• Login
    View Item 
    •   Research Bank Home
    • Unitec Institute of Technology
    • Study Areas
    • Education
    • Education Conference Papers
    • View Item
    •   Research Bank Home
    • Unitec Institute of Technology
    • Study Areas
    • Education
    • Education Conference Papers
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    The implementation of the revised New Zealand Curriculum: Unpacking the complexities of sustainability, school climate and distributed forms of educational leadership

    Youngs, Howard

    Thumbnail
    Share
    View fulltext online
    Youngs - Implementation.pdf (125.3Kb)
    Date
    2009-03-01
    Citation:
    Youngs, H. (2009). The implementation of the revised New Zealand Curriculum: Unpacking the complexities of sustainability, school climate and distributed forms of educational leadership. In P. Jeffrey (Ed.) Proceedings, Changing climates: Education for sustainable futures, AARE 2008 International Education Conference, Brisbane. Available from http://www.aare.edu.au/08pap/abs08.htm
    Permanent link to Research Bank record:
    https://hdl.handle.net/10652/1599
    Abstract
    The day-to-day practice of educational leadership practice can be extremely complex, demanding and yet rewarding; it is a highly relational activity. At the very heart of changing the climate of a school in relation to professional and student learning is the importance of building relationships of trust and sustaining productive levels of transparency particularly amongst the staff. This paper provides a ‘window’ into the day-to-day activities of staff from two New Zealand secondary schools as they are expected to implement the revised National Curriculum. The Ministry of Education state that the new National Curriculum has been framed in such a way so that schools should not be limited in the way that they offer learning experiences to students; it is a framework rather than a detailed prescribed plan. Therefore schools should have a greater opportunity to make locally based decisions in relation to professional and student learning. An ongoing ethnographic project over twenty months in two urban secondary schools provides the context for the data that informs this paper. Observation is used as the primary means to interpret and understand day-to-day leadership practice in situ. The methodological approach is in contrast to the majority of leadership studies in education, where quantitative analysis and qualitative studies that focus mainly on espoused accounts of practice are commonplace. The data reveal that the day-to-day practice of educational leaders is not as straightforward and prescriptive as often is purported. School climates that emphasise sustainability and distributed forms of leadership can be arenas of both contestability and learning, but only if we are prepared to ‘drill deep’ below the surface of day to day leadership practice that can appear straightforward to research, label and prescribe. The barriers and opportunities for developing school climates of sustainable learning may then be revealed in relation to power relations and organisational learning. How teachers and school leaders in the two schools appear to navigate their way through initiatives and their relationship to school climate is a central focus of this paper.
    Keywords:
    educational leadership, New Zealand National Curriculum, implementation, ethnography
    ANZSRC Field of Research:
    130304 Educational Administration, Management and Leadership
    Copyright Holder:
    Howard Youngs

    Copyright Notice:
    All rights reserved
    Available Online at:
    http://www.aare.edu.au/08pap/you08957.pdf
    Rights:
    This digital work is protected by copyright. It may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use. These documents or images may be used for research or private study purposes. Whether they can be used for any other purpose depends upon the Copyright Notice above. You will recognise the author's and publishers rights and give due acknowledgement where appropriate.
    Metadata
    Show detailed record
    This item appears in
    • Education Conference Papers [292]

    Te Pūkenga

    Research Bank is part of Te Pūkenga - New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology

    • About Te Pūkenga
    • Privacy Notice

    Copyright ©2022 Te Pūkenga

    Usage

    Downloads, last 12 months
    22
     
     

    Usage Statistics

    For this itemFor the Research Bank

    Share

    About

    About Research BankContact us

    Help for authors  

    How to add research

    Register for updates  

    LoginRegister

    Browse Research Bank  

    EverywhereInstitutionsStudy AreaAuthorDateSubjectTitleType of researchSupervisorCollaboratorThis CollectionStudy AreaAuthorDateSubjectTitleType of researchSupervisorCollaborator

    Te Pūkenga

    Research Bank is part of Te Pūkenga - New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology

    • About Te Pūkenga
    • Privacy Notice

    Copyright ©2022 Te Pūkenga