Quality of Curriculum Leadership Culture and Teacher's Professionalism: a quantitative study in elementary schools of Tehran

Curriculum leadership as a culture is a cooperative and sharing task. Curriculum scholars believe that the quality of this culture promises the effectiveness of school. One of the important consequences of this culture is teacher's professionalism neglected by the educational researchers specifically in Iran. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of quality of curriculum leadership culture in teacher's professionalism in elementary schools of Tehran. Using cluster sampling method, a representative sample (260 teachers) was selected from five educational districts in Tehran. Selected teachers responded to the questionnaires of curriculum leadership culture (Adams, 2007) and teacher's professionalism (McMahon, 2007; Geist, 2002). Data was analyzed by using Pearson correlation coefficient and standard multiple regression. Results showed that the quality of curriculum leadership culture has more relation with teacher's professionalism in teaching than teacher's professionalism in non-teaching works. Also, the results of regression showed that prediction of the dimensions of curriculum leadership culture (the quality of school-based leadership, quality of curricular elements, and quality of curriculum decision-making) from teacher's professionalism in teaching is significantly more than professionalism in non-teaching works. Generally, the research findings indicate the important role of the quality of curriculum leadership culture in teacher's professionalism, particularly, in professionalism in teaching. This study presents suggestions for policy makers, administrators, teachers, and future researchers.