Distributed Curriculum Leadership in Action: A Hong Kong Case Study

Abstract

This study was designed primarily to investigate the impact of school-based curriculum development teams on teacher development within the tradition of school-based curriculum development. The results are expected to provide valuable insights for teachers, school management and policy making. Teacher interviews in a primary school in Hong Kong were conducted to evaluate the extent to which teacher engagement in curriculum decision-making processes, which are within two school-based curriculum development teams, led to teacher professional development; these were triangulated with video-taped meetings and tryout lessons. Qualitative evidence showed that participating teachers have each undergone professional development through the processes involved in the planning, experimenting and reflecting (PER) model, which is also upon curriculum practice and innovation under certain conditions. However, the complex structures and processes that have been established to involve teachers in curriculum decision making need further empirical and theoretical work. While previous papers on the studies focused on teacher development and pupil learning, this paper, based on interview data, aims to focus on the functions of distributed leadership, and how the leadership styles of consultants and panel heads mediate the interactional patterns and therefore the discourses in the Mathematics and Chinese development teams in the second action cycle of the innovation project.Keywords curriculum change, distributed leadership, school-based models of curriculum development, teacher development Context of ChangeThe decentralization of curriculum decision making has been one of the key debates in the broad discussion on appropriate change strategies concerning school improvement, teacher development and pupil learning for the past several decades (Skilbeck

School leadership models: what do we know?

“…Fitzgerald and Gunter (2008) refer to the residual significance of authority and hierarchy, and note the 'dark side' of distributed leadership, managerialism in a new guise. It can also be argued that distributed leadership leads to the power relationship between followers and leaders becoming blurred (Law, Galton, and Wan 2010). Lumby (2013) also links distributed leadership to power, claiming that little attention is given to the implications of the former for power relations in education.…”

Review of Research on Educational Leadership and Management in Hong Kong, 1995–2012: Topographical Analysis of an Emergent Knowledge Base

“…M. Cheung & Walker, 2006;Chui et al, 1996;Dimmock & Walker, 2005;Ho, 2010;Ho & Tikly, 2012;E. H. F. Law, 2011;E. Law et al, 2010;L.…”

“…These studies have focused on principals (e.g., Chui, Sharpe, & McCormick, 1996 Wong, 2011;Yu, Leithwood, & Jantzi, 2002), vice principals (e.g., Kwan, 2009aKwan, , 2009b; J. C. K. Lee, Kwan, & Walker, 2009), middle-level managers (e.g., department heads, curriculum leaders), and teacher leaders (e.g., Ho, 2010;Ho & Tikly, 2012;E. Law et al, 2010;M.…”

“…Here cultural context refers to the impact of Hong Kong's Chinese culture on attitudes and behaviors related to leadership practice (e.g., Dimmock & Walker, 2005). Hong Kong scholars have, for example, analyzed how Chinese cultural norms shape attitudes toward change management, school-based management, and distributed leadership (Hallinger, 2011a;Ho & Tikly, 2012;E. Law, Galton, & Wan, 2010).…”

A Singapore Case Study of Curriculum Innovation in the Twenty-First Century: Demands, Tensions and Deliberations

“…This is especially so in educational systems which are becoming more decentralized. A study from Hong Kong has shown how curriculum innovation has occurred through distributed leadership (Law et al 2010). When teachers were given autonomy and a greater responsibility of developing new curricular, the resultant ownership greatly enhanced the innovation's success (Kennedy 2010;Law et al 2010).…”