Curriculum leadership: strategies for linking the written and delivered curriculim

The focus will be put on teachers as curriculum leaders, being challenged on a daily basis by how to attend to the delivered curriculum(the practice) without neglecting the written curriculum(the theory), and vice versa, all the while analyzing strategies that will link both curricula and implement these conclusions in their further teaching practice. Curricula present written guides identifying the content and material that should be covered, and are given to teachers (sometimes) as a detailed guide to follow religiously. However, as opposed to theory, practice is a different and delicate matter, as the teachers tries not to overstep the boundaries of the curriculum already include as much of their own creative energy as possible. These points will be expanded through analysis of the results of a qualitative research on the understanding of the content of leadership, done on pre-school and primary school teachers, whose everyday contact with their pupils will illustrate the reality of leadership in schools in the local context of R. Macedonia. Furthermore, the “how” of overcoming the challenges on the path of successful school leadership, however tricky they might be will be analyzed from firsthand experiences and compared through the matrix of what is considered able to “correct”. As educators, we successfully bridge the gap between theory and practice, to apply the theoretical know-how in a realistic classroom setting, and to convert the written paradigms into practice, thus only through educational leadership can we overcome the pedagogical challenges and effectively transfer the knowledge to the students, bringing about positive outcomes.