Critical Curriculum Leadership: A Framework for Progressive Education

by Rose M. Ylimaki

Although traditional curriculum and instructional leadership frameworks have dominated educational administration training for almost thirty years, it has become increasingly clear that even the most recent frameworks have failed today’s leaders who struggle with the politics of curriculum decisions on a daily basis. Critical Curriculum Leadership is an examination of curriculum leadership in the wake of U.S. testing mandates and school reforms, all of which seem to support a particular set of conservative ideologies. Drawing from her own longitudinal ethnographic study and from existing literature and research in the field, Ylimaki explores the formation of curriculum leadership in relation to broader cultural and political shifts. She shows how traditional leadership frameworks have come up short, and makes the case for an alternative leadership theory at the intersection of educational leadership and curriculum studies. She provides analytical tools that inspire progressive education and offers critical theories, strategies, research examples, problem-posing cases, and research ideas essential for curriculum leadership in the present conservative era. Critical Curriculum Leadership will appeal to the many educational leadership scholars and practitioners who are interested in developing effective and socially just curricula in their schools and districts as well as curriculum scholars who are interested in leadership issues.

232 pages, Hardcover

First published November 17, 2010

Reviews

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review of curriculum leadership could often prove hard to get into from chapter to chapter, but the information resonated so much with my own experience as a teacher. I found myself nodding, underlining, and reading segments to my colleagues. The book takes on a perspective of curriculum management as a product of increasingly conservative forces acting on education and how little equity can be achieved as long as the status quo of education is maintained. Using case studies to compare how curriculum decisions shape schools, the book gives a strong argument for rethinking schools in the light of communities they serve.

[Maggie]

I read this for one of my grad classes, but I really enjoyed it. Thought provoking, not too dense or dry, and largely actionable!