Curriculum Implementation Leadership Reform

The inaugural professorial lecture by Carmel Roofe, Director of the School of Education at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies was held on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. Professor Roofe, is a leading Caribbean figure in Curriculum Studies and Curriculum Implementation Leadership. To date, she has authored four books and her scholarly work has appeared in over 50 academic journals and publications. In 2008, Carmel Roofe earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum Development from the University of the West Indies. Titled: Beyond Policy: Centring Curriculum Implementation Leadership, Professor Roofe began by exploring a number of definitions for curriculum. Among them is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s definition which speaks to the duality of curriculum as either one of social inclusivity or social exclusivity. UNESCO defines curriculum not merely as a list of subjects, but as a "social and political contract" that reflects a society’s core values and determines whether education is socially inclusive or exclusive. Borrowing from UNESCO, a curriculum is an inventory of activities related to the design, organization and planning of an education or training action. It defines learning objectives, content, methods, assessment and material, as well as arrangements for training teachers and trainers. UNESCO adds, the curriculum serves as a political and social contract that encapsulates a society’s shared vision, balancing local, national, and global needs and aspirations. It reflects the educational goals and core values that a society aims to cultivate through its education system. Professor Roofe’s lecture explored curriculum implementation leadership as a transformative praxis between vision and reality within Jamaica’s education system. For professor Roofe, curriculum is a socially constructed phenomenon. Having established this point of reference the professor outlined the five forms of curriculum. These are: Formal Curriculum which is the prescribed or official curriculum that is outlined by the governing authority. The Informal Curriculum takes into account family and community values, attitudes and activities which are designed to support the formal curriculum. The Enacted Curriculum which is what actually occurs regardless of what is planned and organized. Fourthly, the Hidden Curriculum speaks to the unintended teaching and learning that results from the interactions. Fifthly, the Lived Curriculum, addresses the construction and reconstruction of experiences that are unique to individuals. The professor noted that within the realm of the lived curriculum personal and situational contexts are critical components. Professor Roofe pointed to the importance of Curriculum and Context. Context she added is critical to curriculum outcome and impacts the forms of curriculum. The intersection of curriculum and context addresses such areas as which subjects are emphasized as well as the hours allotted to each subject and the values and attitudes which are of importance in the wider society. What is Curriculum Implementation?. Professor Roofe defines Curriculum Implementation as the use of curriculum taking into consideration the product, process, praxis, formal and informal, enacted and hidden curriculum. Her colleague, Professor Zellynne Jennings opines that Curriculum implementation is not a linear process. It is a dynamic process shaped by context, cultures and historical legacies. In order to contextualize Jamaica’s curriculum development, Professor Roofe gave a brief analysis of curriculum implementation from the 1970’s to the 2000’s. In her analysis the professor focused on three levels of the education system, namely Early Childhood Education, Primary Education and Secondary Education. (1970’s to 1980’s). Professsor Roofe mentioned that an evaluation conducted on the Early Childhood Curriculum (of the 1970’s to 1980’s) by researchers, Maye Hemmings & Wint, 2010, McDonald, 1995, identified a number of concerns. Among these deficits were: inadequate integration across subjects, inadequate training for teachers to utilize effective pedagogical practices, and heavy emphasis on subjects. Correspondingly, a number of concerns were also at the Primary Education Curriculum in the 1970’s to 1980s. Among these were: the use of subject-based approach instead of integrated approach, inadequate preparation of teachers to implement the curriculum, and the fact that approximately 50 per cent of students were reading below their grade level. Similar concerns were also identified by Petgrave, 2011 regarding the Secondary Education Curriculum of the 1970’s to 1980s. Among the concerns were: the difficulty in transforming the curricula of elite secondary schools as the curriculum did not impact the majority of the local black poor in the way that was envisioned, and, the singular focus of grammar type curriculum by traditional high schools. Curriculum Implementation Leadership. Professor Roofe was passionate throughout her presentation as she called for reform regarding curriculum implementation in the education system. She stressed the point that those who are tasked to lead the process of curriculum implementation must demonstrate a number of key transformative curriculum skills. Among these are: knowledge of curriculum stages and models, intimate knowledge of the people, place and orality of specific context where the new curriculum is being implemented, basic research skills especially as it relates to previously implemented curricula and knowledgeable implementation leadership and practices. It is quite evident by Professor Roofe’s pronouncements that our school leadership must be intentional and strategic in their selection regarding who is tasked to carry out the process of curriculum implementation in our schools. However, given that a large number of Jamaican schools suffer from transformative leadership, society should not be alarmed that curriculum implementation leadership is problematic across all layers of the education system as both are intricately linked. Undoubtedly, there is a leadership crisis in the education system. So while the society celebrates the achievements of a significant number of our students, we are mindful of the inequities within the education system. Professor Orlando Patterson, chair of the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission (JETC), characterized the Jamaican education system through a fundamental duality: a deep-seated structural divide between a high-performing elite tier and a vastly under-resourced public tier. As practitioners we are very much aware of the two-tiered education system. This duality concerning Jamaica’s education system is also transferred to the Curriculum Implementation Leadership. Those who are tasked with implementing curriculum leadership must be passionate to begin with. Those individuals must also be intimately familiar with the National Standards Curriculum (NSC) as well as other alternative pathways. Regrettably, in a significant number of times curriculum implementation leadership is grounded in a culture of preferential treatment. In order for curriculum implementation leadership to be successful, the stakeholders must share the collective vision and purpose. Professor Roofe stated that curriculum implementation leadership is about those who are assigned leadership responsibilities for carrying our actions required for leading curriculum implementation whether at the macro, meso or micro levels. The professor added that curriculum implementation leadership refers to the strategic approaches utilized and the influencing behavious exhibited to lead the use/implementation of curriculum. It was clear as crystal that curriculum implementation leadership was of great concern to Professor Roofe. The professor remarked that curriculum implementation leaders must have the knowledge of what is necessary to understand and influence the use of the curriculum. She added that domain specific leadership skills are necessary in a combination of strategic approaches to close the curriculum implementation deficiencies. Implementation Leadership Domains. Professor Carmel Roofe highlighted four specific implementation leadership domains necessary for effective and transformative curriculum implementation leadership. These are: Proactive Leadership which requires removing obstacles to the implementation of the new curriculum. Supportive Leadership which recognizes showing support and appreciate efforts of the curriculum implementer. Knowledgeable Leadership in which the benefits of the new curriculum ideas are communicated, and, Perseverant Leadership which is necessary to navigate through the challenges in implementing the new curriculum idea. Professor Roofe was adamant that the curriculum implementer must interrogate the self; using what was presented as the Implantation Leadership Scale (ILS) to identify the degree to which the individual is proactive, supportive, knowledgeable and perseverant. The notion of self, the professor added, must be interrogated through our historical legacy of colonialism. Transformative Curriculum Implementation Leadership. To a captive and appreciate audience, Professor Carmel Roofe, Professor of Curriculum Studies made the following points as she guided her audience to solutions which are contextually grounded. Firstly, curriculum implementation is a complex undertaking but within this complexity resides opportunities for deliberate and strategic focus on the principles of curriculum implementation leadership. Secondly, curriculum implementation leadership requires strategic approaches and behaviours that are responsive to the data being collected as curriculum is being implemented. Professor Roofe argues that orality is central to the Lived Curriculum. She added that Caribbean Orality speaks to the everyday knowledge, language, actions and the Caribbean situated context. Professor Roofe is of the view that Curriculum Implementation Leadership underpinned by orality will encourage education stakeholders to move away from a one-size fit approach in implementing curriculum reform. Professor Roofe concluded her presentation by stating that if there is better curriculum implementation then the hope is that better curriculum and student outcomes will be realized. The lecture was intellectually stimulating and informative. Professor Roofe shared what is possible and probable in the education system when visionary and transformative curriculum implementation leadership is in place. Heartiest congratulations to Professor Carmel Roofe. The international community salutes your achievements to date and eagerly awaits further contextually grounded research and solutions. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo ©