The Knowledge and Supports Needed to Lead Curriculum and Instruction
All participants agreed that it is no longer possible for principals to keep themselves apprised of all of the details for the roughly 85 curricula that are in use in elementary schools. Of those curricula, an average of 5 per year have been either undergoing pilot situations or have entered into the implementation phase of the Saskatchewan Education DIME model. Annually, all curricula are reviewed in each school and new resource needs are determined. As two participants noted
We’ve become so overwhelmed in our jobs. It’s hard to be on top of [curriculum and instruction] anymore. … It is entirely impossible to stay abreast with curriculum as it changes. We can have the knowledge of the concepts that are in curriculum, as is our responsibility, but … for us to be knowledgeable of each and every lesson? That is entirely impossible and that’s up to the teachers. For myself, if I have a general knowledge when I talk to teachers, I use that as a basis. (CB)
I don’t take the full responsibility for [curriculum and instruction]. I don’t know what the curriculum is in detail for every grade level. I just can’t do that. If you think you have to be the one that knows everything about everything and you can’t live any other way, I don’t think you should be a principal or a leader of anything because you’ll end up burning yourself out and you’ll have a nervous breakdown. (BW)
All participants spoke about the need to understand the basic philosophy and foundational objectives of all curricula. Saskatchewan Education currently provides school-based administrators with a comprehensive overview, or administrators’ bulletin, for each of the Core curricula. These documents appeared to be important to the principals in this study as they work to keep abreast of curricula.
Could it be that principals are not receiving the information they want in order to be effective leaders of curriculum and instruction? Or perhaps the information is being delivered to principals, but in a fashion that is not conducive to easy access or understanding? The participants in this study indicated that there were supports and activities they relied on as leaders of curriculum and instruction and that there were other supports that they wish they had.
Participants indicated they work to maintain current knowledge about curriculum and instruction through personal reading, university classes, membership on school division curriculum committees, writing local curriculum documents, listening to teachers, peers, consultants, superintendents, attending professional development opportunities, administrators’ meetings, and observing in teachers’ classrooms. However, all comments to this effect seemed to contain an unspoken message of unsureness. Most seemed to be wondering ‘Am I learning what I need to know?’.
All participants commented that they would like to see more time taken at administrators’ meetings to deal with, and spend time talking about, curriculum and instruction issues. It would be simple to assume that lengthening the time spent on curriculum issues at principals’ meetings would resolve the frustration sensed by principals. However, this is not the case. For example, one of my participants is looking for another type of support in his job. He is asking for information to support people as they work with new curricula.
As an instructional leader, I do not have to know the curriculum for each grade level well. I have to know how to support people as they try to teach young people and that, to me, means knowing a lot more. That’s where the time and the change theory and the ability or wanting to take people from one point in their development to another point [comes in]. (BG)
The majority of participants indicated a desire for inservice sessions designed specifically for administrators. They saw benefits in attending school division professional development sessions designed for teachers, but wished they had sessions developed specifically for them.
It’s really important that the administration be present and part of inservices [designed for teachers] so that they get the same message as the teachers got. If I don’t have the same messages, then I’m not necessarily going to be on the same page and I’m not going to understand what their concerns are. (BM)
Two participants recalled the days when principals used to receive all new information about curriculum prior to teachers receiving it. Currently, teachers and administrators in this school division are collectively exposed to new curricula during the same professional development sessions. Principals receive notice of these days, but rarely receive any advance ‘training’. One participant seems to miss the days when
we used to funnel a lot of things through principals - curriculum things like newly developed materials. Now [that] goes directly to teachers and I think [principals] are losing … I feel left out. (CB)
This feeling may be based on two administrators missing the ‘good old days’, or it may be that the supports these principals are looking for are either no longer a part of the way information is disseminated in this school division or it is not offered in a way with which they are comfortable