Leading for Coherence Without Limiting Teacher Judgement

A shared plan does not create shared practice but neither does tighter control.

Last week, I wrote about the difference between a curriculum plan that exists on paper and one that is genuinely understood and used by teachers. That raised another question for me: how do leaders develop the shared understanding teachers need to make responsive decisions for their students?

The goal is not for teaching to look the same in every classroom, nor is it enough for everyone to follow the same plan.

Teachers need a deep understanding of what students are expected to learn, why it matters and what progress looks like. That shared understanding allows them to identify where students are in their learning, adapt their teaching accordingly and still remain connected to the school’s broader curriculum and pedagogical intentions.

It requires clarity about:

• what students are entitled to learn

• what quality teaching looks like

• what progress in learning looks like

• what is expected across every classroom

• where teachers can exercise professional judgement

• what support is available when practice needs to change

Marzano’s work on a guaranteed and viable curriculum reinforces the importance of ensuring that what students learn does not depend on which classroom they happen to enter. In many Victorian schools, the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0 provides the mandated curriculum. Schools then need to make deliberate decisions about how that curriculum will be organised and enacted within their own context.

Some elements may need to be tight. There may be an agreed, sequenced curriculum, shared approaches to teaching and assessment or experiences every student should have.

But shared expectations only support coherent practice when teachers have had the opportunity to understand them, question them and consider what they mean for the students in their own classrooms.

One teacher described this kind of clarity as freeing rather than restrictive. Once she understood what mattered most, she could stop worrying about whether she was meeting an unspoken expectation and focus on using her professional judgement to identify each student’s current point of learning and what they needed next.

Perhaps the real leadership challenge is not choosing between alignment and autonomy. It is developing enough shared understanding for practice to vary with purpose.

Reflection question:

What do you think needs to be shared across classrooms and where do teachers need the freedom to respond to their students?