Leading in a culture of change
Leading in a culture of change
Leading in a culture of change
Leading in a culture of change
Leading in a culture of change, by Michael Fullan was published in 2001. In this book how to effectively change the culture of a business or an educational institution. As one looks at the five components that are stated in the book, one must see that the same rules still apply in 2010. The five components are moral purpose, understanding change, relationships, knowledge building, and coherence making. When looking at how to change the culture of a school it is a complex situation. In a review of the book, Cameron states that Fullan draws upon his extensive knowledge of current theories and innovation in management. (Cameron, 2003)
Leadership Qualities
One thing that a leader must be aware is how he or she is perceived by the people he or she is leading. In Whitman Elementary school a new principal was placed in the school after three years of not making Adequately Yearly Progress (AYP). This was a brand new principal. "He wanted to improve the school by first changing the school culture and then asserting his own brand of leadership employing collaboration, evidence-based practice, and the use of communities of practice. (Eilers & Camacho, 2007) At the end of the two year study there was seen an increase in student achievement in both reading and math.
Many people believe that only the change in leadership will help a school to be successful. In many school districts principals are removed in failing schools but the schools continue to fail. Educational change refers to change in structure, form or functioning of an educational situation or system with the aims of improvement. (Dean, 1993) When we look at the entire organization then we can make appropriate changes. But there has to be a system in place. As with Whitman the resources and supports were given by the district to help make the school success. In many cases new principals are not given the resources or the support to make a school successful and lead the school to change.
A consistent theme throughout the school improvement research is the centrality of leadership, particularly instructionally focused leadership (Orr, Berg, Shore, & Meier, 2008) In many schools there is a need to improve instruction. Based upon the research not spending time in classrooms and being an instructional leader is a problem for new principals. The use of action plans and the school improvement plan is paramount to leading a school to success. A school leader must be both an educator and a manager. There has to be a balance between the two to have effective change.
Leadership programs
There are many universities that are offering new programs for educational leadership. In the state of Indiana they have built a partnership with Marian University to improve school principals. As part of the Alliance to Reform Education Leadership this is a pilot program that's being used in six universities. If the schools have exceptional leaders then no child will be left behind. Many new principals are leading schools that are failing. They do need the tools to improve and change the schools.
There are many new innovations that are helping to develop school leaders. One of the programs is New Leaders for New Schools out of New York. This is a principal development program that gives a new principal a year internship in a school with a mentor principal. Then a two year period with a coach that helps the principal with making choices and decisions in the school. There is support for the first five years as the person goes from resident principal to principal.
The Rainwater Leadership Alliance is a nonprofit group that supports leadership innovations such as KIPP and School Leader Network .KIPP is another program that is developing school leaders. They have two tracks that are used. There is an one year track which trains the individual to become a KIPP leader by working in a KIPP school. The two year program has a teacher teaching in a KIPP school with leadership opportunity the first year and then developing a plan to open a new school. School Leader Network use both action research and learning theory to improve student achievement. They are a cohort of
Policies that influence change
With the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act, school reform now focuses on achievement and how to turn around low performing schools. The schools are now in new phases of school improvement. There are greater demands on leaders to use research based interventions to improve instruction. There are many challenges that new leaders are faced with when they try to turn around falling schools. "One reason for the implementation challenges may be the inability or lack of skill of leaders to take advantage of the restricting strategy and other aggressive school improvement approaches." (Orr, et al., 2008)
School systems started to track more closely the achievement of students. One of the areas that have been looked at is performance of schools. When a school goes into school improvement the first person that is removed is the principal. When a new principal comes into a school that is failing there are many factors that the new principal must look at and analyze. As you lead to effect change one must build relationships not with just the staff in your building but also with the parents, school board, local politicians, and national politicians.
Education is changing based upon the passing of new laws and policies. With the Race to the Top Funds available for states there is more accountability for all students. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 have a provision to improve the schools and education in the nation. If you look at our countries history there have been many educational acts passed. With many of the Presidents they want to be known as the education President. But one must remember that for time and place in history they were in the fore front of education.
Media that influences change
It's not easy to change the culture of a school when all the stakeholders do not support the vision and mission of the leader. In recent news there has been a great deal of conversation about the movie "Waiting for Superman." In this documentary the plight of five students who parents want a better education is documented. The superintendent of DC Public schools is featured in the documentary. She later was interviewed and talked about the plight of DC public schools. Last year over 20 principals were removed from low performing schools in DC. Public schools.
As I watched the movie there were many rhetorical questions that I as an educator had to ask myself. One of the many questions: are charter schools the great fix that America has been lead to believe? Another question is how they showed the selection process for charters is not the reality in many school systems? Will the United States ever find the root cause of so many students not meeting with success? Why is there should a problem into having all the stakeholders to agree upon what's but for the students? Will the students ever get what they really need in order to become successful in the classroom and in life? What can the leader of the schools do to change the injustice of the school system?
Student Achievement
The main reason that a culture change has to occur in most schools is that student achievement needs to be improved. In a study conducted by Gruenert one of the findings of the study was the more collaborative school tend to higher student achievement. (Gruenert, 2005)
When working in a school that is collaborative and lead by a school leader that has a clear vision and mission student achievement increase. As a school leader and trying to foster change to improve student achievement it is important to work in a collaborative group of your peers to gain important insight and ideas. One's peer group is a valuable resource.
As a school leader shows a staff how to effectively use data to drive instruction there is a plan to raise achievement. The ultimate measure that will be used to determine the effectiveness of a new school leader is student achievement. When a school leader has a plan to change and lead the teachers to a new way of working and analyzing the results then effective and efficient change and occur.
Conclusion
In order to change the culture of a school a leader must have a clear vision. There must be a support system for the leader to have support. Working collaboratively with your peers and having your school work collaboratively is very important. The use of evidence based and research based materials are important. You must keep abreast of the new laws and policies that are being implemented locally and nationally that effect education. Read the newspaper and listen to the new in order to find out what is in the news.
Change is a process that all low performing schools must undertake. As a school leader one is able to communicate and allocate the necessary resources to build an effective school community. Another thing is that a leader must lead with integrity. People will follow a leader that they have confidence in their ability and have a clear plan of action. To change a culture one must build and foster relationships. As a school leader you must have a relationship with all the stakeholders. A leader must have a plan but be flexible enough to change the plan when it is not working.
Change must be managed by the leader. When you involve more people in the change process you have more people who will support the change. When implementing new strategies using research to show the effectiveness of a program helps people to participate into the change. Remind everyone that student achievement is the ultimate goal behind the change. Develop a collaborative team approach to change. Many people want to change low performing schools but do not know how to facilitate the change.
References
Cameron, H. (2003). LEADING IN A CULTURE OF CHANGE . Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship, 9(1), 98-101.
Eilers, A. M., & Camacho, A. (2007). School Culture Change in the Making. Urban Education, 42(6), 616-637.
Gruenert, S. (2005). Correlations of Collaborative School Cultures with Student Achievement. NASSP Bulletin, 89(645), 43-55.
Orr, M. T., Berg, B., Shore, R., & Meier, E. (2008). Putting the Pieces Together. Education and Urban Society, 40(6), 670-693.
Student Culture: An Important Question of Alcoholism Catalonia: culture and montains Hui People Customs and Culture Art Positive "Minds the Gap" of Consumerist Culture in Modern Metros Law Firm Culture and You World culture and civilization of 21th Century The International Discourse: World culture and Civilization Understanding More About Call Centers Work and Culture The Filipinos Culture: Is it most liked by People around the World The Kenyan Cultures Kenya- One Culture, Different People The Kikuyu Traditional Culture The Kenyan Culture