School leadership plays a pivotal role as the bridge between the classroom, the school, and the broader education system. This conference paper contributes both theoretically and empirically to the field of curriculum theory. By examining how curriculum leadership has been framed in Swedish curricula from the 1960s to the present (including Lgr 62-69, Lgy70, Lgr 80, Lpo94, Lpf 94, Lgr2011, and Lgr2022), the paper shed light on the often-overlooked relationship between principals and the curriculum.

Through the lens of the “three domains of curriculum leadership,” the paper explore how leadership is connected to the societal context and the purpose of education (the “where” and “why” of educational leadership), as well as its impact at the school and teaching levels. The first domain that is investigated in the curriculum policy texts contains defining the school’s mission statement.  Principals play a crucial role in framing the school’s goals and communicating them. They provide direction, shaping the school’s trajectory based on defined role descriptions in policy texts. The second concerns leadership interactions at school and teaching levels. This domain focuses the instructional organization and on how principals is supposed to coordinate the curriculum, supervise instruction, evaluate teaching quality, and monitor student progress (the “how” of educational leadership). The third domain investigated deals with functions of educational leadership (the “what” of educational leadership), i.e. how principals are expected to engage with curriculum goals and topics in their practices.