Abstract
Teaching and learning in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the United States are very different phenomena, and yet, the differences and similarities highlight the important role of curriculum in the progress and development of schools throughout the world. The significance of place cannot be ignored in a study that examines the intersection of teacher leadership and curriculum making in three countries; the context adds another layer of richness to the narratives that emerge from these comparisons. Teaching, learning and leading in twenty-first-century schools in both the Caribbean and in the United States require the adoption of transformative practices that have the intent of redefining the parameters of educational leadership in contested public spheres to include a commitment to critical thought and social justice as key components of curriculum development. The possibilities and potentialities for a transformation of the teaching profession and a subsequent transformation of teaching and learning are unlimited. Curriculum is the foundation of these change efforts, and transformative teacher leadership is the mechanism for conceptualizing, implementing and sustaining meaningful change while simultaneously changing the very nature of teachers’ work. It is only in this way that curriculum theory, policy and practice can interface with transformative teacher leadership to meet the needs of twenty-first-century schools, families and communities in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the United States where the development and dissemination of universal education is essential to their progress and success.
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Blair, E. (2018). Transformative Teacher Leadership in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the United States: Potentiality and Possibility in Curriculum Making and School Reform Efforts. In: Roofe, C., Bezzina, C. (eds) Intercultural Studies of Curriculum. Intercultural Studies in Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60897-6_6
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