A Research On Principal's Curriculum Leadership

Nowadays, with the penetrating and thoroughgoing study of the curriculum theory, there comes into many brand-new theories, one of which is principal's curriculum leadership research. As a newly-born study field, principal's curriculum leadership can both be regarded as an activity that exerts influences on others and a topic that everyone has a say. Unfortunately, its research confines to some fragmentary thoughts without achieving any systematic and whole outcome, so far so that professor Allan A.Glatthorn from America says there are hundreds of papers and books devoted to the study of instruction leadership, yet quite few literatures are found when he looks for materials concerning principal's curriculum leadership from Eric data. There are more researchers applying themselves to this field in Hongkong and Taiwan districts than those in mainland, where the principal's curriculum leadership research is only at the elementary stage, focusing on trifles or trivial matters of the principal. This paper treats the principal's curriculum leadership research as a doctoral thesis in mainland as a guinea pig, the author attempts to carry a systematic positive study in this field as the first scholar in mainland. Compared with the popular topics in educational research, this paper merely serves as a limited personal initiative.School has evolved into a community of learning, a community of peers, a community of caring, a community of all-inclusion, a community of exploration and a community of morals. As a pilot of this community, the principal is closely related with curriculum. Judging from the historical development of the curriculum, people have come to know the relations between subject expert and curriculum, teachers and curriculum, students and curriculum, and consequently, exhaustive and accurate studies have been carried out about them. Unluckily, little attention has been paid to the relations between principal and curriculum. As a matter of fact, principal and curriculum are two fundamental elements of the school development, of which many thorough and detailed studies have been made concerning it, as a result, two respective study fields have taken shape—principalship and curriculum research.However, so far there are few or no studies integrating both principalship and curriculum as a whole not only in theory but also in practice, which indicates that it is unnecessary for the author to deal with the principalship and curriculum like the most commonly-addressed topics, and therefore, leaving much room for this paper to bring forth the new from the old.This paper centers on the principal's curriculum leadership, making way for the principalship and curriculum research which have produced lots of achievements. Through sorting out a multitude of literature involving curriculum leadership and principal's curriculum leadership, based on the data analyses of principals' practice, this paper tries to lay bare the predicament faced by the principals, make a minute and in-depth analysis about it, and eventually come up with the strategies for these difficult positions. In this way, the author puts his research in action and does his own reflections through research in an effort to provide a multi-perspective to observe things, to raise people's understanding of the essence of the principal's curriculum leadership to a higher level, to enlarge the space of discussions.Beginning with the argument that curriculum leadership should be the universally-acknowledged aspiration of the principal, this paper traces the history of the definition and research evolution of both the curriculum leadership and principal's curriculum leadership. Relying on the positive investigation, this paper puts forward suggestions of rebuilding with an intention to focus on the essence of the principal's curriculum leadership. The dissertation is divided into five sections as follows:In chapter one the author presents his view about the relations between curriculum and principal at the very beginning, by probing into the differences between curriculum management and curriculum leadership, the author arrives at the conclusion that the change from curriculum management to curriculum leadership is the innate nature of the curriculum development.Chapter two starts with the definition of the leadership, following the developmental order from leadership to transformative leadership, and then to curriculum leadership, finally to principal's curriculum leadership, trying to make a thorough inquiry into their evolutions with a hope to draw a picture briefly and concisely about the curriculum research from the beginning to the end.Dedicated to the elaboration on the role, the task, the measures, the principles and the significance of the principal's curriculum leadership, chapter three tries every means to get to the root of the theoretical strongpoints, and expose the drawback of the current principal's curriculum leadership research.Chapter four turns to the practical investigation of the principal's curriculum leadership, by which the author explores, analyzes and ascertains the straits confronted by the principal when he leads the curriculum objective, content, development, design, organization, implementation and evaluation, contriving to make a careful examination about the alienation and defect of the practical principal's curriculum leadership.Chapter five intends to deal with the puzzlement faced by the principal through reconceptualizing and rebuilding. Only by clarifying the confusion in theory first and going back to the original meaning of some relevant theories can we pry the whole "earth" of the principal curriculum leadership, can we break the former undesirable habits, can we seek knowledge from the real world.Finally, this paper ends with the appeal that curriculum leadership is a discipline for all the principals.Children should be happy! This is a long-cherished dream of Mr. Tao Xingzhi more than half a century ago. As a principal of curriculum leadership in the new century, if he can make the above wish which is just like a mirage come true through reflection and criticism of the curriculum practice, school will return to its original meaning by being a place where students' learning takes place, the future of which will become the pleasant expectation of all the stakeholders.