ISSN 2239-978X ISSN 2240-0524 Journal of Educational and Social Research MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy Vol. 4 No.2 April 2014 366 The Comparison of Private and Public School Principals’ Curriculum Management Behaviours Olga Pilli Girne American University, Girne, Mersin 10 Turkey, Cyprus, Assist.Prof. Dr., olgapilli@gau.edu.tr Doi:10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n2p366 Abstract The purpose of this study is to compare the private and public secondary school principals’ behaviours on curriculum management. The most important goal of the learning and teaching activities carried out in schools is to transform the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviours to student who are the indispensable input of the education system, in order to cultivating them for society in a healthy and adequate way. Educational program is a document that consisting of lesson time, learning outcomes that students need to gain, course topics, methods and techniques. At the head of teaching and learning activities in schools, there are school administrators who are responsible for managing and implementation of programs. On the behind of successful schools, there are qualified principals who lead the teaching and learning process by taking an important role on planning, implementation and coordination of the curriculum. So far, very few studies have been investigated the school administrators about managing the curriculum. The success of a school is directly related to how the school administrator manages and implements the curriculum. The participants of this study consist of all primary school principals in the North Cyprus. From a population of around 121 school principals, 90 randomly selected principals was completed the questionnaire, 82 form public, 8 from private schools. The "School Principals' Curriculum Management Behaviours Survey" is used in spring semester of the academic year of 2013-2014. After the data is collected, principals’ perceptions of their curriculum management behaviours determined through statistical analysis. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 18) will be utilized to carry out statistical procedures while examining the obtained data. The two samples t-test with percentages was applied and a non-significant difference on the curriculum management behaviours of public and private primary school principals is found. Keywords: Curriculum management, principals, management behaviours, primary school, and North Cyprus. 1. Introduction Curriculum is the academic system that imparts knowledge and skills to students in a school environment. More specifically, curriculum refers to what is written to be taught, and what is tested at different student levels. Schubert (2003) defines curriculum as the contents of a subject, concepts and tasks to be acquired, planned activities, the desired learning outcomes and experiences, product of culture and an agenda to reform society. Curricula act as a mentor for both principals and teachers in a school environment. In this sense, besides the importance of the preparation of curriculum, it has a great importance of managing and implementation of the curriculum on behalf of achieving the program objectives. One of the responsibilities of school principals as an instructional leader is to manage the implementation of curriculum (ùiúman, 2004). Glassman (1984) defined the instructional leader as: (a) leading instructional improvement and innovation, (b) developing educational goal consensus in the school, and (c) guiding staff development efforts at the school level. Besides, Southworth (2009) identified instructional leadership as learning oriented leadership and he asserted that leadership becomes “more potent when it focuses on developing students’ learning and strengthening teaching”. A good instructional leader should set clear goals, manage curriculum, monitor lesson plans, allocate resources and evaluate teachers regularly to promote student learning and growth. According to Hallinger and Murphy (1985), instructional leadership framework consists of three main components: a) defining the school mission, b) managing the instructional program, and c) creating a positive school climate. There are mainly four instructional leadership skills that principals must have to demonstrate: a) serving as an instructional resource, b) effective use of resources c) communication skills d) being visible and accessible ( Smith & Andrews, 1998). Portin (2000) identified three areas previously not included in the descriptions of the principal’s role: (a) entrepreneurial skills for fund raising, (b) political leadership skills, and (c) societal services challenges. Curriculum management skills also included and listed on the top of lists of the being a good instructional leader. Thus, as an instructional leader, principals