Curriculum Leadership Research Articles

Enhancing Civic Engagement Through Leadership Education

Many civic engagement courses within higher education require students to work with community members to make progress on complex problems, which in itself can comprise leadership practice. Yet, there is little evidence that leadership development is strategically incorporated into such civic engagement courses in general. The authors taught eight leadership sessions over two semesters in the Principled Problem Solving Scholars program at Guilford College. The study discussed in this article examined the perceived impact of a leadership curriculum on the personal leadership practices and the civic engagement of 14 undergraduate students. The authors present their findings in the context of three themes, highlighting (1) the shift in the students’ philosophies of leadership from leader-centric to collective perspectives, (2) the value of civic leadership and democratic engagement praxis, and (3) salient leadership lessons. The authors also discuss implications of their study findings as well directions for future research, calling for greater integration of the fields of civic engagement and leadership studies and more research around the curricular integration of leadership education and civic education.

School Middle Leaders and Change Management: Do They Need to Be More on the “Balcony” than the Dance Floor?

The term “middle leader” in the context of English education has evolved into an overarching title to describe a leadership position for practitioners who have school wide responsibilities in addition to their classroom duties. Such responsibilities can consist of pastoral leadership; curriculum leadership; leadership of additional student support; leadership of a team or phase and leadership of a specific school improvement priority. Educational middle leadership is founded on the notion of bringing together the duty of contributing to a strategic leadership remit whilst remaining firmly within the role of a classroom practitioner. It is argued that this ‘space’ for middle leadership is due to the increasingly hierarchical organisational structures of schools; consequently, being viewed as the ‘middle layer’. However, it is often unclear how much real authority or autonomy middle leaders have either to act strategically or make leadership decisions for their school. Despite many studies having previously explored the impact of senior leadership in improving school systems through deploying varied leadership styles, there is an absence in literature underpinning what constitutes effective strategic middle leadership. This study explored and interrogated the strategic ability of middle leadership, to contribute to this discourse. It critically reflected on the effectiveness of middle leadership, in a small-scale context, when making sustainable curriculum changes to a primary school’s maths curriculum. The research methodology adopted was an autoethnographic approach. It used a documentary method, that consisted of a reflective journal, kept by the first researcher, who was also a maths curriculum middle leader within an English primary school. The reflective journal was used as an authenticated document for elucidation and analysis. The main findings suggested that collective leadership was appropriate for this research context. The study further evidenced the reality of how personal, yet important understanding leadership cultures are, in all levels of leadership. The conclusion pointed to the direction of middle leaders being more successful if they were strategic, and therefore must both find and develop systems that assist them to be located on the “balcony” rather than only the dance floor.

Strengthening the Mentorship and Leadership Capacity of HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis Researchers in South Africa.

Programs to increase emerging and established HIV and tuberculosis (TB) researchers' capacity to be more effective leaders and mentors are urgently needed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although conceptual frameworks of mentoring and mentoring toolkits have been developed by and for researchers in LMIC settings, few mentor training programs have been implemented and evaluated in these settings. We created, implemented, and evaluated a 9-month, certificate-level mentorship training program to strengthen the pipeline of HIV and TB researchers in South Africa. Differentiating features of the program included careful contextualization of mentorship tools and approaches, inclusion of a leadership curriculum to improve participant ability to work effectively in teams and organizations, and attention to processes that promote interinstitutional collaboration in mentorship. Twelve mid-career researchers graduated from the first cohort of the program. Among participants, we observed significant longitudinal improvement in mentorship competencies, increased numbers of network connections in multiple domains of collaboration, and high levels of satisfaction. We anticipate that the program description and results will be useful to researchers, research institutions, and funders seeking to build research mentorship and leadership capacity in LMIC settings.

Curriculum Mapping of Undergraduate Medical Programmes: Recommendations for Future Directions

Background: Medical schools are expected to churn out all-rounded healthcare professionals who are competent in the prerequisite knowledge and skills necessary to address the everchanging health needs of the society. This is usually made possible through innovation and strategy, one of which involves the continuous review and renewal of all the components of existing teaching and learning plans through a blueprinting process called curriculum mapping. This blueprint allows for curriculum goals development, together with management, reviewing and organizing its contents. As curriculum mapping of medical programmes was in its infancy stage at the time of this research, this study focusses on reporting the perspectives of the curriculum leaders on future directions for curriculum mapping of undergraduate medical programmes in South Africa. 
 Method: Purposive sampling was used in a qualitative study among fourteen academics involved in medical curricula at all eight medical schools. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, and analysis was done by thematic analysis.
 Results: Curriculum planners have specific expectations of curriculum mapping of undergraduate programmes as a possible future strategy to drive curriculum review and renewal in the country. Although some agreement exists about the characteristic features, any mapping platform created should meet the specific institutional requirements that will address their challenges. 
 Conclusion: Finally, a national mandate from the authorities will be required to achieve curriculum benchmarking and collaboration amongst the medical schools to standardize undergraduate medical programme outcomes.

Integrating Appreciative Inquiry into a Postgraduate Nurse Leadership Curriculum: Creating a Student Experience

Identifying what is working well in healthcare requires a different mindset from the traditional problemsolving approach. Integrating Appreciative Inquiry into healthcare can bring out the best in individuals, teams and the organisation as a whole. This paper presents our approach to educating nurse leaders about AI practice, by using AI to create a community of leadership and management practice in a postgraduate nursing course on leadership and management in health care.

Factors Influencing Curriculum Leadership of Primary and Secondary School Teachers from the Perspective of Field Dynamic Theory: An Empirical Investigation in China

Teacher curriculum leadership is in urgent demand to promote the sustainable advancement of curriculum reform, and an important guarantee for the sustainable development of students. It is of important theoretical and practical significance to clarify the influencing factors of the use and the development of teachers’ curriculum leadership. Based on Lewin’s field dynamic theory, this study conducts a multiple linear regression analysis on the data of 19,521 primary and secondary school teachers in 20 provinces of China, and investigates the influencing factors of teacher curriculum leadership from individual and school fields. The results show that individual field factors are the driving force for teachers to exert and develop curriculum leadership. When teachers have internal leading motivation, the school environment becomes an important inducing force. This finding confirms the realistic rationality of the field dynamic theory, and provides a clear direction for formulating relevant policies and practical plans for enhancing teacher curriculum leadership. That is, it is necessary to fully stimulate the internal motivation of teachers for curriculum leadership, but also to create a school environment for teachers to exercise and develop curriculum leadership.

117 Formal Leadership Teaching in Canadian Pediatric Residency Programs

Abstract Primary Subject area Medical Education Background Effective clinical leadership is known to improve clinical outcomes, health service delivery, effective resource allocation, and patient and staff satisfaction rates. Although it is well known that leadership skills can be taught and are necessary for all physicians, there are very few described residency-level structured leadership-training curricula. Yet, pediatric residency programs' Competence-By-Design (CBD) includes 19 stage-specific, leadership-focused Milestones, spanning 10 Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) that will need to be assessed. Objectives The purpose of this study was to map how leadership is formally taught in Canadian pediatric residency programs and to explore how leader-specific milestones and EPA are incorporated into programs’ training. Design/Methods Program Directors from all Canadian pediatric residency programs were invited to complete an online, anonymous survey, which was developed using the AMEE Seven-Step Survey Development guidelines. The survey explored demographics, teaching structure, teaching content and methods, assessment, and participants’ perspectives. Descriptive and thematic analyses were performed. Results Ten of the 17 pediatric programs directors responded to the survey. All program directors (n=10), stated that there is a need for mandatory, formal leadership teaching and formal leadership skills assessment for pediatric residents. Yet, half of respondents (n=5) reported no formal leadership teaching and residents' leadership skills are not formally assessed in three (of 10) pediatric residency programs. Additionally, none of the programs offers stage-specific leadership teaching. Of the programs that offer formal leadership teaching, four programs’ teachings are stand-alone courses, while one program has a longitudinal leadership curriculum. Only one program offers formal teachings on leader-related CBD EPAs and/ or Milestones. Seven programs formally assess residents’ leadership skills. Of these, four programs use a formal assessment tool, while three programs do not use any assessment tool. None of the programs utilizes a validated or published leadership skills assessment tool. Thematic analyses revealed that the common barriers to introducing a formal leadership curriculum include limited available time in residents’ teaching curriculum, lack of expertise and resources to teach leadership, and difficulty in assessing leadership skills. Conclusion Although residency programs identify leadership teaching and assessment as necessary, most pediatric residency programs lack formal leadership teaching and assessment. Additionally, no such teaching is stage-specific. Understanding the current state of programs’ leadership teaching will help better prepare programs for the integration of leadership milestones/ EPAs in the curriculum.

Health Advocacy Learning Activities for Medical Students in Clinical Clerkship Training: Why We Are Changing Our Model.

Purpose: Health advocacy is a key physician skill to address social determinants of health and promote health and health equity. 1 We noted a lack of medical school curricula that both address skills necessary to develop partnerships with advocacy stakeholders and students’ desires to self-determine advocacy topic areas. A novel learning project was therefore designed to address these goals. Outcomes were followed for 3 years. We aim to describe student and community health partner outcomes and key lessons learned through the delivery of this project. Approach: The health advocacy project (“HAP”) was incorporated as part of a required ambulatory clinical course at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UW-SMPH). The HAP allowed medical students to identify a topic and community partner and required students to arrange meetings with the partner to identify shared goals and a mutually agreed-upon project. Students dedicated approximately 8 hours of work over the 10- to 12-week course to this effort. Projects were focused on community partner goals. At the end of the course, students delivered their project, wrote a summary paper, and completed a self-evaluation on changes in attitudes and practice. Community partners submitted qualitative feedback. Outcomes: After 12 cycles of the course (January 2018 through December 2020), 408 students completed the HAP and 328 students completed a self-evaluation. Of these, 218 (~66%) rated increased likelihood of “Doing Health Advocacy Work in the Future,” and 267 (~81%) rated increased “Comfort Level with Health Advocacy Work.” More than 250 different organizations partnered with students (some hosted >1 student) and 222 organizations gave a definitive response to a survey question regarding the helpfulness of the HAP. Of these, 220 (99%) of these indicated the HAPs were helpful, while the other 2 (1%) responses indicated that there was not sufficient time to complete the project. Additionally, 211 organizations gave a definitive response to question regarding interest in “Partnering with a UW-SMPH student in the future related to Health Advocacy.” Of these, 187 (89%) responded that they were interested in future partnerships; and among the 24 community partners who answered no, the need to have a preexisting relationship with the organization and limited organizational capacity were among the most commonly noted reasons. Discussion: Overall, the HAP was well received by community partners and promoted self-reported student comfort with and interest in future advocacy efforts. Despite these positive outcomes, rare negative feedback from community health stakeholders offered critical insight and clear opportunities for program improvement. The short nature of the HAP likely served as a barrier to successful relationship building in some cases, and possibly contributed to increased pressure on our community partners for capacity due to the recurring cycle of the HAP and student outreach. This prompted curriculum leaders to move beyond the short-term positive impacts and reflect on the long-term institutional footprint of this curriculum within the community. Consequently, after 3 years, we opted to discontinue the current HAP curriculum at the end of 2020, with these lessons informing the next iteration of the health advocacy curriculum. The reimagined health advocacy curriculum will have additional learning activities to address advocacy-related communication, including standardized training before engaging with community partners. In addition, standardized assessment will occur through use of simulated encounters with advocacy stakeholders. Finally, new curriculum will ensure sufficient time and support to community partners when students engage community partners on advocacy efforts. Significance: The HAP demonstrated the feasibility of medical school curricula that promoted student independence and skills in community partnership development; and the majority of student and community partner feedback was favorable. Nonetheless, it was important to address the few exceptions and design a curriculum that adheres to principles of community engagement. 2

Design and evaluation of a Women in American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) leadership program.

The objective is to report on the design and evaluation of the inaugural Women in AMIA Leadership Program. A year-long leadership curriculum was developed. Survey responses were summarized with descriptive statistics and quotes selected. Twenty-four scholars participated in the program. There was a significant increase in perceived achievement of learning objectives after the program (P < .0001). The largest improvement was in leadership confidence and presence in work interactions (modal answer Neutral in presurvey from 21 responses rose to Agree in postsurvey from 24 responses). Most (92% of 13) scholars clarified leadership vision and goals and (83% of 18) would be Very Likely to recommend the program to others. The goals of the program-developing women's leader identity, increasing networks, and accumulating experience for future programs-were achieved. The second leadership program is on its way in the United States and Australia. This study may benefit organizations seeking to develop leadership programs for women in informatics and digital health.

Leadership skills curriculum development for residents and fellows: A needs-assessment

BackgroundNon-technical skills (NTS) curricula have demonstrated success in surgical residencies. The purpose of this study is to examine the need for a structured leadership curriculum at our institution. MethodsA needs-assessment survey analyzing the importance of leadership domains, previously validated by Kazley et al. was delivered to 240 general surgery staff. Respondent groups were broken down into: Attendings, Residents, and Multi-Disciplinary. Statistical analyses were conducted using Cronbach's Alpha (α = 0.9259) and Fisher's exact test (pre-set p-value = 0.05). The importance of each competency was compared among groups and importance was defined as >75% important and very important responses. ResultsNineteen of 33 competencies were important for all groups, including 3 with 100% importance: interpersonal communication, team-work, and problem-solving. Several competencies showed statistically significant differences among groups. ConclusionA diverse range of surgery staff agreed that 19 leadership domains are important to teach residents, with some variance among respondent groups.

CONFLUENCES OF STUDENT LEADERSHIP AND WHITE PRIVILEGE: Exploring Consciousness-of-Self with White Student Leaders

There is a growing body of literature signaling the relevance of race in leadership development, but many conventional models do not prompt exploration of this social identity. The omission of race in leadership curriculum is disadvantageous for all college students, but among White student leaders, it may be a continuance of White privilege. The purpose of this constructivist study was to explore how White student leaders make meaning of their racial identity, and corresponding privilege, through a relevant leadership framework. Racial caucusing was employed as a method to prompt discussion and gather narratives from four White student leaders. Findings from this narrative inquiry study indicate how the confluences of race and leadership can advance self-awareness among White student leaders.

Advancing leadership in medical radiation sciences: Incorporating systematic leadership education in pre-registration curricula

Advancing leadership in medical radiation sciences: Incorporating systematic leadership education in pre-registration curricula

Integrating Leadership Competencies in Clinical Didactic Curricula: The Mock Tumor Board

Developing leadership competencies has been identified as an essential part of graduate medical education 1 Turner S Seel M Trotter T et al. Defining a Leader Role curriculum for radiation oncology: A global Delphi consensus study. Radiotherapy and oncology: journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. 2017; 123: 331-336 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar that has oft been neglected with minimal dedicated didactic programs. A few ad hoc programs have been created at individual residency programs, 2 Song EY Chuang J Frakes JM et al. Developing a Dedicated Leadership Curriculum for Radiation Oncology Residents. J Cancer Educ. 2021; Crossref Scopus (1) Google Scholar ,3 Berriochoa C Amarnath S Berry D et al. Physician Leadership Development: A Pilot Program for Radiation Oncology Residents. International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics. 2018; 102: 254-256 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar but the current limits on extra didactic time in many curricula preclude robust implementation of dedicated leadership didactics. As attending radiation oncologists, we are expected to advocate for our patients at multi-disciplinary tumor boards in which we are almost certainly in the minority. Trainees receive little to no training or opportunities to practice these skills prior to independent practice.

Improving Radiation Oncology (RO) Resident Communication Skills by Leveraging the DiSC Assessment Tool

Difficulty adapting to new communication styles on interprofessional teams can result in dysfunction that can negatively affect patient care and team morale. Communication skill development is recognized as important in medicine but remains poorly implemented in postgraduate medical training.1 As part of our RO resident leadership curriculum, we piloted a session on enhancing team communication to bridge this gap.

Student leadership in medical school and its implications for health care and policy-making.

Approximately 5% of hospital chief executive officers are physicians, and that number is growing. Leadership is a vital skill for future physicians. We conducted a narrative review of the literature on student leadership in medical school and its implications for health care and policy-making. Qualities a good leader should possess include accountability, empathy, positivity, teamwork, and organization. Leadership skills need to be taught to students in their formative pre-clinical years so they can build upon this foundation during their clinical and residency years. Leadership is a multifaceted quality because unlike other lessons, it cannot be measured on a scale or under the microscope; it is largely developed through practice. Furthermore, among physicians, psychiatrists are especially well-trained to serve in active leadership roles because psychiatry training emphasizes interpersonal dynamics and emotional intelligence, qualities that are vital to the skill set of an effective leader. Medical leadership is essential because physicians relate best to other physicians, and those adept in administrative skills can help bridge the gap between administration and clinicians. There is a need for teaching an evidence-based leadership curriculum and training techniques that will fill a recognized educational void in medical student education (as well as for residents and junior faculty).

Integrating phenomenography with discourse analysis to study Hong Kong prospective teachers’ conceptions of curriculum leadership

ABSTRACT Curriculum leadership is commonly regarded as an essential element in supporting school development and facilitating curriculum change processes. The study identified the qualitative variation in conceptions of curriculum leadership in the development of curriculum leadership, and described these variations in terms of categories of description. Phenomenography, with the integrated use of discourse analysis, is applied to reveal the variations of experience in the participants through describing and comparing the conceptions and understandings of the context-dependent phenomenon – curriculum leadership. Taking purposive sampling, a group of 24 prospective teachers were invited for individual semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study imply that conceptions of curriculum leadership held by prospective teachers should be taken into consideration for the planning and organisation of teacher education programmes concerning curriculum development and implementation.

Short Term and Virtual International Immersions for Graduate Business Leadership Students

The need to understand global contexts in business studies is driving more flexibility and creativity with international immersion curriculum. Traditional study abroad programs or international internships require commitments of several months or more and have conventional structure. They are also mostly designed for undergraduate or full time master’s level students who can be abroad for entire terms. This is not possible for most working professional students, especially in graduate or doctoral distance education programs. The rise in flexible graduate degree programs has expanded opportunities for working professionals to pursue degrees concurrently with their careers. Those programs have students whose daily activities are connected to knowledge application and who require practice-driven education and experiences. This means that faculty must find creative solutions to effectively deliver global experience to students with limited discretionary time. This chapter discusses globalization in the business leadership curriculum, the need for shorter-term and virtual international immersions in graduate education, current approaches in the field, and challenges and potential solutions to improve the effectiveness of these experiences.

Training the Next Generation of Obstetrics and Gynecology Leaders, A Multi-Institutional Needs Assessment

To assess resident and faculty interest in, as well as content and preferred format for, a leadership curriculum during obstetrics and gynecology residency DESIGN: From June to July 2019, a needs assessment survey on leadership training was distributed to residents and academic faculty at 3 United States obstetrics and gynecology residency programs. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed. Open ended questions were analyzed for themes. Three ob/gyn residency programs across the United States: Kaiser Permanente East Bay in Oakland, California, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, New York. Surveys were distributed to all residents (n = 111) and affiliated academic faculty (n = 124) at each of the 3 participating sites. Resident response rate was 71% (79/111) and faculty rate was 63% (78/124). Postgraduate year (PGY) 1 residents were more likely to believe there was sufficient leadership training during residency (17/23, 74%) compared to PGY 2-4s (16/56, 29%) and faculty (20/76, 26%; p < 0.01). Most residents (66/79, 84%) and faculty (74/78, 82%) expressed that residents would benefit from a leadership curriculum. Both deemed small group exercises and leadership case studies taught by physicians were the preferred format for this curriculum. Residents and faculty agreed on 3 of the top 4 topics for a leadership curriculum - effective communication, team management, and time management - while residents chose self-awareness and faculty chose professionalism as the fourth of their top domains. Open-ended survey questions revealed that leadership demands in obstetrics and gynecology are similar to other specialties but differ in emphasis on crisis management, situational awareness, and advocacy training. Given unique aspects of leadership within the specialty, obstetrics and gynecology residents and faculty see benefit for specialty-specific formalized leadership training.

Identifying leadership in medical trainees: evaluation of a competency-based approach

BackgroundAs medical professional roles diversify, it is essential to understand what makes effective medical leaders. This study develops and validates a medical leadership competency framework that can be used to...

Cultural and Religious Influences on Adolescent Sexual Behaviour and the use of Participatory Visual Methodology by Basotho Learners in South Africa

This article documents the use of participatory visual methodology to illustrate how a few Basotho learners in a life orientation subject in Grade 10 classes are influenced by culture and religion to converse a controversial aspect of the curriculum. The use of virtual methodologies forms an important part of indigenous knowledge system that shapes adolescent sexual behaviour affecting on imaginative outlook in South Africa, which interturn ignite on the Department of Basic Education (DBE) curriculum theme, 'relating to decisions making regarding sexuality', is an issue which fits into the broader topic of the Life Orientation subject in Grade 10. The theme is not adequately address in life orientation. Two hundred and forty learners participated in the project. The aim was to enable the learning community of life orientation to participate freely in a sustainable learning environment space for social justice. The Critical Emancipatory Theory of the Frankfort School was used as the lens couching the project. Participatory action research was employed as an approach in data generation; visual drawings were used as the instrument data generated, and a discourse analysis was also applied to reach the following findings: adolescents acquire resilience in sex and sexual behaviour due to cultural and religious influence. Religion has a profound impact in delaying sexual practices in adolescents. These findings have implications for school curriculum leaders, regarding the allocation of duties to teachers. The paper recommends the use of indigenes knowledge systems as creative approaches to teach difficult conversations in life-orientation classes.