Transforming Curriculum Leadership Through School-Based Professional Development in Japan

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 9:45am
  In Poster Session: AERA Division K Section 6 In-Service Educators - Poster Session 2

Abstract

This study examines how Japanese school leaders—principals, vice-principals, and curriculum coordinators—internalize and enact curriculum leadership through structured professional development. Drawing on School-Based Curriculum Management (SBCM), the PST Circle Model, and curriculum leadership theory, the study employs SCAT and co-occurrence network analysis to trace shifts in mindset and practice. Leaders moved from technical compliance to reflective, collaborative leadership. Curriculum was reframed as a platform for instructional coherence and community engagement. Leadership became distributed and developmental, fostering collective agency and local adaptation of theory. The study concludes that theory-informed, context-sensitive training supports sustainable, culturally rooted reform, highlighting the critical role of curriculum leadership in navigating complexity and renewing schools in the post-pandemic era.

Authors

• Tetsuo Kuramoto, Shizuoka University Art and Culture

• Kenji Tsuyuguchi, Ehime University