Positioning Stakeholders in Curriculum Leadership: How can teacher educators work with teachers to discover and create their place?

Abstract

This article draws from research in an Australian Research Council (ARC) Collaborative Research Project involving personnel from Queensland University of Technology and Education Queensland. The focus was on theorising curriculum leadership for effective learning and teaching. As the project proceeded, it became evident that there are certain factors which contribute to curriculum leadership as a shared phenomenon at teaching/learning sites; and that among these factors, personal factors were important in shaping teachers' perceptions of their readiness to engage in curriculum leadership. This article also draws on some recent exploratory research which resulted from the project. In this research, the emphasis was on how space might be discovered and created for the voices of significant stakeholders in curriculum leadership. Both pieces of research raise a number of interesting questions about supporting and sustaining teachers in their engagement in curriculum leadership. These questions are explored within the context of the question posed in the article's title.