CHANGE MANAGEMENT

An Investigation Into The Importance Of Understanding Change In The Process Of Change Management In A Secondary School

An Investigation into Discussing the Importance of Understanding Change in The Process of Change Management in a Secondary School Context

Introduction

This assignment seeks to develop an understanding of the change process in the context of secondary education. I am interested in this focus, because, Concerns about education have led to a variety of actions, including federal mandates to demonstrate instructional efficacy through high-stakes testing; emphases on curriculum, instruction, and assessments that help students acquire 21st-century skills; and creation of competition (e.g., school choice, vouchers, charter schools) to motivate improvement in public schools. Additionally, overall student performance and achievement gaps among various groups of students have resulted in questions regarding teacher quality. Such questions, along with severe teacher shortages in math, science, special education, and English as a Second Language/Bilingual Education, have led to an increased focus on the preparation of teachers, including alternative paths to licensure and questions about how to best prepare teachers (Taylor, 1991, pp. 110-120).

Initiating change is easier than maintaining and sustaining change. My reading and MA study has led me to conclude that much of the literature on change management in education seems to draw on business literature, where the main factors of change management are employees in organizations 'buying into' the change process and the training they receive in order to implement the change more effectively . Changes in business are constantly taking place and accelerating day by day. This is because globalization has made information instant and changes are occurring at a rapid pace. Major decision making in the corporate sector have daily effects on change management. In my professional experience, education seems to reflect the same pace of change (Topf, 2000, pp.33-50).

This essay will argue that understanding the need for change in school is critically important for the whole management team. Managing change will not be an easy task but its effective implementation depends on the co-ordination of the team members and all members will have to realize the goal and objective of this change and align their tasks accordingly (Döbert, 2004, pp. 10-20).



Discussion

Recent Trends in School Management

School administration is facing many challenges and developments in the areas of life, which compelled them to adapt to change and lead and manage the change process in their organizations. The recent trends in school management, which requires understanding of change and effective change management are: time, crisis management, conflict management and managing creativity. All of these trends seem to be part of change agenda in educational settings that are familiar to me. For example, the current rapid acceleration of business and education interaction began with what may have been the first simultaneous intrusion of the influence of new technology and global competition. The cold war-era technology race that was launched along with Sputnik brought government and business interests into the schools like never before, demanding science and mathematics reforms in the interest of national security (Luecke, ...