Research On Curriculum Leadership: A Comprehensive Perspective

As the change of the backwardness in current curriculum management is one of the major targets of the new-round curriculum reform in China, the emergence of curriculum leadership brings a new way for it. Curriculum leadership, as an emerging idea, boasts many advantages for us to draw on. Although many people in China have realized this point, most of them always have a confusing understanding of it. This thesis attempts to uncover its mystery through an illustration of its source, current development and essence.The thesis consists of six parts. The first one is the introduction, which clarifies not only the purpose and significance of the study but also the difference between some important concepts. The second part narrates the history of curriculum leadership so as to prove that it is the inevitable outcome of curriculum development. In the third and forth parts, three different theories and four practical models in four countries are respectively introduced so that an explicit understanding of curriculum leadership is provided from both theoretical and practical respects. The fifth part sheds light on the essence of curriculum leadership that includes four basic factors -community, vision, cooperation and change. The last part illustrates its importance in the reform of China's curriculum, and points out some problems that command attention in its implementation.Literature research is the main method used in this thesis. Through searching, analyzing and arranging a multitude of literature, this thesis tries to find out the foreign and domestic development of curriculum leadership and bring out the nature of curriculum leadership in the hope that it will enlighten curriculum reformers in China.