Curriculum innovation is mostly a local phenomenon: a process of educational change that takes place within given schools and depends, above all, on school leaders’ and teachers’ commitment to given innovative projects in the context of school-based curriculum development (SBCD). However, “self-nurturing SBCD within a school is an extremely difficult undertaking” (Marsh, 2010, p. 293). SBCD requires ownership, which “can and must be stimulated and supported from the outside” (Fullan & Watson, 2000, p. 470). Accordingly, the involvement of external experts has been identified by researchers as a facilitator of SBCD (Marsh, 2010). The importance of other agencies notwithstanding, universities have special responsibilities in the provision of such kind of expertise, which can be used in partnerships with elementary and secondary schools. This symposium examines some cases of collaboration between universities and schools in curriculum innovation.
Leiden University has cooperated with a number of Chinese schools in SBCD projects. The results that have been achieved so far in the partnership illustrate how it has facilitated the emergence of a great diversity of curriculum innovation initiatives. Similarly, the Observatory on Schools’ Life, Porto University, has dealt with a wide range of interests emerging from the schools with which it cooperates. Findings reflect not only a diversity of approaches to curriculum innovation across schools but also a tension between interests held by the actors who represent the schools and interests held by the university scholars. An attempt to decrease such kind of tension has been tried in the Azores, through a collaborative action research project on curricular issues that has been carried out by a team that includes scholars from the local university and teachers from local schools. Findings suggest a reduction in the problems that have worried the teachers and an increase in their willingness to use research as a tool of curriculum innovation. The challenge of conciliating interests held by an even wider range of actors has been paramount in the implementation of “Curriculum for Excellence” in Scotland. Besides schools and universities, professional networks and local authorities are considered key-partners in this initiative. Analysis of such partnerships has yielded important contributions to the clarification of roles and responsibilities of each kind of partner.
References
Fullan, M. & Watson, N. (2000). School-based management: Reconceptualizing to improve learning outcomes. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 11 (4), 453-473.
Marsh, C. (2010). Re-examining the conceptual models for school-based curriculum development. In E. H. Law & N. Nieveen (Eds.), Schools as curriculum agencies: Asian and European perspectives on school-based curriculum development (pp. 287-297). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.