Mullen, C. 2007. Curriculum Leadership Development: A Guide for Aspiring Leaders. New York: Taylor and Francis Publishers.
The book provides critical approaches that assist readers to comprehend the complexity of curriculum leadership. It expounds on current and relevant studies, approaches, legislations, and the utilization in areas related to curriculum development, leadership, and sponsorship (Mullen, 2007). The author tries to connect curriculum and leadership, and democracy and accountability in instructive ways for teachers and managers. It sufficiently explores tensions inherent in curriculum and leadership, and democracy and accountability for schools (Mullen, 2007).
Curriculum Leadership
The text highlights first-person accounts from experienced teacher leaders. It focuses on curriculum and leadership development at the school level and provides educators with reflections on real-life curriculum leadership situations. In particular, it discusses professional development as an instrument for change; indicating that teacher learning can enhance positive effects on students’ achievements where it focuses on curriculum (Mullen, 2007).
It advocates for educational practitioners who are highly capable in their multiple roles to make excellent informants. Teachers and administrators who study issues they identify as critical speak as informed authorities and as action researchers seek to make a difference (Mullen, 2007).
The author assembles an exemplary group of emerging leaders, empowered through the lenses of action researcher and scholar-practitioner. She depicts action researchers as individuals who require their findings to have an impact on the situation or context as the intervention takes place. Scholar practitioners, on the other hand, apply theory to inform their practice and permit their reflections upon their practice to inform theory (Mullen, 2007).
Curriculum Leaders and Curriculum Leadership
The text describes a curriculum leader as a primary force denoting effective leadership. It defines curriculum leaders as individuals or organizations that are part of the activities they have been involved in. both curriculum leader and curriculum leadership refer to active involvement in driving schools forward to offer learning programs that are vigorous and relevant in preparing students for a successful future and that demonstrate outcome over time. the book includes curriculum leaders at the school level to be the principal and deputy principals, as well as teachers, teacher mentors, administrative resource personnel, and curriculum developers and reformers. They are employed within school districts besides being researchers, scholars, and consultants. Curriculum leaders also work at places remote from schools, within districts, associations, universities, and parliaments (Mullen, 2007).
Contributing teachers convey an image of administrative leaders who effectively lead schools in the 21st century. They are knowledgeable of important issues. The book notes a group of leading researchers who educate future leaders and leaders and also think of site-based curriculum leadership as comprehensive. Contributing teachers identify these as leading areas of school improvement that matter not just to today’s administrators, but also to educators themselves. Some of their cases pursue contextual and environmental issues that support such matters as student achievement and school performance (Mullen, 2007).
The book deeply engages highly effective and committed curriculum leaders. These leaders try to change the conformist culture of their schools, partly by managing members who resist change. They perform this great challenge through several interrelated processes (Mullen, 2007). The text depicts change agents as people who view the curriculum in holistic, and not in fragmented ways. Exemplary curriculum leaders demonstrate good qualities such as the ability to maintain good working relationships, initiate productive interactions, initiate and sustain effective dialogue, and inspire excellence (Mullen, 2007). School principals in the role of curriculum leaders are explained as those who are strong and effective with vibrant initiating styles in all major areas of the school. These areas include; development of policies and goals solicitation of input from faculty on critical matters, modeling, and monitoring of high academic achievement for students and others. The author postulates that such holistic frameworks of qualities extend well beyond the assumption that it is enough for leaders to assist educators select, develop and implementing curriculum materials. It reaches past the ability of a leader to spearhead the adoption of the new curriculum. Curriculum adoption is not an easy task as it requires preparation, faculty acceptance, community acceptance, and resources (Mullen, 2007).
Effective curriculum leaders are required to be knowledgeable of which objectives, domains, and subjects are valued at the district, state, and federal levels. Curriculum leaders also need to be knowledgeable of which objectives are being bypassed or evaded in the current testing milieu that values measurable standards and outcomes. School leaders are advised to discover these prejudices in testing climate and work toward overcoming it, by dialoguing with teachers and other professionals in their school and district, reading educational literature to access empirical arguments and evidence-based claims, contacting their education state representative to ask questions, or joining a decision-making curriculum program. By speaking with parents, researchers, and community leaders, they determine how ethnic individuals or groups experience testing prejudice and what can be done to remedy this problem. This is aimed to create equitable conditions for all children and adolescents, not to perpetuate prejudices inherent in nearsighted testing policies and procedures (Mullen, 2007).
The text also highlights mindful curriculum leadership. It attests this aspect to be pedagogically centered curriculum practice in which the well-being of the student is the school’s focus. This notion has become integrated into curriculum thinking today. Specifically, the job of curriculum planners is to anticipate the exact skills, knowledge, and competencies that will stand one in good stead at an imagined in the future. This notion plays a big role in technology leadership for schools (Mullen, 2007).
Conclusion
In sum, the book includes important elements of the voice and curriculum experiences of a professional teacher, student, illustrations of practitioners as curriculum developers and action researchers (Mullen, 2007).
Reference List
Mullen, C. 2007. Curriculum Leadership Development: A Guide for Aspiring Leaders. New York: Taylor and Francis Publishers.