Transformation from traditional schools to alternative schools: curriculum leadership of the principals of Taiwanese aborigines

Abstract

Loosened by the laws and regulations, Taiwan's alternative educational policy has allowed public schools to conduct schoolwide curriculum transformation experiments, which is a possible opportunity for Taiwanese aborigines who have been subjected to long-term oppression and assimilation to separate from the mainstream ideological educational framework. In this change process, the school principal-led curriculum transformation has become an important way to seek a new educational model. This paper qualitatively investigates two alternative schools for Taiwanese aborigines that have undergone successful transformation and collects the views of the principals, directors, team leaders, and teachers (eight persons in total) in two schools on the school principal-led curriculum transformation. Through summarizing and analyzing relevant data, this paper proposes that the principals of Taiwanese aboriginal schools effectively change the teachers' beliefs, curriculum structure, and school culture through the systematic practices of "belief change" and "structural innovation," and establish a curriculum paradigm different from mainstream education, which realizes a certain knowledge transfer effect. The transformative curriculum leadership process can be summarized into the conflict awakening and positioning stage, the experimental and interactive development stage, and the revision and transformation stage. This study intents to provide a reference for Taiwan's educational reform and encourage the principals of other alternative schools to picture the connotation and value of transformative curriculum leadership and establish more new curriculum models of alternative education.

Liderazgo cooperativista: un acercamiento a los estereotipos de dirección en las cooperativas financieras de Tungurahua

“…• Opresión de los colaboradores • Falta de comunicacion clara y objetiva • Ambiente hostil • Trabajo bajo presión Desventajas www.alfapublicaciones.com logre un alto nivel de productividad (Hsieh et al, 2021). Para ello se planteó la siguiente hipótesis:…”

“…Hsieh et al (2021), los líderes transformacionales reconocen las oportunidades para revertir los resultados negativos. Los momentos de crisis y las emociones negativas como la depresión, la impotencia o la ansiedad ayudan al individuo ISSN: 2773-7330…”

Practice of leadership competencies by a principal: case study of a public experimental school in Taiwan

“…Another type includes indigenous schools, which introduced teaching modules on cultural responses to develop ethnic education that better reflects the local culture. The third type is found in metropolitan areas, where the establishment of experimental schools that involve the restructuring of the educational set-up was based on educational innovation to cope with the pressure of competition from neighboring schools (Hsieh et al, 2021 ; Taiwan Experimental Education Center, 2021 ). In the past, experimental education in Taiwan mainly aimed to solve the educational problems faced by the disadvantaged.…”

“…In the past, experimental education in Taiwan mainly aimed to solve the educational problems faced by the disadvantaged. At the time, experimental schools were predominantly located in rural areas (Chin & Chuang, 2019 ; Hsieh et al, 2021 ; Lin & Chen, 2020 ).…”

“…A review of the literature revealed that the aspects of experimental education that studies currently highlight include curriculum development, the professional training of teachers, the developmental process of school restructuring, and policy evaluation. In contrast, relatively few studies focus on the leadership of principals in experimental schools (Chen, 2020 ; Hsieh et al, 2021 ). Research on principals emphasizes their leadership strategies, actions, and characteristics; however, those that discuss their leadership competencies are lacking.…”