Leadership of vocational high school principals in curriculum reform: A case study in Taiwan

This research attempts to comprehend the traits and behaviors of vocational high school principals in implementing curriculum reform. In-depth interviews with experienced principals of three vocational high schools sought to identify the leadership roles and tasks that led to successful curriculum reform for vocational high school programs.     

谈校长领导作用促进课程改革的可持续发展

课程改革是对我国教学质量的不断提升,在我国的教育事业上起到举足轻重的作用。进入＂十二五＂我国的课程改革进入了一个新的阶段,而校长在这当中要如何扮演好自己的角色,从而推进课程改革的发展,是一个有待研究的课题。本文从课程改革的可持续发展出发,通过对课程改革和校长领导职能的论述,探讨校长的领导作用。     

Fashioning curriculum reform as identity politics—Taiwan's dilemma of curriculum reform in new millennium

This paper explores indigenization and globalization, the double issue of curriculum and identity as a dialectical contradiction that characterizes the ambivalence of “Taiwanese identity.” “Taiwanese identity” is treated as a social, political, and cultural construct rather than a fixed term in an essentialist sense. Curriculum, as culture's medium of social identity construction, represents a struggle over who constructs whose identity and what is constructed. Therefore, when curriculum reform is called for, it is also a time when a society transitioning and redrawing its socio-political and cultural boundaries to resolve internal social conflicts and identity anxiety. Curriculum reform, in this paper, is analyzed not only as a question of shifting explicit ideas of educational practice but also a question of shifting configurations in power relations that signify a politics of identity.The historical context that brought about the question of identity in Taiwan is introduced first. The second section discusses how emerging curricula were politically, socially, and culturally implicated in the process of constructing a Taiwan-centric identity. The third section analyzes the political, social, cultural, and educational implications of new curricula on the formation of a Taiwan-centric identity. Finally, the paper discusses the effect of globalization on the practice of new curricula and points out an ambivalence of local–global identity construction and the conflicting roles of education, especially curriculum, in this ambivalence.     

Learner agency and the curriculum: a critical realist perspective

Abstract

Agency, understood as the capacity to act independently and to make one’s own choices, is considered central to children’s development. Thus, education, and hence education curricula, have a role in the development of learner agency. While curriculum development is a key focus for educational theory, research, policy, and classroom practice, the potential implications of curriculum content selections for learner agency remain underexplored. Theoretically, this paper engages with critical realism, explaining how it can provide theoretical foundation for a more comprehensive view of learner agency and, by implication, more balanced curricula. Empirically, the paper draws on the findings from a content analysis of the national curriculum documents of four countries with relatively high scores in international comparative tables, England, Australia, Hong-Kong, and Canada, to develop a new typology of primary curricula. Based on the extent of emphasis placed on knowledge versus skills, values, and attitudes, three types of curricula were identified: knowledge-based, skills-oriented, and learner-centred. Due to its significant theoretical and practical influence globally, we focus on the knowledge-based model and its likely impact on students’ agency. We conclude by highlighting the importance of making learner agency a key orientation of the curriculum and suggesting directions for future research.     

Teacher receptivity to system-wide curriculum reform in the initiation stage: a Chinese perspective

Few studies deal with teachers’ receptivity in the initiation stage of educational change, especially in a non-western cultural context like Mainland China. This study aims at investigating teachers’ receptivity to the system-wide curriculum reform of the senior secondary education in the initiation stage and understanding the factors influencing teachers’ receptivity in Mainland China. Questionnaire survey with open-ended question (n = 763) is employed to explore teachers’ receptivity in four selected experimental provinces, i.e., the first group of provinces which are selected by Ministry of Education to implement the curriculum reform. Results indicate teachers have positive attitudes and behavioral intentions toward promoting the curriculum reform of senior secondary education, and they consider the reform is valuable but difficult to carry out. The existing theoretical model can explain teachers’ behavioral intentions quite well, but its predicting ability to teachers’ general attitudes is limited, which indicates some new variables that need to be considered, too. Implications of this study and suggestions for future research are also discussed in the article.     

Co-constructing distributed leadership: district and school connections in data-driven decision-making

The purpose of this paper is to examine leadership practices in school systems that are implementing data-driven decision-making employing the theory of distributed leadership. With the advent of No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) in the US, educational leaders are now required to analyse, interpret and use data to make informed decisions in all areas of education, ranging from professional development to student learning. The emphasis on data-driven decision-making practices to bring about improved student outcomes is relatively a new feature of the education reform landscape and thus requires educators to learn and develop new competences. Leadership is one crucial bridge that can support and direct these new learning efforts. Using qualitative data from a case study of four urban school systems, the authors’ findings indicate that: (1) leaders at all levels co-constructed the vision and implementation of productive data-driven decision-making by creating an ethos of learning and continuous improvement rather than one of blame; (2) in order to give data relevance, leaders also distributed decision-making authority in a manner that empowered different staff members to utilise their expertise; and (3) the school systems directed their resources on building human and social capacity mainly by focusing on modelling and knowledge brokering amongst their staff. The paper concludes with a discussion of research and policy implications based on the findings.     

学校分布式领导概念新思维与领导力实践体系的集成

分布式领导是教育管理中一个新兴的领导学研究领域。面对复杂多变的学校环境,分布式领导是优化组织决策、促进教师员工参与管理的重要领导模式。因此,当学校处于变革发展的条件下,面临加倍动荡的环境时,必须用新的思维整合分布式领导概念,将领导者、追随者和情境放在一起理解。以形成更有效的学校组织结构和流程。     

从文化视角反思我国新课程改革

课程改革是时代发展的必然需求,是教育改革的一项重要内容,它在本质上是文化的变革,文化作为课程的母体决定了课程的文化品性。文化冲突是课程改革的重要原因,文化调适是课程政策调整的重要依据。课程改革相关策略的制定应结合我国的物质文化、思想文化、政策文化三个方面综合考虑。     

Theorising the value of collage in exploring educational leadership

This article contributes to theorising the value of collage as a methodological approach. It begins with a discussion of the methodological difficulties of exploring hidden meanings and individual experience through the research process. The illuminative potential of arts‐based methodologies in qualitative research is then investigated. The article makes the case for the specific advantages of using collage to explore the experience of leadership, through a discussion of two collage‐based studies. It proposes a variant of the ‘think aloud’ process, used in conjunction with collage, as a route to producing deep understandings of the multiple ways in which leadership is experienced and understood as a social process. The argument is made that collage enables the accessing and sharing of profound levels of experience not accessible through words alone, and considers the impact of the physicality of collage on its potential to release these profound insights. A five‐stage process for the analysis of collage is then set out. The article concludes by offering a theory of the value of collage as a methodological approach to exploring experiences of leadership, through use of the concepts of physicality, wholeness and participant agency.     

The management of education and the social theory of the firm: from distributed leadership to collaborative community

Modes of organisation and control within educational organisations have tended to accord with those of the workplace. Bureaucracy has endured in both. Of late, it has been loosened. This has opened up a new conceptual space within educational management and leadership. Its underlying theme is collaboration. The analysis here extends the space associated with concepts such as distributed leadership and system leadership. It draws upon the recent social theory of the firm proposed by Paul Adler and Charles Heckscher, and introduces their concept of collaborative community, a concept which when applied to educational administration re‐instates both trust and community as contributing to education, economy and society.     

Individual and collective agencies in China's curriculum reform: A case of physics teachers

This study explores how physics teachers in a high school negotiate the relationships between individual and collective agencies in the context of the on-going curriculum reform in China. Drawing on Bandura's social cognitive theory, the study employs ethnographical methods including observation, interviewing, and the researcher's and teachers’ reflective journaling through the researcher's involvement with various school activities. The findings indicate that collective teacher agency creates a platform for individual teachers’ professional development, a conducive culture for teacher collaboration, and provides concrete examples that individual teachers can constantly refer to, reflect upon, and learn from for reform implementation. The results offer an understanding of the influences underlying physics teachers’ agency deployment as they engage with curriculum reform processes, especially the negotiation between individual and collective agencies. The findings justify a case for preparing physics teachers on how to deploy both individual and collective agencies in the face of the complicated social structures and ultimately shed light on the desired curriculum decentralization in the Chinese school system.     

Moral education and values education in curriculum reform in China

In the new curriculum reform in China, moral education and values education have been defined from the angles of the integrity and conformity of curriculum functions. Accordingly, a new education concept based on complete/integral curriculum functions is established. By discussing the essences of the curriculum, the basis of moral and values education, integrated curriculum setting in instruction structure, the presence of emotional and attitudinal goals in the subject standards, and teaching methods, this text points out that this curriculum reform looks to moral and values education in schools. The reform also emphasizes and will guarantee moral and values education in schools. Finally, the article recommends to elementary and secondary schools the studies on moral education in class conducted by the Research Institute of Moral Education of Nanjing Normal University, one of the Key Bases for Humanities and Social Sciences Research for the Ministry of Education. __________ Translated from Global Education, 2002:12     

007 Spies,surveillance and pedagogical middle leadership: for the good of the empire of education

ABSTRACT

This research critically examines the role of pedagogical leadership as it is distributed amongst middle leaders. It seeks to better understand the playful utility of a popular culture metaphor as a frame for understanding empirical data about pedagogical leadership in two Australian schools during a period of imposed curriculum change. Utilising ‘the theory of practice architectures’ (Kemmis, Stephen, Jane Wilkinson, Christine Edwards-Groves, Ian Hardy, Peter Grootenboer, and Laurette Bristol. 2014. Changing Practices, Changing Education. Wagga Wagga: Springer), the paper explores a direct quotation as metaphor from several pedagogical middle leaders that ‘we’re spies’ – and from one participant, ‘in a good James Bond sort of way.’ This research plays with and interprets the politics of practice including collaborating or ‘licensed trouble shooting’, and empowerment or ‘interrogation’ in everyday pedagogical leadership practice where distributing leadership may create espionage, or compliance during reform. Educational reform is espoused for ‘the good of the empire’ of education through the enabling and constraining practices of pedagogical middle leaders.     

Core competences and scientific literacy: the recent reform of the school science curriculum in China

ABSTRACT

China initiated a new round of science curriculum reform in 2017. Using the tripartite curriculum framework (including policy, programmatic, and classroom curriculum), we introduce and analyse China’s policy curriculum and programmatic curriculum for science in primary school and senior high school, and describe the potential problems hindering the translation of these curricula into the classroom curriculum. We first identify the multiple aims of different stakeholders in science education, some of which influence the science policy curriculum. Then, we present the major changes in how the programmatic curriculum meets the policy curriculum. However, due to extracurricular factors, the current science curriculum reform may not unfold as expected. We end with a discussion of the three major characteristics of the revision process of science curriculum standards in China, some of which might inform the global community of science education.     

以领导执行力模型构建为基础 提高领导科学发展能力

领导执行力是将部门和个人的系统、制度、组织、文化和操作办法由决策转化为结果的能力,即"正确的做事"的能力。针对实践中因为领导执行力不佳存在的许多困境,构建由"业务"、"目标"、"激励"和"沟通"四极组成的领导执行力模型对提高领导科学发展能力具有重要意义。     

谈新课改背景下的教育资源配置

2006年福建省开始实施的高中新课改,是一场既广泛又深入的教育创新,这次的课改涉及到培养目标的变化、课程结构的调整、课程内容的更新等,教育资源亟待重新配置.在新课改背景下必须结合校情,遵循市场配置与计划配置的经济理论,努力做好物质教育资源、非物质教育资源的重新配置与优化组合,才能获取最佳的课改效果.     

高校公共体育课程改革研究

高校公共体育课程是高等院校体育课程体系之中不可缺少的重要组成部分之一。对高校公共体育课程实施改革,是实施素质教育与培养全面发展的高素质人才的一条重要途径。本文探讨了我国高校公共体育课程教学中存在的问题,并提出了高校公共体育课程改革的相应方法。