Explore the role of leadership in excising an innovative curriculum
Table of Contents
2…. Concept of educational leadership. 2
4…. Overview of curriculum leadership. 4
5…. Reasons school needs curriculum leaders. 5
6…. The educational sector in Saudi Arabia. 6
7…. The concept of technology leadership in Saudi Arabia. 6
8…. Role of leadership in developing curriculum.. 7
9…. Curriculum innovation in KSA.. 8
10.1… Transformational Leadership. 8
10.2… Charismatic leadership. 9
1 Introduction
Leadership has been accepted as the most integral aspect of management across all venues of business prevailing across the world. The same has been recognised in case of the educational institutions. Leadership has been considered to develop and cultivate the hidden talents and undermined aspects of employee skills which are helpful for, both business and the employees themselves. The need to ensure that the employees are effectively engaged and policies, regulations, and rules are developed accordingly and further abided by and not just designed is also the leader’s duty. It is considered important for the leaders to ensure that the entity is effective in following the design for growth and effective modelling of the institution’s operations. A similar position has been considered for innovation in the educational institutions which have now become quite common and acceptable for both staff and the students. Thus integrating the role innovation with supportive leadership for the educational institution is considered pivotal. The assignment or report which follows is developed over the role of leadership in educational institutions when developing an innovative curriculum. The educational sector of Saudi Arabia has further been specified when considering the lack of focus of researches on evaluating both leadership and innovation simultaneously within the country’s education sector.
2 Concept of educational leadership
Educational Aims are considered important goals marked and developed for better performance of the sector and institutions as singular areas. According to Amanchukwu et al. (2015), it has been considered to be effective with educational leadership where the role of the leaders expands into guiding and harnessing the talents from both teachers and the students towards mutual goal achievement. This is considered quite pivotal with respect to the fact that the leadership is not just associated with running the affairs of the educational institute but is further associated with the development of effective practices that increase efficiency across the institute. Liethwood and Hallinger (2012) have in their research considered the fact that the use of leadership skills is considered quite effective not just in the business institutions but expands in the educational sector as well. This is based on the increased diversity within the structure of the educational institution and thus a relevant need for better leadership which is further prompt in dispersing information and cultivating talent and skills within both the teachers and pupils. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Hallinger (2011) mentioned that educational institutions are considered to be quite an important ion churning the wheels of learning within society. The same has been considered important for the leadership within the education sector and has been the reason for developing the concept of educational leadership. The presence of educational leadership not only significant in the case of the institution put the people elated to it. The environment learning can only be garnered within the educational sector or the institution which would be focused when the leaders and the motive are aligned. Thus it has been considered that leadership in educational institution is pivotal like all other management related functions, amongst the highest stake for any stakeholder are the teachers and the parents for students, thus the leadership is also considered to be the effective role player for the human resource function in guiding either to the mutually selective goal.
3 Curriculum innovation
The innovation of curriculum is considered to be quite important with respect to the fact that as the world witnesses increased innovation and growth within the modern world has allowed induction of technology in various sectors across the world. The same has been observed within the educational sector where the entities have accepted technology and innovation as a possible area where tech and modernisation can help the sector marvel. Vanderlinde and van Braak (2011) in their study have highlighted the fact that induction of innovativeness into the educational sector has been quite handy. The innovation is both curriculum-based equipment and teaching aid related. In order to ensure that the entity is considered to be quite important with respect to changes being and in light of the external changes across the world. The curriculum-based innovation is considered important when it comes to the fact that the curriculum which is relevant to the particular area encompasses the aspects of all improvements made in the region and other global modern aspects. Tondeur et al. (2013) have mentioned the fact that they need to ensure that effective learning is developed with an effective curriculum which is the responsibility of the leader. In this regard developing an innovative curriculum is considered quite important. The curriculum with a notch higher innovation increases interest and importance within the organisation. This is considered to be the fact that the teachers within the various regions need to propagate the aspects of growth within the learning of their students which allows the growth of impactful areas within the educational institutes. In this regard, it has been considered that the use of curriculum innovation allows for better positioning of the institution and education on the whole as it adds modern concepts and reduces the predated aspects within the curriculum which are of no use now. Tytler et al. (2012) posited with similar aspects for curriculum innovation were adding more modern concepts was considered quite important and thus allowed for effective aspects of modernisation to be taught to the students in the region or elsewhere the curriculum was to be followed. This allows for the fact that the region, state or the educational sector does not remain limited to ancient and out-dated concepts but seeks to serve the more modern concepts to the students.
4 Overview of curriculum leadership
According to Parkes (2013), in the context of the educational sector, curriculum leadership is considered crucial for the success of the learning and teaching process. It basically can be considered as the use of certain functions which is helpful for the school systems for achieving their goals beyond the traditional pastoral and teaching methods. A curriculum leadership basically refers to the role of the teacher in comparison to a much broader administrative role. Positions in the school system itself may have administrative positions that explicitly assign the role, of course, leads to a specific person or position. The most common titles are course director, expert, course coordinator, course moderators or course assistant supervisors. With reference to this, Patrizio and Stone-Johnson (2016), stated that in many of the ways, curriculum leadership is similar to classroom teaching. Basically, it is the responsibility of the curriculum leader to ensure that all the teachers should be involved efficiently in the curriculum work and for enhancing the commitment of the teachers, their needs should also be taken into consideration. In order to be successful, it is necessary that all school leaders should be curriculum leaders for maintaining their role effectively. It is necessary that all the teachers should take part in developing the curriculum because they are the ones who will be teaching in the class, therefore, it is necessary that their point of view should also be taken into consideration.
In the view of Woods et al. (2014), a true leader in any of the schools would be the person who can have the ability to mediate between the individual needs and the organisational tasks. In simple words, it can be explained in a way that a curriculum leader is an individual who not only has a complete understanding of the pragmatics of the curriculum design alongside the instructional process but at the same time should also give the global understanding of the educational system as a societal enterprise. The role of the teacher and the curriculum leader are complementary, but the roles and capabilities are not always the same. On a much practical side, the curriculum leadership does require much more than a normal understanding of the psychology because curriculum leaders must be considered developmental, emotional, communicative and cognitive factors because they are considered crucial for content learning.
5 Reasons school needs curriculum leaders
In the view of Bush and Glover (2014), the simple task of curriculum maintenance is not easy and does require full consideration and time for performing the task correctly. Any of the forms of frequent tasks will regulate the readiness of the institution in delivering the planned curriculum as required. Without proper maintenance, it is quite possible that the curriculum can become slanted and sometimes even inefficient. In such situations, curriculum leaders are required who will not only maintain the developed curriculum but will also serve as a conduit for the information related to the classroom instruction. School curriculum leaders attend the various meeting not only at the district level but also attend international conferences at the state level, this is the place where rules and regulations related to the curriculum and classroom activities are promulgated. Transferring that information to the teachers in considered significant for any of the modern and innovative curriculum. In addition to this, Leithwood (2016), stated that one of the other significant maintenance tasks in any of the school is to make sure that compliance with the changing laws that governed the educational system. Curriculum leadership is necessary for educational institutions is because it is helpful in providing clarity not only in terms of the type of curriculum but also the way the curriculum should be completed. Moreover, curriculum leadership is also beneficial in providing opportunities for developing and empowering future leaders.
In addition to this, Shaked and Schechter (2013), stated that it is necessary that for enhancing the performance of the educational institution it should work as a learning organisation. Effective curriculum leadership is helpful in providing the opportunity to the institution and the teachers for continuous improvement. Along with this effective curriculum, leadership is also beneficial in providing the opportunity for establishing goals for enhancing the overall performance. An efficient curriculum lead had the responsibility of guiding the teamwork and at the same time, also makes sure that it is according to the school or educational institutions’ goals.
6 The educational sector in Saudi Arabia
Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2019) has highlighted the fact that the use of greater and more structured aspects of education in Saudi Arabia have been improvised with greater effectiveness and growth. The public and private sector institutions, especially universities, are nearly 50 across Saudi Arabia and a wide number more are still being planned. Further, the education sector caters to teaching and skill development from the lowest stage of kindergarten to masters and PhD level degrees. The number of primary and secondary schools surpasses the number of 30,000. In light of the research by Aldabas (2015), the need to ensure that the use of the various factors is considered quite important when it comes to analysis innovation. Saudi Arabia and its educational sector, which encompasses the special education aspects as well, has been indulged in using innovation quite effectively. As a part of teacher and student assistance, the schools and institutions within the region have deployed technology and a changed curriculum of technology education in it. Thus it can be effectively considered that the educations sector of KSA has transformed considerably, and the addition of the new curriculum has been initiated at multiple levels. The education sector of KSA contains promotion for primary and secondary education for all genders, which has given rise to the literacy rate within the country which has climbed to nearly 95% within the country.
7 The concept of technology leadership in Saudi Arabia
In the view of Alenezi (2017), the educational technology field basically emphasis specifically on educational technology leadership with reference to the leadership models and experiences of technology leadership. Technology leadership, especially in schools that are technology-oriented, involves not only administration but also the other respective member of the institution. Technology leadership in school administration is given importance within the process of technology implementation for teachers. It is necessary that technology leadership needs to be delegated for the technology leaders who had the responsibility of learning resource centres. With reference to Saudi Arabia Alkrdem (2014), stated that the ministry of education in the kingdom manages over 25,000 schools that include all the levels primary, middle and secondary in 42 districts. The majority of the school in Saudi Arabia is managed and run by the government. Information and communications technology were introduced in the curriculum of Saudi Arabia in 1985, and the reforms related to information and communication technology were launched in the country in 2004.
Gradually different changes were implemented, and school libraries were altered to learning resource centres. Along with these digital technical centres and, computer-based laboratories were also developed for supporting the school curriculum. The information and communication technology-related educational reforms are still not according to the standards. Teachers in an educational institution are required to use the technology but do not have the proper knowledge or experience of using those technologies. In addition to this Alameen, Male and Palaiologou (2015), stated that for enhancing innovation in the educational sector of Saudi Arabia it is necessary that focus should be given on enhancing technological based learning and technological leadership. Moreover, it is also identified that technological leadership cannot be detached from the information and communication technology infrastructure environment and training which is necessary for the information and communication technology reforms in Saudi Arabia at all levels of education.
8 Role of leadership in developing curriculum
In the view of Lai and Cheung (2015), the major purpose of educational leadership is to make sure that the institution should attain academic success in all its process, training and material development. This is generally achieved with the help of association with various individuals that includes parents, educators, public, students, and public policymakers. The principal of the educational institution is generally considered as the leader. A principal (leader) managerial responsibilities mainly inhibit the curriculum and instructional responsibilities. In order to develop a dynamic curriculum, it is necessary that the principal (leader) should provide support for the development of the curriculum and should also provide help to the staff and other workers who are involved in curriculum development for contemplating and selecting the effective curriculum design. In addition to this Shahadan and Oliver (2016), stated that the principal or the leader is considered as the major player in the process of curriculum designing because the leader had the daily interaction with the teaching staff and the students as well and have the proper knowledge about their views about the existing curriculum. Within the designing phase, some of the other aspects are also developed that include subject matter, objectives, evaluation procedures and learning experiences. It is necessary that the curriculum design should have symphonic vertical and horizontal associations of the different elements of the curriculum. It is necessary that during the designing of the curriculum, the leader (principal) should have the leadership function which will eventually be helpful in determining the present need as well as the needs of the future. The principal (leader) needs to develop parameters for the people who are involved in designing the curriculum. Moreover, the leader should be accustomed to the guidelines provided by the state, plant facilities, district finances, teacher preference and needs of the students.
9 Curriculum innovation in KSA
According to the official website AlMegren and Yassin (2013), the ministry of education in Saudi Arabia is developing various strategies for enhancing the performance of the educational sector by focusing on innovation. One such initiative is the National Transformation Program 2020, which focuses on mitigating the challenges faced by the educational sector. The Ministry of Education of Saudi Arabia is focusing on developing general and basic skills in all the students who will be helpful in enhancing their skills and knowledge for facing modern life requirements. In order to do so, one of the major changes which the ministry of education is focused on is changing the curriculum. A modern and innovative curriculum has been prepared by the ministry, which basically focuses on rigorous standards, particularly in numeracy, skills, literacy and character development. In addition to this, Alamodi et al. (2014), stated that the Saudi vision 2030 is one of the other initiatives which is focusing on developing the overall educational section and curriculum. The core focus of this initiative is to work closely with the public as well as the private schools for ensuring higher educational results which should be in line with the current requirements of the job market.
10 Theories
10.1 Transformational Leadership
In the view of McCleskey (2014), transformational leadership is one of the types of theory of leadership in which the leader works with the team for identifying the needed change, developing a vision that can work as a guideline for implementing the change. With the transformational leadership style, the individual basically encourages, motivates and inspires the subordinates for implementing innovation and creating change which will be helpful in growing and shaping the success of the institution. There are majorly four main components of transformational leadership style that include intellectual stimulation, idealised influence, individualised consideration, and inspirational motivation. Furthermore, transformational leadership is basically defined as the leadership approach that resulted in developing changes within an individual and the overall social systems. In the ideal terms, transformational leadership is helpful in creating valuable and positive change within the followers for achieving the set goals. In addition to this, Odumeru and Ogbonna (2013), stated that transformational leadership is specifically considered best at building culture, providing intellectual stimulation, developing a vision and holding high-performance expectations.
With reference to educational institution Braun et al. (2013), stated that transformational leadership and transformational schools are two of the terms that can be easily and readily can be applied to the educational leadership and overall institution. Transformational leadership style is helpful in improving the school climate, increasing student’s achievements, more rigorous instruction, and more intricate stakeholders. Moreover, transformational leadership is also helpful in developing positive change within the process of learning. The setting, governing body and geographical region of the educational institution do not affect the concept that leaders had the sole responsibility of changes that took place in the curriculum and the overall environment. Moreover, transformational leadership requires the individual to implement the pervasive and lasting changing in the educational environment.
10.2 Charismatic leadership
According to Parry and Kempster (2014), charismatic leadership is basically referred to as the process of encouraging the specific behaviour with an individual with the help of eloquent behaviour, the force of personality and persuasion. With charismatic leadership, the leader had the ability to motivate the followers for accomplishing the goals and improving the process through which certain goals are achieved. The charismatic leadership concept was developed by a German sociologist with the name Max Weber. The particular style of leadership involves a process through which authority is basically derived from the charisma of an individual. Charismatic leadership is in contrast to other types of authority that are the traditional authority and legal authority. In addition to this, Bell (2013), stated that the charismatic leadership style basically relies on the persuasiveness and charm of the leader. Individuals with charismatic leadership styles are driven by commitment and convictions for their cause. Charismatic leadership is sometimes called transformational leadership because both of the styles share various similarities. One of the major differences between the two styles is the audience and the focus. Leaders with the charismatic leadership styles mainly try to develop the status quo much better, on the other hand, transformational leadership style focusing on transforming the overall organisation as per the vision of the leader. According to Kempster and Parry (2013), charismatic leaders are mainly are helpful at times of crisis and display exceptional devoutness. Leaders with a charismatic leadership style are individuals with a clear vision of the respective areas of expertise and had the ability to engage with a much larger audience.
11 Empirical study
Considering the factor of leadership in education, especially with respect to curriculum development, is considered quite important. A range of empirical evidence exists where the school or educational institution leadership has been found to be a part of changes in curriculum and its effective innovation orientation. It has been highlighted in the research by Uljens (2015), that nearly all theories of educational leadership remark leadership to have a significant role in the development of educational curriculum and its effective implementation. Curriculum development with innovation to ensure that new concepts and topics are amalgamated into it is dependent on the excellence of the educational leader. In addition, the research by Alsubaie (2016) has a similar set of findings yet with a specific focus on the Saudi Arabian region. The researcher mentioned that the curriculum development on KSA remains dependent heavily on educational leadership, including the leadership of the whole sector, which is the government department. Innovative curriculum development in the country has been found to be reliant on how effective the leadership is in garnering the modern concepts and finding them apt for the general populous. To ensure this, the growth and prosperity of the sector are to be focused on an external factor such as worldwide educational standards must be kept in mind by the educational leadership of the country.
Further, in the book authored by Shapiro and Stefkovich (2016), the need to ensure that the use of the very struct6rued growth aspects must be catered when designing the curriculum. The authors found that educational leadership became integral to it as the decision making was associated heavily with the leader. In this regard, the educational leadership played a heftier part in the curriculum innovation. This furthered the importance which was provided to educational leadership when it came to curriculum innovation regardless of the country or region. In light of the study by VanKuiken et al. (2016), the need to ensure that the curriculum of an institution went under effective revision with more modern and interdisciplinary homogeneity was added to it the educational leadership was considered pivotal. This allowed effective aspects of the research being added to the fact that need to ensure an effective curriculum development was evidently the role of the educational leadership. The researchers mentioned the fact that aspects like the medical centre and other professional skills being added to the curriculum increases the aspects of innovation in it. This allows for effective positioning of the institution yet is dependent more on the educational leadership. The mentioned researches are considered to be an evidence form the previously conducted work over the educational leadership is considered to be quite important and thus required effective development of leaders for the educational sector.
12 Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above instances that the use of innovation within the educational sector has been quite an eminent appraisal to it. The role of leadership is considered within the above review, with a specific focus on the educational sector leadership. The role of leadership has been considered to expand beyond the realm of just designing policies but is further capable of developing a whole new set of policies that initiate growth and modernisation within the organisation that they lead. It can further be concluded that curriculum innovation is considered another important aspect within the modern-day educational institutions. The issues with respect to curriculum innovation have been considered to be quite important with respect to Saudi Arabia. The need to ensure that leadership developed with a specific focus on innovation and added to the educational sector can allow the whole sector to flourish with the concepts of modernisation being readily added and the ancient studied being omitted in their favour. In this regard, it has been importantly considered within the short study above that the educational curriculum when amalgamated with apt leadership and innovative support can be quite effective in its path to successfully nourishing the modern generation.
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