Introduction
A head of a school today faces many challenges. These derive
from a range of sources including the admission of children
from diverse cultural, economic and social backgrounds; increasing
levels of indisciplined pupils and teachers; the introduction
of government policies, procedures and practices; and so forth.
Changes indeed call for extensive patience, emotional stability,
self-restraint and control by all members in a school environment
- pupils, teachers, non-teaching staff, parents, Government
officials and communities at large. This unit looks at some
aspects of this process of change and examines how you can
improve the management of change in your school.
Individual study time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Learning outcomes
After working through this unit you should be able to:
• outline the range of changes in government policies,
procedures and practices, with which schools are involved
• describe the nature of the change process and identify
the key management functions and tasks associated with effective
implementation of change in schools
• provide support and advice for teachers on accepting
changes in education to minimise resistance
• promote acceptance and compliance to changes arising
out of national policies and practices.
What is change?
In the introduction to this unit we noted a range of sources
or pressures for change and the sorts of changes occurring.
These include: changes in admission, curriculum, language
policies, structural reforms and the technology of education.
It is clear that changes can either be imposed on a school
from outside or initiated in the school. However, whatever
the source of changes, many writers have noted the responses
to change. For example:
• 'old attitudes die hard'
• 'tough times never last but tough people do' (Robert
Schultz)
• 'when the going gets rough, the tough get going'.
Activity 8.1
(1) What do you understand by change?
(2) Why do you think that response to change is often characterised
by the above quotations?
Comments
It is likely that you will have described change using some
of the following terms:
• transfer from old to new position
• transformation of old form to new form
• displacement from one place to another place
• substitution of one item with another one
• alteration of something
• promotion/demotion in rank/transfer
• separation/division/loss of parts from a whole
• mutations/evolution/growth of living things
• shifting of alliance/allegiance, loyalty and control.
The key point is that change means alteration from 'what
was yesterday' to 'what it is today' and that is often uncomfortable.
A change can be temporary where it is possible to reverse
to the old position or form. A change can be permanent when
it is not possible to reverse to the old position or form,
for example, the ageing process of a living thing is an irreversible
process, as is the passing of time. Change which takes place
in education is often a planned and deliberate attempt to
bring about improvement - this is called innovation. The school
head has a key role to play in the management of change and
innovation.
Role of the head in the management of change
As a school head, you are expected to be influencing results
arising from changes instead of waiting to survive the effects
and consequences of change. You are expected to manage change.
Managing change and making it 'stick' is a process involving
the following important features:
1 Recognise the need to change - starting with yourself.
2 Diagnose current reality by taking stock of 'Where are we
today and where would we like to be tomorrow after the changes?'
3 Mobilise commitment to the change amongst those who will
be affected by the change in your school.
4 Draw up plans to get there by taking decisions as to appropriate
courses of action, implementing plans, monitoring results
and giving feedback to the major actors and beneficiaries
involved.
Managing change essentially means taking control of and shaping
the direction by influencing in some way the outcome of changes.
This involves planning to take action on change.
Planning and implementing change
Your ability to plan for action, to use power and to influence
people effectively to bring about change derives from your
role as a Lead Professional and the Chief Executive in the
school. Your are in a vantage point or high position! You
will need to know and understand your school and your role
as change agent. This will involve data collection, reflection
and analysis, vision and concept-building, formulating a strategy
for action, implementing action and monitoring outcomes.
Data collection
• go and listen to new recruits - don't just talk to
them
• phone your office when you are away somewhere - this
may enable you to know how efficient your institution's switchboard
is
• join new people for tea, drink, lunch or sport, etc.
- and listen to them
• talk to drivers, porters, tea ladies, subordinate staff
to find out how they feel about changes - they hear a lot
more than you
• listen to the 'grapevine' - it is rarely wrong
• walk around the school
• smile more often - people will tell you much more.
Reflection and analysis
Think about it, sift it, sort it out and analyse it.
Vision and concept - building
Apply some overall framework to the analysed data in terms
of short-term solutions, long-term goals, overall purpose
or mission statements, visions and theories about achieving
goals, objectives and targets. Formulate strategies for action.
Implementation
Ideas without action are useless. Implementation is translating
ideas into action, 'Go out and try' strategies. Monitor events
and report on the outcomes. But how best can we implement
change? What sort of strategies are most useful? The next
activity should help you to develop some practical guidelines
concerning the management of change.
Activity 8.2
Think back over the last year and reflect on some of the changes
which you or a member of staff have introduced into your school.
Identify one change which was generally successful and one which
which was less than successful and attempt to draw up a list
of reasons for success and failure. You could use a chart like
the one shown in Fig 10.
Fig 10 Reflecting on changes
Comments
There are many reasons why things can go wrong in introducing
and implementing change in schools, and your reasons will
probably have included items such as lack of training, shortage
of resources, resistance from teachers, etc. A large number
of studies have been undertaken into the nature of change
and the change process and guidelines have been developed
concerning the factors which can contribute towards success.
For example, the importance of planning, of good communications,
and of ensuring the relevance and feasibility of the proposed
change are often stressed. Indeed, what emerges is the key
role of management! The school head needs to deploy his or
her management skills in planning, organising, directing,
supervising and evaluating change. These are the key management
functions which we introduced in Unit 1 'Introduction to Educational
Management'.
Sources of power
You may remember from Unit 1 that management was described
as getting things done through people. In order to bring about
change the school head may need to pay particular attention
to mobilising commitment to change amongst staff in order
to ensure successful implementation. He or she also has access
to various sources of power which can be used to influence
the direction of change within the school.
Activity 8.3
List the sources of power which are available to you in your
role as school head. You can compare your list with that given
below.
Comments
The following sources of power may be available to a school
head:
Coercive power: To create fear by use of threats or
punishment - apply this with care in a democratic society!
Expert power: This derives from special knowledge
about education and culture which others may need and do not
possess. Respect for, and need for this knowledge can create
compliance to change requirements.
Role power: The role of head has rank, status and
reputation; these can have a powerful influence on pupils,
teachers, parents and the community.
Reward power: The head can indirectly reward teachers
financially by recommending them for promotion. The head can
promote or demote a child from one grade to another.
Connection power: This derives from a head's access
and network membership upwards, downwards and sideways anywhere
in any country.
Overcoming resistance to change
Activity 8.4
The statements below represent some conservative positions which
individuals take in organisations. How often have you heard
these statements made in your staff meetings? How do you handle
such statements?
Your ability to handle resistance to change will depend on
your awareness of the sources of that resistance. Sources
of resistance to change include:
• fear of the unknown
• lack of information
• misinformation
• threats to core skills and competence
• threat to status
• threat to power base
• no perceived benefits
• low trust organisational climate
• poor relationships
• fear of failure
• fear of looking stupid
• reluctance to experiment
• custom bound
• reluctance to let go
• strong peer group norms especially amongst teachers
and pupils.
If you study this list carefully, you will realise that the
resistance to change formulation can be rather an over-simplification
of the reasons why change is not always successful. Whilst
there may well be some teachers who will always resist change,
the school head can try to ensure that resistance does not
develop in the first place or if it does that it is minimal.
This can be done by adopting appropriate implementation strategies
and ensuring good communications and support for implementation
at all times.
Summary
This unit has provided a brief overview of some of the important
issues surrounding the management of change in schools. It
has explored a number of strategies which a school head can
adopt to help bring about change. Change is a complex process
and often hard to manage, and what we find is that the effective
manager of change is one who adopts the management principles
and techniques which have been the focus of the various units
making up this Module. |
