Stakeholders involvement in Curriculum Innovation
Stakeholders in layman's language maybe defined as" interest groups" on a particular issue or matter.In more specific terms I will borrow Nthontho(2017) definition of who is a stakeholder. "A stakeholder is an individual are person with interest in the success of an organization in fulfilling its mission ".If this is to be applied in matters curriculum, the term stakeholders would mean all parties that have essential interests in the curriculum of the day especially in its delivery and desired outcomes ,Brady and Kennedy( 2010 ).In matters education, these interest groups would be the government through various departments of education, the teachers, parents, boards of management the learners and the community at large .However, some stakeholders may be termed as passive while others are active and then sure that the curriculum is running.
In my observation as a high school student during my days it was clear that the teachers are the most active in ensuring that the curriculum went on as designed. The only challenge is that the teachers are really not involved in designing and developing the curriculum. However ,they are one group that does their best to deliver results .As a student especially in high school I only heard teachers attend workshops whenever there was something new to be introduced in the curriculum. Later on, circulars in materials would be released by relevant government authorities especially the school inspectors but sadly t this would just gather dust on the shelves.Parents had very little say in the schools that their children attended even though they had representatives in the parents- teachers Association. They were mainly rubber stamps on anything that was already in place.The issues that they would discuss why mainly on the physical development of the school .It was never on curriculum design.The community only came in through the board of management as a representation of the community where the school is located. But as such they had not fair say in the curriculum design or it’s running.
In conclusion I would like to say that the curriculum design is mainly done by policymakers of the government of the day. The implementer are always the teachers. The outcome is always measured on how the last stakeholder,who is the learner performed .The principals are overseers of implementation but only by coming up with timetables for their own schools,not designing the curriculum.
Factors affecting implementation of curriculum innovation in my context
Change is continuous and oftentimes, it is meant to bring growth and change. Curriculum change means infusion Some difference to give a new direction or position. In curriculum innovation, this may mean change to its philosophy, through aims and objectives, revision of Content, methodologies and evaluation methods. .The education systems has been subjected to waves of reform initiatives for the past two decades or so and my context is no different. Governments come and go and with them, education policies keep on changing and so does the curriculum.
However as Moffett (2000) contends, history of reform has proven to be counterproductive. Elmore (2007) agrees that, despite the amount of money and effort poured into reform efforts, sustainability has been elusive. “Historically, teachers have become numb to the panoply of change initiatives” (Hargreaves, 2005).So, the ffort and attention that implementation receives is premature, should the aim be to build a sustainable change. Fullan (2007) concludes that efforts to institute enduring change have lacked the understanding of how change is received .
To start with,change,has been driven by a top-down mandate. Thus, the process is already lacking a necessary ingredient which is commitment and ownership by the very members who will be accountable for implementing the initiative. This is interpreted by teachers that their input is not significant and it’s the genesis of resistance and opposition. The manner in which a change effort proceeds to the stage of implementing determines how well the initiative will progress .Lack of a strong commitment and ownership by the teachers affected, the proposed reform effort will lack the critical mass necessary to be sustained long term. If changes and innovation do not engage those at the grassroots levels, who specifically are the implementers at the end, implementation process might not be successful. Marsh and Stafford (1988) states that, “if teachers perceive lack of ownership, either of the flowing can occur: deleting it entirely in their minds; giving it minimal time; not teaching in a manner intended; and even developing less enthusiasm regarding its impact ”p.101). This will give the principal a very hard times and the curriculum innovation process may fail flat on him.
Another Factor is lack of organization, of curriculum into a single document, a curriculum. This creates confusion and feels like the leader has no direction.It may give rise to resistance by the teachers. Probably, this is why toward the end, there are leaders within a school who offer a site-based curriculum management to ensure that teachers are operating within an intended track. This ensures that what is intended on theory is what is being implemented on the ground.
In my context, the following are some of the factors affecting curriculum innovation.
1) The bureaucracy that hinders new processes.
2) Resistance to change/Fear of embracing the unknown by both leaders and teachers.
3) Lack of information and training for the teachers who have to implement.
4) Lack of funds and resources to implement the innovation.
In all these, the principal plays a key role in it’s Innovation:
Role of the principal in curriculum innovation
The principal is heavily involved in any curriculum, more so than any other position in the public school system. He plays the middle person that must satisfy the board, superintendent, school staff, students, and parents. The principal is the key person in successful reform. The innovation that involves the principal varies from his/her own choice made from determining need through research, a group decision like from the ministry curriculum committee, or a staff request to adopt a new curriculum. The worst reason for the principal, comes from the top down order where the principal has no choice but is told that it must be done. This is especially difficult if the staff has not been involved with the decision or determining the need.
Knowing staff attitude toward change, for whatever reason, determines the approach that the principal must take when making a change. Staffs are mostly sour to change these days, especially top down. Approach to curriculum change and methods of teaching are often seen as fads by the staff. For instance, Dr. Art Costa says that he, “…has been in education so long that it is his 5th Back To Basics movement since he started teaching.”
Strategies I could use in leading curriculum change
The school principal is a leader and is responsible of creating a safe environment of cooperation and collaboration in the process of curriculum change. Therefore, there is need for the whole school to understand the change principles and the process of implementation. Thus ,as a principal, I must always determine the following if I am to be successful:
- Understanding and being fluent in the new curriculum.This is important if I am to impact the others to buy the idea of Change positively.
-Involve all by holding open discussions about how best implementation should be happen. This would call for working with departmental to make the transition smooth.
- Determining the need or reason for change in my school . Though this sometimes is not applicable if it's a top-bottom mandate.
- Understanding the mood of the staff and approach to take to develop cooperation with process. This means that everyone is clear about the direction and has had a chance to voice their concerns.
- Determining what the staff needs to know in order to make the change. I would develop structures and support groups for teachers to walk with each other through the implementation journey.
- How the change will be implemented and explained to the stakeholders .Here I will convince stakeholders meetings to ensure they understand the intended change process and expected outcome. This would go along way in reducing frictions especially from sponsors.
- What direction should evaluation of the change take it is implementation. This is to ensure that we receive the correct feedback as we envisioned in the goals of the intended change.
Comments
Post a Comment