WU ZHIQIANG PRINCIPALS’ LEADERSHIP AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF CURRICULUM REFORM INTRODUCTION The new curriculum reform has been implemented in China for more than ten years In the National Program for Basic Education Curriculum Reform (Trial) (1999), the goal of the reform is to improve quality education and enhance the overall quality of students It requires teachers to change traditional teaching strategies and take different roles during class This is also a long-term developmental process which requires teachers to focus on changing their own practice, but during the process of implementing the curriculum reform, many teachers are confused They feel lost because they not know how to teach or they think they are unqualified On the other hand, principals always feel that they not have enough time to learn more and they not keep up with the pace of the curriculum reform Furthermore, they have too many meetings to attend and they spend a great deal of time searching for more money to improve teachers’ welfare so that teachers can concentrate on their work It is a great challenge for principals to assume the roles which Trail (2000) explains, as psychologist, coach, mentor, philosopher and so on All of these problems motivate us to think about principals’ roles in helping teachers improve their professional abilities In the past, principals were expected to comply with district-level edicts, address personnel issues, order supplies, balance program budgets, keep hallways and playgrounds safe and put out fires that threatened tranquil public relations Principals still need to all these things, but they must more As principals, what they want to learn or what they focus on? In Canada, the process of becoming a principal is: (1) become a certified teacher after graduation from university; (2) apply in the district in which you would like to teach; (3) volunteer to head up committees to prove your leadership abilities; (4) pursue a master’s degree in some area of administration or secondary school management; (5) contact your school board and get information about the administration track; (6) further your own education as much as possible along the way Pursue a Ph.D or M.B.A if time and finances permit (Excerpt the conversation with Anthony Bozza[1], October 15,2009) In Beijing, the process of choosing principals is: (1) become a certified teacher after graduation and obtain a bachelors degree from a university; (2) apply for a teaching position at a school you want to be hired by; (3) try to become a excellent teacher during your career; (4) at the right time, be selected by a superior S Chen and M Kompf (Eds.), Chinese Scholars on Western Ideas about Thinking, Leadership, Reform and Development in Education, 45–52 © 2012 Sense Publishers All rights reserved W ZHIQIANG organization to learn to be prepared as a principal; (5) the superior organization will choose you to be a principal when they think you have the capacity to be a principal Comparing the procedure of becoming a principal between the west (United States and Canada) and China, there are some differences in the process, but we can see they have a similar focus points Gary Hopkins (2000) wrote that researchers at Seattle Pacific University surveyed 40 successful principals to learn why some schools succeed while others struggle to achieve Among the questionnaire, 93% of the principals identified “the lack of leadership/vision” as the biggest impediment to implementing higher standards This was followed by 88% of principals chose “planning time and/or funding of the reform efforts”; 58% of them chose “collective bargaining agreement, including seniority, transfer and accountability policies” (http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin188.shtml) In 2006, Chen Li and Yang Xuemei, researchers of Beijing Institute of Education, surveyed 302 principals about what abilities they hoped most to improve through training According to the data analysis, the top three were: the ability to plan school development; the ability to design a modern school system; and the ability to analyze and implement policy This indicated that the principals were unwilling to be only managers but wanted to become leaders Through the above surveys of those successful principals, we can find all of them place a principal’s leadership as a priority If this is the case, then which leadership styles should principals possess for the school’s continuous development? I believe there are three basic aspects which are: the principal’s philosophy for school development, the principal’s curriculum leadership in curriculum reform and the principal’s leadership in building professional learning communities/organizations THE PRINCIPAL’S PHILOSOPHY FOR SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT The principal’s philosophy is very important for school development Some researchers use “disposition” as values, beliefs and behaviours to define The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) described dispositions as “professional attitudes, values and beliefs demonstrated through both verbal and non-verbal behaviours as educators interact with students, families, colleagues and communities; these positive behaviours support student learning and development” (http://www.ncate.org/public/102407.asp?ch=148) Effective principals understand the importance of focus and help ensure that all parts of the school community are aware of and in alignment with the school’s improvement efforts to improve student learning They understand that all parts of the school and school district system are interconnected and that it is critical to align school goals with district and state standards and goals Keeping the focus point continuous is the principal’s responsibility and even is the expression of the principal’s philosophy There is an adage in west which is a group of sheep led by a lion can 46