Glatthorn, A., Boschee, F., & Whitehead, M. (2006). Development and Curriculum Leadership. California: Sage Publication, Inc.
This text explores all aspects of the curriculum. It is meant for educational leaders who strive to restructure and enhance curriculum successfully in learning institutions today. This book is of great assistance to educational leaders who want to explain curriculum concepts, analyze and understand the hidden curriculum, explain the contracting nature of curriculum elements and unfold strategies to develop and implement curriculum (Glatthorn, 2006).
The authors present this book in four important parts: Part one presents curriculum foundations; part two curriculum processes; part three-curriculum management; and part four-current trends in the curriculum.
Curriculum Foundations
The authors provide a historical view of the curriculum development process as a framework for current curriculum theory and practice. They underscore the value of curriculum theory in analyzing curriculum proposals, reviewing practice for guiding curriculum changes (reform). The book notes the importance of molding curriculum theory and school curriculum practices together as necessary in the educational planning process. It recognizes the challenges in the use of theoretical models to make continual analyses, evaluations, and revisions of curriculum considering fields such as information technology and sociology of knowledge. In essence, the text develops a critical understanding of curriculum theory by offering instruments needed in analyzing curriculum proposals, illuminating practice, and guiding curriculum changes (reform) (Glatthorn, 2006).
The authors associate the concept of schooling and education with curriculum ideas and curriculum thought. Curriculum theory is defined as a set of associated educational concepts that provides a systematic and illuminating view of curricula phenomena (Glatthorn, 2006).
The book explains the need for leadership and theoretical planning in the school curriculum. It recognizes challenging and exciting moments in educational history school administrators face today. Curriculum leaders need to be familiar with a comprehensive spectrum of curriculum theory ranging from behavioral to critical. The text encourages curriculum leaders to know the mirrored association between theory and practice and how each can be utilized to mold and define the other (Glatthorn, 2006).
The book classifies curriculum theories into four categories depending on their domains of inquiry. The first category discussed involves theories that are structure-oriented. These are theories that analyze curriculum components and their interrelationships. They are descriptive and explanatory in intend. The second category involves value-oriented theories. These theories analyze the values and assumptions of curriculum developers and their products. They are presented to be critical. The third category involves content-oriented theories which determine the curriculum content. And the fourth category involves process-oriented theories which describe how curricula are developed. In sum, the chapter provides a historical view of the curriculum development process as a setting for current curriculum thought and practices. It describes the nature of curriculum theory and differentiates among specific categories of curriculum theories (Glatthorn, 2006).
Curriculum Process
In this chapter, the authors differentiate among federal, state, district, local, and classroom levels of the curriculum. They also articulate the role of state policies as a framework for curriculum development at district and local stages. The importance of the local board of education, superintendent, principal, and all relevant educational administrators and supervisors in the curriculum development process is also underscored. The chapter also describes the importance of forming a vision and goals for the overall curriculum development process. The chapter ably articulates the strategic planning method and differentiates strategic planning from other long-term planning strategies. The curriculum planning process is described in terms of the assessed needs of those affected by the curriculum. It presents a catalog as a means of enhancing programs of studies and fields of study through the revision of the existing curriculum. Most importantly, this chapter identifies technological and naturalistic processes for developing new courses and units (Glatthorn, 2006).
Curriculum Management
In this chapter, the authors explain curriculum supervision in terms of effective and efficient utilization of human and material resources. They describe the steps of curriculum implementation and curriculum change (reform). They also translate the link of curriculum alignment to a student to student achievement and discuss the procedure of aligning curriculum. Last but not least, the chapter defines curriculum evaluation roles and describes several specific evaluation models (Glatthorn, 2006).
Current Trends in the Curriculum
The authors enumerate current trends in the curriculum including improving skills of thinking, computer technology in the classroom, and integrating the curriculum. Secondly, the book assists interpret the significance of individualizing the curriculum in such areas as gifted and talented education, education for the disabled, and bilingual education. Thirdly, the book evaluates actual curriculum practices as documented and explained by educational practitioners in the field in light of curriculum theory. Last but not least, the book identifies the elements of different curriculum designs and recognizes both the pros and cons related to each for satisfying the needs of the student population and individual learners within an increasingly multicultural society (Glatthorn, 2006).
Conclusion
In summary, the book vividly explains the nature of curriculum theory as a culmination of functions and approaches. It enlightens curriculum theorists to be aware that curriculums can be both the description of what occurs in the classroom and what practically happens in the classroom. This assists future curriculum theorists to describe, explain and forecast teaching and learning processes. The book also assists in providing constructs critical for analyzing proposals, illuminating practice, and guiding curriculum changes (reform). Most importantly, it assists in establishing strategies to pass knowledge through a syllabus, concentrate on the end product, demonstrate the learning process and offer awareness by encouraging a dynamic milieu in the globalized technological classroom of the future. In essence, this book enumerates dynamic strategies of teaching and learning that can catalyze educational change the world over (Glatthorn, 2006).
Reference List
Glatthorn, A., Boschee, F., & Whitehead, M. (2006). Development and Curriculum Leadership. California: Sage Publication, Inc.