Faculty of Education

This study into the effectiveness of curriculum co-ordinator networks for Catholic secondary schools in Victoria focused on the evaluation of a pilot project in 1989. Specifically, the researcher sought to determine whether the availability of pilot convenors would enhance curriculum co-ordinators' perceptions of professional development, curriculum information and peer support via the networks. Simultaneously, the study described the pilot convenor role, thereby identifying the characteristics ascribed to effective network convenors and attempting to isolate factors which influence network effectiveness. Under the umbrella of illuminative evaluation, a range of research instruments were used, including interviews and questionnaires. Most curriculum co-ordinators who participated in this study believed they had informally rather than formally skilled themselves for their role, despite being multiply credentialled. Prior to the study they had a limited understanding of how the network could improve their professional skills -- this consciousness was only marginally heightened during the project. Similarly evidence of peer support from within the network was scant prior to the pilot project and increased minimally during the study. Attitudes to the accessibility of curriculum information were very high prior to the project and increased slightly during the study. Curriculum co-ordinators placed a high value on information access via the network and the curriculum knowledge of convenors. There is evidence from this study that convenor commitment and accessibility affect network success : further, that professional knowledge, managerial competence and responsive, non-directive interpersonal convenor skills positively influence network effectiveness. Environmental factors such as network size, the mix of schools and the professional experience of participants also impact on network effectiveness. Conceptual flaws in the networking model being trialled were revealed during this study: namely, the use of school-based personnel as pilot convenors did not inherently add to their credibility with curriculum co-ordinators but likely detracted from their effectiveness. Further, the availability of a pilot convenor as 'critical friend' appeared to undermine peer support rather than enhance it. iii

In Victorian Government state Secondary Schools, the position description of Curriculum Coordinator, in conjunction with the Principal, generally includes the responsibility of leading and managing the implementation of whole school change. Shared decision making is much more an established expectation amongst staff in state secondary schools than it is in independent schools where executive authority is clearly the prerogative of the Principal, and the management structure has traditionally been hierarchical. In a climate of teacher disenchantment with restructuring, competitive marketing and centrally directed change, it is important that the Curriculum Coordinator is skilled in securing agreement on key curriculum decisions. Ling (1998) and Vivian (1997) have shown that the successful management of curriculum change depends to a large degree on the deliberative as well as strategic skills of the Curriculum Coordinator in enlisting the support and cooperation of teachers. They found that this depends to a large degree on the personal propensities and moral capacities that the Curriculum Coordinator brings to the role which is defined to a considerable extent by their relationship with the Principal. Weiss (1998), however, identifies teachers as inhibitors of change if the change adversely affects them or if it is perceived to be contrary to the prevailing interests of the students or to the ethos of the school. Schwab (1983) has presented an argument for the centrality of the deliberative role of Curriculum Coordinator (or Chairmen as Schwab calls them). This study, written by an experienced Curriculum Coordinator, explores the knowledge, skills and propensities employed by three practising Curriculum Coordinators in Victorian State Secondary Schools in Melbourne when leading the deliberations of their curriculum committees to consider the implementation of a State-mandated change. This research in the form of historical ethnographies presents each Curriculum Coordinator's understanding of the role through their retelling and evaluation of the strategies that they used in dealing with the implementation of a compulsory Sport program. As a reference point for evaluating these strategies, I have discussed the participant's stated position model of the relevant skills and propensities, my own understanding of the role as a practising Curriculum Coordinator and compared them with Schwab's paradigm. The assumption was that through reflection and narrative construction these experienced teachers would be able to identify critical issues and explore areas of their middle management position. It was felt at the outset by the author and participants that sharing of reflection would benefit both the mentor and others in curriculum management positions in State schools (Weiss 1995). Potentially the collaborative reconstruction of their experiences as interactive ethnographies constitutes professional development for both the subject and for those with whom they are willing to share their experiences. In the planning, interpretation and evaluation of the change processes that they used, the subjects of these interactive ethnographies were mindful of the obligations of the role and how their management of the task would reflect on their credibility and moral capacity. On the one hand, they and the Principal were obliged as part of their appointed duties to implement Department of Education policy. On the other, there was a zone of moral freedom in which they felt they could impact positively or negatively on the educational culture of the school and on the professional lives of their colleagues. These studies suggest that the Curriculum Coordinator's position is more complex than Schwab suggests in his account of the deliberative arts and functions of the Chairman. The Curriculum Coordinator's role is shown to be far more complex than simply leading the deliberations of the curriculum group. The interactive ethnographies illustrate the critical role that the Curriculum Coordinator plays in mediating, maintaining and promoting the basic principles upon which the school's curriculum is predicated. Meaningful curriculum reform necessitates the redefining the local working rules, tasks and obligations of the teaching staff and students. The Curriculum Coordinator's ability to retain a moral capacity in the face of mandated change is seen to strongly influence the degree to which the organisational capacity for reform is maintained in their schools. Each Curriculum Coordinator felt ultimately responsible for insuring that the needs of the students, and the values and vision of the school as a learning community were not lost in the continuous process of externally mandated change and accountability which has characterised State education in the late 1990's.

Faculty of Education - Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

Filters

Date

Author

Subject

Type

Settings

Sort By

Results per page

Statistics

Citations

Search Results