Theories of Educational Change - Essay Example

? Theories of Educational Change Total Number of Words: 2,004 Section It is necessary to relate theory into practice because most of the existing theories with regards to leadership and effective ways in managing educational change have been proven in several past and current studies. In most cases, theories related to educational change has been closely examined and developed based on a lot of “internal, external, and personal” factors (Goodson, 2001). By taking the existing theories into consideration, there is a higher chance wherein the school leaders will be able to effectively create a new organizational vision that can promote the practice of teacher empowerment in schools. In the book entitled Schooling by Design: Mission, Action, and Achievement, Wiggins and McTighe (2007, p. 108) discussed the theory behind the “Curriculum Design Cycle”. Although this particular framework is useful in terms of guiding the teachers on how to effectively change and create a new curriculum that can meet the needs of a commnity, this particular model is not applicable when it comes to the need to create educational vision on teacher empowerment. The Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievements in Schools (IDEAS) by Andrews (2008) is more applicable when it comes to implementing change for the entire educational institution. Lastly, Eacott’s Strategic Model is all about the use of strategies when managing educational administration or educational construct. However, after examining the modern context of educational administration, Eacott (2008, p. 353) found out that the available strategies that can be used in the field of education is “incomplete” and “flawed”. Therefore, among these three (3) models, the model presented by Andrews (2008) is more applicable when it comes to creating an educational vision that could empower the school teachers. Activities Used to Engage All Stakeholders in the Process of Creating Vision and Issues Related to Managing Change In relation to the topic mentioned in module 1, the vision aims to increase the chances wherein a primary school can effectively develop and implement school policies on teacher engagement. In line with this, activities such as brain-storming, group discussion and voting are all equally important when it comes to encouraging all stakeholders to engage themselves in participating in the process of designing a clear and inspiring vision on teacher empowerment. The construct of parallel leadership is one of the main constructs of IDEAS. Basically, the context of parallel leadership is highly dependent on mutualism, personal expression, and shared purpose, values, and beliefs (Andrews, 2008). Using this theory, one can argue that it is essential for both the school administrator and the primary school teachers to develop mutual respect and trust at all times. After developing a sense of mutualism, both parties are expected to work together towards the development of a single vision that could strengthen teacher empowerment within the primary school setting. During the initiative phase, the school administor and the primary school teachers are expected to participate in brainstorming and/or group discussion process. Basically, brainstorming is all about encouraging the school personnel to generate group ideas (Isaken & Gaulin, 2005). This will then lead to discovering and envisioning stage (Andrews, 2008). By encouraging the school staff to participate in a group discussion or brain-storming session, the school leader will have the opportunity to detect the personal opinion or stand of each school staff with regards to certain strategies that can be used in the promotion of teacher empowerment. Teacher empowerment is all about being able to strengthen the decision-making power of the primary school teachers through the use of either administrative strategies or pedagogy (Di Gropello, 2006, p. 4). In some cases, excessive use or implementation of rules and regulations, and red tape serves as a barrier behind effective teacher empowerment (Smyth, 2011). Therefore, allowing the school staff to participate in voting process during the actioning and sustaining stage could somehow make them feel empowered (Andrews, 2008). It means that the primary school teachers can work together with the school administrator in creating a more realisitc action plan based on the educational vision. Strategies to Set a Short-Term Goal and Action Plan for Long-Term Goals Engaging the stakeholders to participate in brain-storming session or a group discussion does not only increase the school staff’s motivation and interest to become more active in the designing of a clear vision but also explore all possibilities on how they can effectively improve the teacher empowerment and allow each school staff to develop a higher level of trust and commitment in terms of supporting the creation and implementation of such vision (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2010, p. 6). During the brain-storming session, the school leader should carefully listen and take into consideration the ideas that will come from each of the school staff. By listening closely to what each one of them will say, the school staff could develop a great sense of belongingness, acceptance, and increase in self-worth (Crawford & Bodine, 1996). The term empowerment is all about having a “personal control” over something (Lord & Hutchison, 1993, p. 3). In the process of allowing the stakeholders to vote for their ideas and concerns on how the educational institution can establish a strong vision for this purpose, the rest of the stakeholders could somehow feel valued and empowered (Lewis, 2006; Chenye et al., 2004). It means that allowing them to participate in the decision making for the creation of vision can make the school staff feel that they are important part of the group. As a result, providing the school staff with freedom to voice out their concerns can somehow increase their individual creativity (Terry, 2000, p. 2). Furthermore, empowering the school personnel could somehow train them to become leaders in their own little ways. Eventually, the feeling of acceptance can make them increase their morale and desire to participate in the design and implementation of the school vision (Teschke, 1996, p. 10). The short-term goal is to win the support and trust of each school staff to support the organizational vision whereas the long-term goal is to increase the overall teacher empowerment. To set a short-term goal, it is important to develop a strong vision on how the school staffs can practice teacher empowerment. Using the organizational vision on teacher empowerment, it would be much easier to set a short-term goal since the vision actually serves as a guide on how the school staff can achieve the organizational goal. For example, as part of teacher empowerment programme, the short-term goal of is to set a cultural practice that allows each of the primary school teacher to act as a leader. This can be done by allowing each one of them to participate in the decision-making process in school. With this in mind, the school personnel (i.e. teachers, administrator, etc.) should all be required to gather in one place each week in order to participate in brainstorming session (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2010, p. 6). By doing so, the school personnel can work more effectively as a team. To ensure that the strategy used in setting the short-term goal is effective in terms of achieving the educational institution’s long-term goal, it is best to monitor the school staff’s commitment towards the short-term and long-term goals by closely observing each of the school staff’s attendance during each weekly group meetings (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2010, p. 6). Another possible way to determine whether or not the leadership style used by the leader is effective is to observe how each of the school staff has been staying committed to take necessary actions including their eagerness to participate in the group discussion (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2010, p. 7). In line with this, Crawford and Bodine (1996) explained that the process of being able to receive a strong or “hard responses” towards school-related issues is already a clear sign whereby the organizational vision and goal settings can be considered a victory. Section 2 Issues related to Change Management Resistance-to-change is all about rejecting or refusing to support the implementation of an educational change (Caruth & Caruth, 2013; Agocs, 1997). Often times, resistance-to-change can happen simply because the school staff has failed to trust the school leader with regards to his or her desire to implement strategies related to teacher empowerment. In general, negative attitude could develop either because of the risks wherein some of the school staff can feel uncomfortable whereas those who are in an authoritative position could develop a sense of threat (i.e. fear of losing their control over other people or losing their job) (Giles, 2006; Richardson, 1998). Aside from having a negative attitude, beliefs, and emotions, the presence of resistance-to-change can trigger the feelings of uncertainties and anxieties particularly on the part of the school leaders (Caruth & Caruth, 2013; Qian, 2008; Lane, 2007). Furthermore, the absence of a clear vision and preparation for the educational change can lead to the development of cynicism (McBride, 2010). In line with this, cynicism is all about being disrespectful or having a negative thoughts or opinion about the leadership technique being used by the school leader (Qian, 2008). Throughout the entire educational change management processes, the absence of commitment and support coming from the school staff could mean a failed short-term or long-term organizational goal Rationale behind the Selected Approaches in Managing Change Leadership is a required skill when managing educational change (Lambert, 2007). Therefore, to prevent or minimize the risks of resistance-to-change, the school leader should possess not only an effective leadership skills but also have a positive thinking and ability to communicate and listen closely to the concerns of other people (Ross & Gray, 2006; Covey, 1989, p. 34). Through the use of effective leadership skills, the school leader will be able to lead, motivate, influence, and inspire the rest of the school staff towards becoming a leader when implementing educational change (Bass & Riggio, 2006, p. 3, 6; Fullan, 2002). It means that the school staff will be able to train themselves in becoming self-sufficient and self-directed individuals. In the process of establishing a two-way communication between the school leader and the rest of the school staff, the school leader will have more opportunity to reflect on what could possibly happen after implementing certain strategies related to teacher empowerment. Success or failure of an educational change is higly dependent on the use of effective communication skills (Russ, 2007). Through the use of effective communication technique, the school leader can easily detect signs of resistance-to-change. By knowing why some of the school staff is against certain teacher empowerment strategy, the school leader will be able to reflect on the rationale as to why some of the school staff are against the strategy. Perhaps, general ideas coming from some of the school staff is more realistic as compared to the school leader’s idea (Lewis, Hamel, & Richardson, 2001, p. 20). Otherwise, the school leader can think of an option on how he or she can effectively persuave people who are causing internal conflicts to support the need for educational change. In other words, the organizational vision in this sense cannot be or will never be implemented by the school leaders through the use of either a one-way communication process or coercion (Russ, 2007). To be able to win the support and trust of the school staff, the school leader should be able to establish a good working relationship with the team (Beatty, 2007). Even though the study of Alizadeh et al. (2013) shows that there is no relationship between the use of effective communication skills with resistance-to-change, several other studies strongly suggest that the use of effective communication skills could somehow enable the school leaders convince or persuade the rest of the school staff to support the implementation of an educational change (Alizadeh et al., 2013; Otara, 2011; Russ, 2007). Often times, establishing a good working relationship with the rest of the school staff is possible by strengthening the school leaders’ decision-making and communication skills (Otara, 2011). By doing so, the school leader will have a better chance of being able to effectively handle educational change. References Agocs, C. (1997). 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Schooling by design: Mission, action, and achievement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Read More