wide initiative around reading fluency.
The job of a principal is a very complex one. I think that it is important that even though in most districts it is not required, principals take it upon themselves to get a genuine feel for all content areas and assign leadership within the school building to ensure that each moving piece has a view. It is extremely difficult to keep a clear outlook on what your position entails as far as curriculum and instruction without lacking in the managing department. I agree with another comment that talks about the funding being available to allow administration to share leadership with other professionals in the school building and compensating them for there time.
I could truly write a paper on this concept lol
Thank you for sharing! This article was very interesting to me because I once wanted to go into the field of administration. This article shows many reasons why I choose not too, the endless amount of responsibilities that educational leadership plays a part in. I like that you asked the question " How do administrations balance all their responsibilities?" I think this is a tough question to answer and can be hard for administrators to find this balance. My current administration is very young and I feel as if she is just now figuring out how to balance work life and home life. Often she spends late nights at work just to return the next day super early.
ReplyDeleteAs Tyler states " The improvement of curriculum and instruction is the most important task of the school administrator". I agree with this statement and having a leader who is familiar with curriculum design and different instruction is extremely beneficial. My current administrator may not know all forms of instruction, however, she is more than happy to allow us to take a personal development day to go to other schools and see their instructional approach. She also has ENDLESS amounts of books of curriculum design and approaches to instruction that she is always willing to share and talk about.