The Practice of Curriculum Leadership at a Senior High School in Southern Rural Area in Taiwan

Created on 30th March 2022

Conference: The Paris Conference on Education (PCE2022)
Title: The Practice of Curriculum Leadership at a Senior High School in Southern Rural Area in Taiwan
Stream: Educational Policy, Leadership, Management & Administration
Presentation Type: Virtual Poster Presentation
Authors:
Kuan-Pei Lin, National Pingtung University, Taiwan

Abstract:

Taiwan is experiencing a new curriculum reform. The curriculum guidelines of 12-year basic education were first implemented on Aug. 1st, 2019. The purposes of the study were to describe how the rural high school principal, administrative teams and teachers used curriculum leadership to implement the curriculum guidelines of 12-year basic education. The researchers used qualitative methods to collect data, which includes interviews, observations, and document analysis. A rural high school located in southern Taiwan was chosen. The participants included the principals, directors, teachers, and other relevant people in the school. Findings of the study were: The purpose and ideas of the curriculum guidelines of 12-year basic education in Taiwan were ideal. However, it did not perfectly fit into the needs of the rural high school. For example, the lack of resources and stable teachers made it hard to design suitable elective or school-based courses. The students needed a lot of help in “self-direct learning” course. All members of the administrative and teaching teams played important roles in implementing the curriculum guidelines of 12-year basic education in rural high school. The school principal was the key person using the curriculum leadership strategies, which included vision-building, finding the resources, encouraging the teachers, providing professional training for teachers, involving the community members. The director of teaching affair and directors in every subject area also cooperated with each other during the process. However, the teachers did not have time to have “deep” conversation with each other about the details of each curriculum design.