Transformative Curriculum Leadership For Rural Ecologies

Abstract

History teachers are expected to teach in a manner that displays and adheres to democratic values and principles. Most importantly, these teachers have to experience an open, dialogical and engaging form of leadership from their immediate curriculum leaders at school in order to promote democratic citizenship in their classrooms. This expectation has an impact on how school-based curriculum leadership is supposed to be provided. This paper reports on a qualitative study conducted with history teachers based in rural schools on their views of the kind of school-based curriculum leadership provided by the head of department/subject head for history in their schools. The results from the focus group discussions revealed that history teachers are exposed to rigid, checklist-oriented approaches that stifle the development and enhancement of the values which help in entrenching democratic principles. There is therefore a need for a more caring, developmental and transformative approach to curriculum leadership, especially in rural schools which struggle to attract and retain teachers.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p850