Abstract:
In a recent study, funded by the Queensland Ministerial Consultative Council on Curriculum, designed to describe the perceptions of the curriculum implementation process held by educational personnel across the system, the issue of leadership in the process evolved as a major secondary factor. Significant differences in the need for and perceptions of the leadership role in the process were discovered between senior administrators, principals and teachers. Senior administrators saw no role responsibility for the curriculum implementation process and the majority of principals in the study expressed a decided preference for non-involvement, based upon past practices, lack of training and knowledge on how to manage implementation. In contrast, teachers in the study expected curriculum and instructional leadership from the school administration in the form of general support and direction, the generation of local ownership of curriculum innovation, the development of appropriate inservice activities and curriculum maintenance processes. This study describes a significant gap in the expectations of educational personnel concerning a critical activity central to the concept of devolving decision making responsibilities to the local level.