Middle Leaders as Innovators in Curriculum Improvement

Abstract

This chapter is written from the perspective of an experienced middle leader reflecting on what would have been a powerful approach to solving curriculum challenges at the launch of their middle leadership journey. The approach is learning and leading through collaborative inquiry; a process that provides the pathway and direction for a curriculum middle leader (CML) to engage in inquiry to solve a challenge of practice. A CML invests a great deal of time and effort in unpacking and understanding the ‘why’ of a curriculum challenge. This is achieved through unpacking and understanding the ‘how’ which led to the challenge, and thus, strong strategic skills are required. Additionally, effective CMLs do not undertake this work in isolation, rather, they build and facilitate a professional learning community (PLC) (Stoll et al., 2006) of curriculum enthusiasts to undertake this journey with them, which requires substantial relational trust.

Citation

McKay, W. and Pendergast, D. (2024), "Middle Leaders as Innovators in Curriculum Improvement", Benson, E., Duignan, P. and Watterston, B. (Ed.) Middle Leadership in Schools: Ideas and Strategies for Navigating the Muddy Waters of Leading from the Middle, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 153-169. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83753-082-320241010