Using the information in Chapter 4 of English’s text, examine and reflect on these topics:
Examine the full responsibility of curriculum leadership,
Investigate the perpetuation of the cultural capital embraced by externally imposed accountability models,
Recognize the avoidance of deficit mindsets, models, and cultural marginalization of others,
Measure the value and relevance of data.
Your paper should include citations from texts.
Assignment 4: Curriculum Leadership: Part 1
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course
Instructor’s Name
Date
Assignment 4: Curriculum Leadership: Part 1
Introduction
Leadership challenges exist in all industries, and education is no exception. According to English (2010), many corporate CEOs and CFOs in jail are adequate evidence of the tyranny of managing by numbers and there is no reason not to believe that similar scandals exist in schools. The rot in public service that first manifested in university business schools has now spread in full force to education schools. In that regard, this paper reflects on some topics to understand more about curriculum leadership.
The full responsibility of curriculum leadership
English (2010) states that an educational curriculum that is designed to train learners on some pre-determined specific objectives results in static rather than a dynamic social order. The full power of the State is established to bear on boosting test scores, alongside a wide range of rewards and punishments. As a result, teachers and school administrators have set their minds that test score improvement might mean a healthy school life. English (2010), is questioning the responsibility that any curriculum leader has to question and resist a system of testing, which could be referred to as the full responsibility of curriculum leadership. Curriculum leaders should be able to base curriculum content knowledge on the greater socioeconomic canvas as possible, in which the schools function.
The perpetuation of the cultural capital embraced by externally imposed accountability models
Under this topic, English (2010) asks himself about who benefits from the perpetuation of the cultural capital embraced by externally imposed accountability. The way curriculum is designed and the tests to assess it are made in a way to benefit certain social groups of people while despising another group (Keating et al., 2018). The presence of cultural diversity in test-takers is an indication that there is no neutral test content. Some learners will be more experienced than others, have a deeper cultural-linguistic, and a wider vocabulary. English (2010) gives an example of SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) which consistently favored white students. Therefore, more privileged people in society are the ones who benefit from the perpetuation of the cultural capital embraced by externally imposed accountability
The avoidance of deficit mindsets, models, and cultural marginalization of others
English (2010) argues that the main problem with discussions around curriculum alignment and learner’s achievement gap is that people are quick to fall into the old traps that perceive such dereferences as hereditary. It is the same thing that happens when conceptualizing cultural capital between groups. Those perceiving a gap as a difference in cultural capital often assume that learners who score lower are ignorant, stupid, and lazy (Keating et al., 2018). Therefore, curriculum leaders may be arrogant toward those who come to the school in a position of a disjunction to the dominant forms of cultural capital contained in the curriculum and school routines (Keating et al., 2018). They are then dehumanized, marginalized, and victimized.
Measure the value and relevance of data
Not all data have the ability to measure the most relevant things; some data may be misleading, trivial, or unimportant. English (2010) suggests that tests do not measure the full scope of any curriculum. Additionally, much of the curriculum may be ambiguous, hence, the test maker develops test questions that are contrary to the actual learning desires from the perspective of the curriculum developer. It is at this point that the disconnect between teaching, learning, and testing happens. To ensure relevance, tests and their contents are often determined by the state or some agency external to the school (Keating et al., 2018). Tightening the connectivity between curriculum, teaching, and testing to avoid issues of irrelevance and low value of data in the education sector.
Conclusion
Curriculum development, alignment, and leadership are all interconnected activities. Curriculum leadership is facing challenges imposed by certain groups of people to suit their interests. People in power tend to control everything about the curriculum and tests to assess it. This paper discussed various topics to understand the challenges of curriculum leadership.
References
English, F. W. (2010). Deciding What to Teach and Test (3rd Edition). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US). https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9781452271583
Keating, S. B., DeBoor, S. S., & Keating, S. B. (2018). Curriculum development and evaluation in nursing education. Springer Publishing Company.