Early Childhood Curriculum Leadership

This chapter puts theory and research in curriculum, leadership, and early childhood teaching in dialogue to consider possibilities for early childhood curriculum leadership. Structures of macro-curriculum design and micro-curricular approaches to curriculum implementation elucidated conceptual orientations, political interests, and processes involved in curriculum leadership. By building off of the strengths, while also recognizing the limitations of disparate factions of curriculum studies, the chapter concludes with a vision for democratic curriculum leadership. Democratic curriculum leadership simultaneously embraces critical awareness and pragmatic artistry to elevate the professional integrity of early childhood teachers. For these reasons, early childhood curriculum leadership has the potential to democratize early education, elevating teachers to the status of lead professionals who balance various and sometimes competing obligations of teaching young children.