Democratic Curriculum Leadership

This book provides educators with guidance on studying and practicing a curriculum problem solving artistry that is focused on deepening students' subject matter understandings through democratic self and social understandings. The book begins with a discussion of seven principles of curriculum leadership, which provide a framework for the presentation of a theoretical platform that guides a four-phased process. The curriculum problem solving has four interrelated phases, and advice on studying and practicing each phase has been organized into separate chapters using a montage format incorporating inquiry prompts, supportive quotations, critical commentaries, practical tips, narrative illustrations, and study recommendations. There is a continuous recognition of the ways in which the four phases are folded into one another in highly interactive ways; hence, the problem solving approach is described as a fourfold process. The text concludes with an epilogue honoring the disciplined journey of understanding and the pursuit of professional virtues that are central to the cultivation of problem solving artistry. An ethical oath that was created by twenty Ohio teacher leaders serves as a collegial pledge to embrace this disciplinary commitment.

James G. Henderson is Professor of Curriculum Studies at Kent State University, where he holds the Rebecca Tolle and Burton W. Gorman Chair in Educational Leadership. His publications address the topics of reflective teaching, transformative curriculum leadership, democratic collegial study, curriculum wisdom, curriculum-based pedagogy, and reconceptualized curriculum development.
Daniel J. Castner is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education & Teacher Leadership at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. His scholarship addresses teachers' endeavors to enact and lead democratic curriculum and pedagogy amidst the era of standardization and accountability.
Jennifer L. Schneider is a doctoral candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at Kent State University with an academic and teaching background in Art Education, Art History, and English Education. Her scholarly interests dwell in aesthetics, everyday life, and holistic education.

PREFACE
INTRODUCTION: TEN FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1: THEORETICAL PLATFORM
Chapter 2: PROFESSIONAL AWAKENING
Chapter 3: CREATIVE TEACHING
Chapter 4: GENERATIVE LEAD-LEARNING
Chapter 5: PARTICIPATORY EVALUATING
Conclusion