welcome to the workshop! we hope you have a great...

Welcome to the workshop! We hope you have a great day!

Table of Contents

Overview

The Change Process 1

Leadership for Change 31

Learning Communities at the Local Level 51

Role of the District 67

Sustaining Reform 83

Glossary 107

References 109

Change Knowledge

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Our work for Microsoft's Partnership in Learning initiative focuses on leadingchange. In addition to these training modules there are two other publications: a basicpamphlet on Change Knowledge (which has been adapted as Module I of the trainingmodules); and Case Studies for Leading Change which illustrates education changeprojects from around the world.

Microsoft describes the purpose of the Partners in Learning (PiL) initiative as "partof Microsoft's comprehensive commitment to promoting digital inclusion and to partneringwith governments to bring the benefits of technology to communities and classroomsaround the world. Microsoft believes that through our collaboration, we can empowerschools, strengthen teacher leadership and increase student achievement throughout theworld."

In our publications the emphasis is not on technology, per se. In studies ofsuccessful organizations and school systems, time and again it has been found thattechnology must be conceptualised in the context of change in the culture of the system,and in schoolwide and systemwide purposes. The goal of the training modules is to provideawareness and understanding of key ideas for leading change.

Overview

Change Knowledge

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Preading: for this course is: M. Fullan, Change Forces With a Vengeance, London,RoutledgeFalmer.

The main objectives are:

(i) To deepen understanding of educational change;

(ii) To show what capacities are needed to bring about effectiveschool/community, district and system reform;

(iii) To illustrate the concepts in action through case study vignettes;

(iv) To provide participants with an opportunity to apply these learnings to theirown technology-based projects.

There are five main modules:

Module I The Change Process

Module II Leadership for Change

Module III Learning Communities at the Local Level

Module IV The Role of the District

Module V Sustaining Reform

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The Change Processi

The purpose of this module is to provide an overview of the change process, toidentify key drivers for successful change, and to enable participants to apply the ideasthrough (a) illustrative case studies, and (b) their own change projects.

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Activity TASK Why does education reform often fail? List 10 or more reasons for this problem. Of all the reasons listed, which one is most at the "heart" of the problem?All group members should be prepared to present the team answer.Time: 10 minutes.

Worksheet

Team Answer Sheet

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The PathwaysProblem

What is Change? New materials New behaviour/practices New beliefs/understanding

The Complexityof Change

1. You can’t mandate what matters.2. Change is a journey, not a blueprint.3. Problems are our friends.4. Vision and strategic planning come later.5. Individualism and collectivism must have equal power.6. Neither centralization nor decentralization works.7. Connection with the wider environment is critical for success.8. Every person is a change agent.

The ImplementationDip

Inertia Identify and discuss the forces of inertia in your education reform project.

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Brain Barriers BB #1: Failure to seeBB #2: Failure to moveBB #3: Failure to finish

— Black & Gregersen, 2002

BB #1: Failure to See The comprehensiveness mistake The ‘I get it’ mistake Illuminate the right thing


BB #2: Failure toMove

The clearer the new vision the more immobilized people become! Why?


Right Thing Poorly The clearer the new vision, the easier it is for people to see all the specific ways inwhich they will be incompetent and look stupid. Many prefer to be competent atthe wrong thing than incompetent at the right thing.


BB #3: Failure toFinish

People get tired.People get lost.


Breaking ThroughBarriers

Conceive Believe Achieve


Technical vs AdaptiveChallenge

Heifetz distinguishes between technical problems and adaptive challenges.Technical problems are ones for which our current know-how is sufficient.Adaptive challenges are more complex and go beyond what we know. Heifetzidentifies several properties of adaptive challenges:

1. The challenge consists of a gap between aspiration and reality demanding aresponse outside our current repertoire.

2. Adaptive work to narrow the gap requires difficult learning.3. The people with the problem are the problem, and they are the solution.4. Adaptive work generates disequilibrium and avoidance.5. Adaptive work takes time.

— Heifetz & Linsky, 2002

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Triple I Model Activity 1. Review the list of factors in the Triple I model.2. Which of the three stages best characterizes your project at this time?3. Use the list of factors at the stage selected to assess your own project:

- How does each factor apply?- Are there other factors that you would add?

Worksheet – Triple I Model(One Model for Understanding Change Initiatives)

Comments Action Implications

Initiation Factors

Linked to high profile need

Clear model

Strong advocate

Active initiation

Implementation Factors

Orchestration

Shared control

Pressure and support

Technical assistance

Rewards

Institutionalization Factors

Embedding

Links to instruction

Widespread use

Removal of competing priorities

Continuing assistance

— Matthew Miles

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Change Knowledge Overview

Activity:8 Key Drivers

Letter off A-D (Groups of 4) Person A – Read Drivers 1-2 Person B – Read Drivers 3 Person C – Read Drivers 4 and 5 Person D – Read Drivers 6 to 8Debrief in your group.

Concept Map

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The First Driver:Engaging Peoples’Moral Purpose

The first overriding principle concerns knowledge about the why of change,namely moral purpose. At a fundamental level, moral purpose in educationalchange is about improving society through improving educational systems andthus the learning of all citizens.

In education, moral purpose involves a commitment to raising the bar and closingthe gap in student achievement, for example, increasing literacy for all withspecial attention to those most disadvantaged. There is a wide gap, particularlyin some countries between groups at the bottom and those at the top. Thus,schools need to "raise the floor" by figuring out how to speed up the learning ofthose who are at the bottom for whom the school system has been less effective.

Improving overall literacy achievement is directly associated with economicproductivity in a country. In countries where the gap between high and lowperformance of students is reduced, the economic health and well-being ofcitizens is measurably better.

In change knowledge, moral purpose is not just a goal, but more importantly is aprocess of engaging educators, community leaders and society as a whole in themoral purpose of reform. If moral purpose is front and center, the remainingseven drivers become additional forces for enacting moral purpose.

The Second Driver:Capacity-Building

The second driver is capacity-building which involves policies, strategies,resources and other actions designed to increase the collective power of peopleto move the system forward (schools, districts, state levels). This will involve thedevelopment (collective development) of new ‘knowledge, skills, andcompetencies’, new resources (time, ideas, materials) and new ‘shared identityand motivation’ to work together for greater change.

In addition to individual and collective capacity as defined by increasedknowledge, resources and motivation, organizational capacity involvesimprovements in the infrastructure. The infrastructure consists of agencies at thelocal, regional and state levels that can deliver new capacity in the system suchas training, consultancy, and other support.

Capacity is crucial because it is often the missing element even when people arein agreement about the need for change. For example, to improve literacy,teachers and principals must develop new skills and increased commitment in theface of inevitable obstacles (see the third driver). Similarly, in the case of newtechnologies not only must educators acquire new skills and understandings, theymust integrate technology into curriculum, teaching and learning, and theassessment of learning.

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1. It is a 'collective' phenomenon. Whole schools, whole districts and wholesystems must increase their capacity as groups. This is difficult because it involvesworking together in new ways.

2. Capacity must be evident in practice and be ongoing. This is whyfront-end training is insufficient – it does not transfer into improvements in thedaily cultures of how people need to work in new ways.

The Third Driver:Understanding theChange Process

Understanding the change process is a big driver because it cuts across allelements. It is also difficult and frustrating to grasp because it requires leaders totake into account factors that they would rather not have to stop and deal with.They would rather lay out the purpose and plan and get on with it. Changedoesn’t work that way:

For change to work you need the energy, ideas, commitment and ‘ownership’ ofall those implicated in implementing improvements. This is perplexing becausethe urgency of problems does not allow for long term ‘ownership development’(in fact more leisurely strategies do not produce greater ownership anyway).

Ownership is not something you have at the beginning of a change process, butrather something that you create through a quality change process. Here aresome of the things you need to know to push as hard as the process will allowwhile increasing your chances for success.

Understanding the Change Processi. Strategizing vs strategyii. Pressure and supportiii. Know about the implementation dipiv. Understand the fear of changev. Appreciate the difference between technical and adaptive challengesvi. Be persistent and resilient

3. iStrategizing will helpus to evolve andreshape ideas andactions.

There is a great temptation to develop the complete strategic plan and thenallocate mechanisms of accountability and support in order to implement it. Thisleads to the first lesson in the change process: the strategic plan is an innovation;it is not innovativeness.

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We need strategy and strategic ideas, but above all we need to think of theevolution of change plans as a process of shaping and reshaping ideas andactions. Henry Mintzberg, in his 2004 critique of existing MBA programs(Managers not MBAs) captures this idea precisely:

Strategy is an interactive process, not a two-step sequence; it requirescontinual feedback between thought and action … Strategists have tobe in touch; they have to know what they are strategizing about; theyhave to respond and react and adjust, often allowing strategies toemerge, step-by-step. In a word, they have to learn.

Effective change is more about strategizing which is a process than it is aboutstrategy. The more that leaders practice strategizing the more that they honetheir scientific and intuitive knowledge of the change process.

3. iiPressure meansambitious targets.Support involvesdeveloping newcompetencies.

The second element of understanding change dynamics concerns the realizationthat all large scale reform requires the combination and integration of ‘pressureand support’.

There is a great deal of inertia in social systems which means that new forces arerequired to change direction. These new forces involve the judicious use ofpressure and support.

Pressure means ambitious targets, transparent evaluation and monitoring, callingupon moral purpose, and the like. Support involves developing newcompetencies, access to new ideas, more time for learning and collaboration.

The more that pressure and support become seamless, the more effective thechange process at getting things to happen. As the eight drivers of change beginto operate in concert, pressure and support, in effect get built into the ongoingculture of interaction.

3. iiiKnowledge of theimplementation dipcan reduce theawkwardness of thelearning period.

The third aspect of understanding the change process is to understand the findingthat all eventual successful change proceeds through an ‘implementation dip’.

Since change involves grappling with new beliefs and understandings, and newskills, competences and behaviors, it is inevitable that it will not go smoothly inthe early stages of implementation (even if there has been pre-implementationpreparation). This applies to any individual, but is much more complex when (asis always the case) many people simultaneously are involved.

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Knowledge of the implementation dip has helped in two important ways in ourwork with change initiatives. First, it has brought out into the open and givenpeople a label for what are normal, common experiences, namely that allchanges worth their salt involve a somewhat awkward learning period.

Second, it has resulted in us being able to reduce the period of awkwardness. Bybeing aware of the problem, we are able to use strategies (support, training, etc)that reduce the implementation dip from (in the case of school change) threeyears to half that time. This obviously depends on the starting conditions andcomplexity of the change, but the point is that without knowledge of theimplementation dip, problems persist and people give up without giving the ideaa chance.

Shorter implementation dips are more tolerable and once gains start to be madeearlier, motivation increases. Note that motivation is increasing (or not) duringthe implementation process. This is a sign of a quality (or poor) change process.

The next two elements of understanding the change process – the fear of change,and technical vs adaptive challenges – delve deeper into ‘the implementationdip’.

3. ivMasteringimplementation isnecessary toovercome the fear ofchange.

The fear of change is classical change knowledge. What people need to know forstarters is that at the beginning of the change process the losses are specific andtangible (it is clear what is being left behind), but the gains are theoretical anddistant. This is so by definition. You cannot realize the gains until you masterimplementation, and this takes time. More than this, you don’t necessarily haveconfidence that the gains will be attained. It is a theoretical proposition.

Black and Gregersen (2002) talk about ‘brain barriers’ such as the failure to movein new directions even when the direction is clear. The clearer the new vision, themore immobilized people become! Why? (p. 69)

Their answer:

The clearer the new vision the easier it is for people to see all the specificways in which they will be incompetent and look stupid. Many prefer tobe competent at the [old] wrong thing than incompetent at the [new]right thing (p. 70).

In other words, an additional element of change process knowledge involvesrealizing that clear, even inspiring, visions are not sufficient. People need theright combinations of pressure and support to become adept and comfortablewith ‘the new right way’.

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3. vIdentify thedistinction between'technical problems'and 'adaptivechallenges'.

The fifth element comes from Heifetz and Linsky’s (2003) distinction between‘technical problems’ and ‘adaptive challenges’.

Technical problems are ones in which current knowledge is sufficient toaddress the problem. Technical problems are still difficult, and people willexperience the usual implementation dip, but they are solvable in terms of whatwe know.

Adaptive challenges are more complex and the solutions in a sense ‘gobeyond what we know’. Heifetz and Linsky identify some properties of adaptivechallenges as follows:

Adaptive challenges demand a response beyond our current repertoire Adaptive work to narrow the gap between our aspirations and current reality

requires difficult learning The people with the problem are the problem and are the solution Adaptive work generates disequilibrium and avoidance Adaptive work takes time

Most of the big moral purpose goals we aspire to these days tend to be 'adaptivechallenges'. The change knowledge, then, involves strategizing with Heifetz's fiveassumptions in mind. When you do this, you set up a sounder and more realisticchange process.

The final aspect of understanding change as a process is a kind of retrospectiveoverlay of the previous five components.

3. viEngaging others inchange requirespersistence to overovercome theinevitable challenges.

Engaging others in the process of change requires persistence in order to overcomethe inevitable challenges – to keep on going despite setbacks – but it also involvesadaptation and problem-solving through being flexible enough to incorporate newideas into strategizing. Both focus and flexibility are needed.

The concept that captures persistence and flexibility is ‘resilience’. Because changeprocesses are complex, difficult and frustrating it requires pushing ahead withoutbeing rigid; regrouping despite setbacks; and not being discouraged when progressis slow.

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The reason we emphasize persistence and resilience is that people often start withgrand intentions and aspirations, but gradually lower them over time in the face ofobstacles and in the end achieve precious little.

Thus, armed with change knowledge, people should approach the change processwith a commitment to maintain, even increase high standards and aspirations.Obstacles should be seen as problems and barriers to be resolved in order toachieve high targets rather than reasons for consciously or not lowering aspirations.

The Fourth Driver:Developing Culturesfor Learning

The fourth driver, cultures for learning, sounds like a general statement, but itmeans something specific in establishing the conditions for success. It involves awhole set of strategies designed so that people can learn from each other (theknowledge dimension) and become collectively committed to improvement (theaffective dimension). Strategies for learning from each other involve:

Developing learning communities at the local, school and community levels

Learning from other schools regional and otherwise (lateral capacity-building)

Successful change involves learning during implementation. One of the mostpowerful drivers of change involves learning from peers, especially those who arefurther along in implementing new ideas. We can think of such learning insidethe school and local community, and across schools or jurisdictions. Within theschool there is a great deal of practical research that demonstrates the necessityand power of ‘Professional Learning Communities’.

Newmann and his colleagues (2000) identified five components of changecapacity within the school which includes the development of new knowledgeand skills, establishing professional learning communities, program coherence,access to new resources, and principal/school leadership. Schools and their localvillages and communities must develop new cultures of learning how to improve.

When school systems establish cultures of learning they constantly seek anddevelop teachers’ knowledge and skills required to create effective new learningexperiences for students. In addition to within school and community learning, apowerful new strategy is evolving which we call ‘lateral capacity-building’. Thisinvolves strategies in which schools and communities learn from each otherwithin a given district or region and beyond. This widens the pool of ideas andalso enhances a greater ‘we-we’ identity beyond one school (Fullan, 2005).

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Knowledge sharing and collective identity are powerful forces for positivechange, and they form a core component of our change knowledge, i.e., we needto value these aspects and know how to put them into action. Pfeffer and Sutton(2000) reinforce this conclusion in their analysis of The Knowing-Doing Gap. Theyclaim that we should ‘embed' more of the process of acquiring new knowledge inthe actual doing of the task and less in formal training programs that arefrequently ineffective (p. 27). Change knowledge has a bias for action.Developing a climate where people learn from each other within and across units,and being preoccupied with turning good knowledge into action is essential.Turning information into actionable knowledge is a social process. Thus,developing learning cultures is crucial. Good policies and ideas take off inlearning cultures, and go nowhere in cultures of isolation.

The Fifth Driver:Developing Culturesof Evaluation

Cultures of evaluation must be coupled with cultures of learning in order to sortout promising from not so promising ideas and especially to deepen the meaningof what is learned. One of the highest yield strategies for educational changerecently developed is ‘Assessment for Learning’ (not just assessment of learning).Assessment for learning incorporates:

Accessing/gathering data on student learning Disaggregating data for more detailed understanding Developing action plans based on the previous two points in order to make

improvements Being able to articulate and discuss performance with parents, external

groups

When schools and school systems increase their collective capacity to engage inongoing assessment for learning, major improvements are achieved. Severalother aspects of evaluation cultures are important including: school-based self-appraisal, meaningful use of external accountability data, and what Jim Collins(2002) found in ‘great’ organizations, namely, a commitment to ‘confronting thebrutal facts’, and establishing a culture of disciplined inquiry.

Cultures of evaluation serve external accountability as well as internal dataprocessing purposes. They produce data on an ongoing basis which enablesgroups to use information for action planning as well as for external accounting(see Black, et al, 2003, and Stiggins, 2001).

One other matter, technology has become an enormously necessary and powerfultool in our work on assessment as it makes it possible to access and analyzestudent achievement data on an ongoing basis, take corrective action, and sharebest solutions. Developing cultures of evaluation and capacity to use technologyfor improvement must go hand in hand; both are seriously underdeveloped inmost systems we know.

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The Sixth Driver:Focusing onLeadership forChange

As might be expected, one of the most powerful lessons for change involvesleadership. Here change knowledge consists of knowing what kind of leadershipis best for leading productive change. It turns out that high-flying, charismaticleaders look like powerful change agents, but are actually bad for businessbecause too much revolves around themselves.

Leadership, to be effective, must spread throughout the organization. Collins(2002) found that charismatic leaders were negatively associated withsustainability. Leaders of the so-called ‘great’ organizations were characterizedby ‘deep personal humility and ‘intense professional will’. Collins talks about theimportance of leadership which ‘builds enduring greatness’ in the organizationrather than just focusing on short-term results.

To provide a specific illustration, the main mark of a school principal at the end ofhis or her tenure is not just their impact on the bottom line of studentachievement, but rather how many leaders they leave behind who can go evenfurther. Mintzberg (2004) makes the same point:

Successful managing is not about one’s own success but about fosteringsuccess in others. (p. 16)

While managers have to make decisions, far more important, especiallyin large networked organizations of knowledge works, is what they do toenhance decision-making capabilities of others. (p. 38)

Change knowledge, then, means avoiding leaders who represent innovation, andseeking those who represent innovativeness – the capacity to develop leadershipin others on an ongoing basis. We need to produce a critical mass of leaders whohave change knowledge. Such leaders produce and feed on other leadershipthrough the system. There is no other driver as essential as leadership forsustainable reform.

The Seventh Driver:Fostering Coherence-Making

When innovation runs amok, even if driven by moral purpose, you get overloadand fragmentation. To a certain extent this is normal in complex systems.

Change knowledge is required to render overload into greater coherence. This isa never-ending proposition that involves alignment, connecting the dots, beingclear about how the big picture fits together. Above all, it involves investing in

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capacity-building so that cultures of learning and evaluation through theproliferation of leadership can create their own patterns of coherence on theground.

Change knowledge is not about developing the greatest number of innovations,but rather about achieving new patterns of coherence which enable people tofocus more deeply on how things interconnect.

The Eighth Driver:Cultivating Tri-LevelDevelopment

The eighth and final driver lies in the realization that we are talking about‘system transformation’ at three levels. Those interested in change knowledgemust realize that we are not just talking about changing individuals, but alsoabout changing systems – what we call the tri-level model.

A tri-level lens on this problem:

What has to happen at the school and community level? What has to happen at the district level? What has to happen at the level of the state?

We need to change individuals, but also to change contexts. We need to developbetter individuals while we simultaneously develop better organizations andsystems. This is easier said than done, and it involves what we have recentlycalled developing ‘system thinkers in action’ (Fullan, 2005).

For our purposes, we need only say ‘beware of the individualistic bias’ where thetacit assumption is that if we change enough individuals then the system willchange. It won’t happen. We need to change systems at the same time. Thesingle guideline we will provide here is that in order to change individuals andsystems simultaneously, we must provide more ‘learning in context’, that is,learning in the actual situations we want to change. Mintzberg (2004) focuses onthis when he says,

Leadership is as much about doing in order to think as thinking in order todo (p. 10). We need programs designed to educate practicing managers incontext (p. 193). Leadership has to be learned… not just by doing it butby being able to gain conceptual insight while doing it (p. 200).

In any case, tri-level development involves focusing on all three levels of thesystem and their interrelationships, and giving people wider learningopportunities within these contexts as a route to changing the very contextswithin which people work.

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Lived Action

Think about the drivers.what two things do you want to do in your role to act on any of these ideas?

Give and Get

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Activity Pair up: Persons A and BPerson A: Read Denmark Case, Person B: Read Vietnam CaseDescribe key change points of the case to each other.

Educational Reform in Denmark:A Case of Quality and Equity of Schooling Outcomes

Denmark is located in Northern Europe between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The country also includesthe Faeroe Islands and Greenland in the North Atlantic. The population is 5,383,507. Life expectancy is 74.5 yearsfor men and 79.2 for women. Denmark is ranked among the countries in the world with the highest standard ofliving. From the mid-1960’s, industrial exports exceeded agricultural exports. Farming continues to prosper, feeding15m people. Increasingly important to the economy are biotechnology and information technology. It is thegovernment’s ambition to make Denmark the leading IT nation. The transformation into a post industrialinformation society is already far advanced, employing 35% of all workers. Denmark joined the European Union in1973, but 53.2% of the voters rejected membership of the Eurozone in 2000. The last general election was held in2001.

The education level of the population is high with 77% having completed a qualifying vocationaleducation. Public expenditure on education and training corresponds to 7% of the country’s GDP and around 13%of total public expenditure. School attendance is not compulsory in Denmark, but nine years of education are. Thisentails an optional year of pre-school beginning at age six, a nine-year basic school program and an optional 10thyear (currently embraced by 57% of the age group). Danish schools serve a student population of 563,576 of which9,171 receive extensive special education assistance and 50,360 are bilingual students; 48,284 teachers areemployed in 1,665 municipal schools. Powers and responsibilities for overseeing schools are distributed acrossdifferent levels of government (271 municipalities and 13 counties). Over the last twenty years, the Folkeskole(Danish Education System) has undergone many changes: its governing Act has been frequently amended, powershave been substantially redistributed, the employment of teachers has been altered and many initiatives to improvethe quality of education, often with the involvement of stakeholders, have been undertaken. The Folkeskole can beseen as the foundation block of society as well as of the Danish school system.

The OECD Report

In 2003, OECD conducted a policy review of the quality and equity of educational policies, practices, andschooling outcomes in the Danish primary and lower secondary school system. The review was undertaken due todisappointing PISA test results from a cohort of 15 year-old Danish students in reading, math and science. Theseresults were in line with poor results in other international test results earlier in the decade (1991 InternationalAssociation of Evaluation of Educational Achievement on reading literacy, and 1994/95 IEA TIMMS – Mathematics).The PISA results were disappointing particularly given the heavy investment in the country’s education system overa long period. The PISA results caused considerable anxiety amongst Danish ministers and the business community,and they concluded that the Danish education system is currently failing in important ways. The view, expressed bypoliticians, educationalists and parents, is that the Folkeskole system is not producing young people with skillsappropriate for a happy and fulfilled life in a modern world.

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Levers for Academic Improvement

The modern Folkeskole – or ‘basic’ school – was founded as a result of the Act of 1899 and that of 1903.The minister of education oversees the formulation and implementation of the overall policy for the sector. Allministerial powers, however, respect the fact that municipalities are the legal owners of the Folkeskole. The 271municipal authorities are responsible for all aspects of the Folkeskole system. This includes the planning,establishing and closing of schools, the employment and dismissal of staff, and the approval of framework. Schoolleaders are responsible for the administrative and educational management of schools and activities of schools vis-à-vis the school board and the municipal council. Parents collectively play a major role in the system whichhighlights their crucial role in its formal description of the aims of the Folkeskole. Individual parents have a well-defined set of rights over their choice of school and the formal progress of their child within it. Boards areresponsible for deciding the principles which the school leader has to follow in the administration of the school.Each school board approves the school budget within the framework decided by the municipal authority and selectsthe teaching materials to be used at the school.

Recent Change Initiatives

Over the last ten to fifteen years, the Government has made a number of important changes to the system.Some of these changes have furthered decentralization. One such example is the transfer of the full responsibilityfor the teachers to the municipalities. Other modifications have created new powers for the Government whichinclude formulating national attainment targets and final targets. Currently it’s a system in transition between anold emphasis on ‘inputs’ (such as the number of hours worked by teachers) and a new focus on ‘outcomes’. TheEducation Act of 1993 (with its subsequent amendments) introduced the concept of ‘central knowledge andproficiency areas’. In 2001 the definitions of ‘central knowledge’ and ‘proficiency areas’ were tightened up andmade more precise so that they would be clearly seen as ‘end-goals’ for the teaching in each subject. A further actin 2002 dealt with ‘openness and transparency’ of information. It requires that the results of schools’ averagegrades in the leaving examination taken by ninth grade students must be published on each school’s home pageand linked to the Ministry’s web site. The reasons for this change are to: (a) provide schools with the possibility oflearning from each other’s experience;(b) initiate inter-school dialogue;(c) strengthen teachers’ knowledge about‘quality’;(d) encourage competition between schools; and (e) provide citizens with the information to choosebetween particular schools.

The 2003 Act created an ‘outcome-based’ curriculum framework outlining specific competences to beachieved by students by different levels (attainment targets). While a key feature of the Danish Folkeskole thatremains in force is that teachers enjoy the freedom to select both their methods and their teaching materials, thework of teachers is now subject to national aims; national final objectives, national threshold objectives and – forthose students who choose them – national formal examination results. Teachers must work to local curricula andlocal accountability on students’ progression which must be in accordance with the national aims, objectives andattainment targets. The municipal council can adopt centrally-made suggestions for the local curricula and localprocesses of accountability on students’ progression. The 2003 Amendments to the School Act reflect a renewedconcern on the part of the Parliament and the Ministry to improve standards in Danish education. At the same timeas promoting new legislation, governments also initiated a number of programs and initiatives designed to raisestandards.

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Strengths of the Lower Secondary System

The Danish Ministry of Education holds responsibility for the overall system but, because of itsdecentralized nature, has few formal powers over its daily functioning. While the ministry sets policy frameworksthere is local ownership of the schools by the communities and important decisions are taken by elected officialsclose to the issues. Pedagogical councils, consisting of all staff performing teaching and pedagogic tasks, arerequired to be established at all schools. The pedagogical council can only offer advice but, in day to day practice atthe school, the school leader is often seen as being dependent on the maintenance of good relations with theteachers, the council and the school’s teachers’ union representatives. The school leader and the teaching staff arethus independent and yet accountable to the school board, the municipality and the ministry. School leaders,teachers and support staff working in the schools have adequate time for preparation and marking. They also enjoythe opportunity – within their contractual time – for many team meetings about a variety of subjects. Sometimes,these occur under the auspices of the schools’ pedagogical councils. The teachers work in teams and instituteinnovative practices. They have knowledge of individual students and their problems, and have a genuine concern over thewell-being of each student.

The PISA data show that Danish youth, to a greater extent than young people from other countries, havehigh self-esteem and feel they control much of their own education. They display impressive self-confidence (as wellas outstanding English language skills). Students and parents are generally pleased with the schooling. Danishstudents are happy to attend school. One of the main reasons for these positive attitudes is likely to be the goodrelationships that appear to exist between teachers and their students. The Danish education system offersconsiderable support to its students. In the school year 2002/03, there were 55,812 (or 9.5 %) bilingual learners inprimary and lower secondary schooling. Official policy supports a society where “diversity and personal freedomflourish, together with a community based on fundamental values. There must be room for diversity and room forcultural and religious activity. The right of the individual to choose his/her own life must be respected.”

Denmark offers real power to parents over many aspects of the education system as well as over theeducation of their own children. Parents can choose a school outside their district if the municipality permits this asan option. Parents play the key role on the school boards – always in the majority and always taking the chair –which provide the governance for all Folkeskole. They also have an association of school board members whichprovides national representation and training to its members. One of the benefits of a decentralized educationservice is the freedom that local authorities and groups of parents have to innovate. There are many such projectsincluding: (a) experimental integration of schooling and after school care in a school in Copenhagen, (b) the modelof flexible schooling and the project on gifted children adopted in schools in Lyngby Taarbaek (c) an experimentalapproach which has created a lower-secondary school resourced with extra information technology equipmentrather than an extensive library of textbooks in Copenhagen, (d) the institution of system-wide screening of studentsfor language difficulties in Ishoj,(e) the adoption of portfolios as the principle learning tool in schools in Aarhus, and(f) the early morning special needs support organized by a small rural school in Rudkobing. Whilst such projectsneed careful evaluation, it is a demonstration of the strength of the system that they exist.

The Ministry of Education inaugurated a millennium program for improvement which lasted from 1998 to2001. The globalization and the transition to a ‘knowledge and learning’ society will have an influence on thequalification requirements of the future and intensify the need for life-long learning. At the same time, it willintensify the demands on the Folkeskole as a community - an equality enhancing factor that supports a belief that anational school improvement project would garner support from the local authorities. The request for the OECDreview by the Danish Government is a clear sign that it has a desire to improve the existing system by drawing oninternational experience and to recognize good practice.

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Weaknesses of the Lower Secondary System

There are a number of serious weaknesses within the lower secondary phase of the Danish school systemwhich are related to the central concern about underachievement. Underachievement occurs right across thesystem: there are fewer high flyers, a lower average performance and a greater proportion of those experiencingserious difficulties than might be expected in a modern, sophisticated country with a well-established and well-resourced education system. Students underachieve whether they are socially advantaged or disadvantaged, maleor female, bi - or mono-lingual. Teachers throw their energy into social or emotional support forgetting, perhaps,they are providing an insufficiently intellectually-stimulating culture. This under-expectation may well apply tobilingual students or those from disadvantaged backgrounds whom teachers wish to protect. It thus has relevancefor the goal of equity. The balance between the social and intellectual development of the young student hadbecome skewed in favor of the social and, as a result, the need to foster intellectual development is in danger ofbeing overlooked. The concern, therefore, is with both the quality of the Danish system and the equity of itsoutcomes.

There are currently just over 55,000 bilingual students (9.5% of the Folkeskole population). Somemunicipalities seek to provide specialist teachers of Danish who also speak the mother tongue of their students;others create special inservice courses for teachers; and others have undertaken municipality-wide screenings ofstudents’ linguistic needs. There are special issues related to bilingual students. The conditions of the contract, ineffect, prevent bilingual learners from receiving extra tuition in Danish outside of class hours. This means that suchbilingual pupils have to be extracted from lessons in other subjects in order to receive the language help to whichthey are entitled. Accordingly, they miss lessons in other subjects and are likely, therefore, to fall behind their peers.Thus, whilst their command of Danish is being enhanced, their learning opportunities in the rest of the curriculumare correspondingly diminished

Student and school appraisal does not have a strong tradition in Denmark. Local authorities have launchedprojects designed to monitor the performance of individual schools and to focus the attention of teachers, parentsand the local community on questions of effectiveness. This has led to many local authorities initiating improvementprojects. There is a lack of information on how a normal range of Danish students perform at different ages in anysubjects other than reading and mathematics. No tests or standardized instruments are available for science. Withthe absence of objective information, teachers are not able to give appropriate feedback related to standards.Within the Danish tradition, much feedback is only given orally and the teacher’s views are not recorded on paper.

The training of teachers to work in the Folkeskole is currently organized outside the universities at 18 self-governing colleges of education which are being merged into 12. Successful pre-service training gives the right tocarry the title Bachelor of Education. The Danish Evaluation Institute has recently concluded a study into pre-servicetraining. Insufficient attention is currently being paid to the cluster of issues of concern: monitoring, the evaluationof students’ progress and the importance of feedback on how to improve. One third of Danish teachers never attendan in-service course. In-service opportunities need to be created for whole school teams as well as for individuals.How well evaluation issues are covered in relation to pre-service training applies with much greater force to in-service training and how teachers manage their time. The way teachers use their work time is a major plank of thecontract periodically negotiated between the Danish Union of Teachers (DLF) and the National Association of LocalAuthorities’ in Denmark (KL). Teachers, on average, spend only 34% of their time in direct contact with students.

There is a prevailing ambivalent attitude towards the role of school leaders. School leaders find themselvesincreasingly under pressure. They see their jobs as having changed quite radically with the Folkeskole Act and with

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the change of teachers’ employers from the State to the municipalities. School leaders, particularly, find the processof negotiating with the Teachers’ Union time consuming, pointing out that ‘working hours’ are dealt with at threelevels: nationally, municipally and within the school - with the result that hundreds of different agreements currentlyexist. Thus school leadership is not sufficiently valued within the school system.

The Next Phase of Reform

The Minister, Association of Municipalities, Danish Union of Teachers and other relevant stakeholders mustinitiate a public debate on expectations, policies, practices and outcomes of the primary and lower secondarysystem. While the idea of evaluation is firmly embedded in the Danish system it has not permeated the reality ofeveryday life in schools. By establishing a task force to determine expected benchmark standards and creating newforms of tests for different age groups in the core curriculum subjects, evaluative approaches to student work canimprove so students can achieve the standards to which they aspire. In a similar vein, teachers need to engage inself-evaluation where they can be self-critical and use a more reflective approach to teaching. Essentially, there is aneed for an ongoing national monitoring of Danish schools by the Ministry of Education so a framework forevaluation can be created. Additionally, there is a need for municipalities to organize a School Improvement Teamto provide immediate support for ailing schools.

A need for enhancing the status of school leaders in Danish schools is critical. This may mean a differencebetween their pay and that of teachers. Municipalities should consider the adoption of allowances for posts whichcarry out responsibility for particular aspects of leadership. School leaders must serve as linchpin of all schoolimprovement initiatives in both management and leadership roles. A reflective approach to leading schools isnecessary whereby leaders can be supportive of colleagues and act as a unifying force within the school and thecommunity. High level training should become a prior requirement for all applicants for school leadershipappointments and should only be eligible for leadership posts when they are qualified. The training should beuniversity-based and lead to a degree or diploma. Municipalities should provide formal mentoring programs foraspiring school leaders with exemplary practicing leaders either within education or in a similar field and should lastfor the complete first year of appointment as school leader.

Adequate preparation for the teaching of bilingual and special needs students in ordinary classes is criticalfor Danish schools. Future teachers need specialization training for the early, middle and secondary years ofschooling so a full repertoire of remedial techniques is acquired. The Minister needs to re-examine the availableevidence concerning the use of mother tongue languages by teachers engaged in the teaching of Danish to bilingualstudents. The existing pool of expertise for skilled specialist teachers is diminishing and will unlikely be replenisheddue to the limited time available for special needs in pre-service training. Local Authorities’ Association must reviewprograms of in-service training to ensure sufficient teachers take additional training to fully equip them to deal withmoderate special needs.

The Minister needs to consider the sub-division of the current teacher training course and integrate it into age-related components. Additionally, extending pre-service training into in-service training would be beneficial. Municipalities,Local Authorities’ Association and Danish Union of Teachers could establish a mandatory program of targeted annual in-service training for all Folkeskole teachers. Opportunities for teachers to update their subject knowledge, increase theirpedagogical skills, and learn about the latest research on school improvement can recharge their energy and commitment.

Currently, 34% of teachers’ time is spent in direct contact with students as opposed to 64% which could berequired. The amount of time devoted to meetings and lesson preparation should be reduced and the time saved bereapportioned to in-service training. A more flexible approach to the way teachers’ time is spent would certainly

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bring considerable benefits to students and the system as a whole. Any renegotiated contract should include asubstantial component of time dedicated to mandatory in-service training. Additionally, collaboration andcommunication between teachers and pedagogues need further enhancement so barriers that prevent professionaldialogue can be removed. Local Authorities’ Association should establish its own task force to explore the optimalway to provide non-academic support for students of the Folkeskole.

It is crucial that the municipalities and the local Authorities’ Association counter underachievement byadopting school improvement as a top priority by engaging in a national debate on expectations and outcomes. Thisis especially important for mayors and directors of education. The National Association of School Parents must workwith chairs of school boards to support the need for change. Finally, given the mobility of families and students, anational standard will be helpful for setting national attainment.

Conclusion

Despite its considerable strengths – the Danish education service can still be characterized as somewhatcomplacent. The recommendations by OECD seek to build on good practice and make the Danish Folkeskole systema world leader that provides an education experience of outstanding quality as well as equity. Because of itstradition of generous funding and the nature of the teachers’ conditions of service, Denmark is in a unique positionto use the current level of spending to fund a radical program of inservice training. Some of the time currentlydevoted to lesson preparation and meetings should be reallocated to in-service education. This change wouldrequire the enthusiastic cooperation of the DLF and the KL as well as the collective imagination and professionalcommitment of the teaching profession. Acceptance of the recommendations will require teachers, and all thoseworking in schools, to embrace challenging inservice training. The personal pay-off will be that staff will be betterqualified for their work and, hopefully, will gain greater satisfaction from it. Some of the recommendations maylimit the autonomy of municipalities but they would also locate the municipalities at the heart of the improvementprocess. The recommendations would necessitate extra duties and functions for the Ministry. Many of these,however, involve duties and functions that are increasingly being adopted by ministries throughout the world. Morewidely, the recommendations will probably create a few turbulent years for the whole education system.

Prepared by ??Affiliation??

City/Country??2004

Case used courtesy of ?? in country??, who commissioned the report on which this teaching case is based.

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Vietnam

English Language Teacher Training Project

Vietnam is a country of 80 million people. Although income levels are low, national education indicatorsshow a strong commitment to education, with impressive gains having been made in extending and improvingschooling. Schools in Vietnam, however, do not enjoy ample resources. Class sizes are large, with 50 to 60 studentsin most lower secondary school classes. Teachers do not have access to electronic technology nor do they havebudgets for extra classroom equipment. Any suggested teaching methodologies that rely on the use of overheadprojectors, video players or even cassette recorders would have no relevance to most Vietnamese teachers ofEnglish, while the ready-to-use commercial teaching aids common in more affluent countries would be beyond thereach of schools in Vietnam.

The Change Initiative

The English Language Teacher Training Project (ELTTP) in Vietnam was a five-year initiative from 1998-2003 to build capacity for teaching English in lower secondary schools. Funded by the Department for InternationalDevelopment in England, the project designed and implemented training for trainers and for teachers, provideddistance education for teachers, and strengthened the capacity of universities to provide relevant professionalqualifications for English teachers and teacher trainers. The focus is on providing sustainable training systems andupgrading lower secondary school teachers, both in content (language improvement by distance education) andprocess (methodology training courses).

The project focused on five "outputs":

1. Upgrading the classroom skills of lower secondary school English language teachers through regional,provincial and school based methodology courses.

2. Upgrading the language skills of secondary school English language teachers through a distanceeducation programme administered through district offices and universities. In addition to self-study,distance education tutors met regularly with groups of learners.

3. Training core teams of 3 - 5 trainers per province to run methodology and distance education languageimprovement courses independently of the project. Training included intensive residential courses,overseas training, and supervised in-country practice.

4. Establishing and running three regional resource centres, with each serving seven or eight provinces.

5. Building capacity for universities to develop and deliver new modules in methodology and languageimprovement for degree programs, as well as working with them to accredit the project’s in-servicecourses.

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Strategies

Teaching/Training Methodology. The project featured a highly explicit and prescriptive methodologyfor teaching English language skills. This was a skills-based communicative approach to teaching English, based onthe assumptions that learners need to be engaged in the learning process and need opportunities for guidedpractice and feedback if they are to progress. The teaching or training principles were modelled in all ELTTP training.

The training did not try to change teacher beliefs about learning, but rather had teachers try out teachingtechniques, on the assumption that beliefs about teaching would change once teachers experienced success withthe new techniques. The training was highly organised and structured, and was intended to demonstrate clearlywhat is required in the new approach, with plenty of opportunity for teachers to experience and practice. Teacherslearned a specific lesson planning sequence and were introduced to a variety of game-like learning activities tosupport building vocabulary and practising new grammar and other aspects of language development.

Evidence demonstrated the effectiveness of this training in providing practical classroom techniques and aprocedure for planning and teaching lessons that was easy to understand and follow. One of the strengths mostfrequently mentioned was the degree to which learners, whether teachers or pupils, were actively engaged in livelyand interesting activities. The same comments were made about the methodology courses, the training of trainers,and the distance education language improvement courses – in other words, the framework was consistentlyapplied.

ELTTP teaching approaches were designed to be effective in the large classes of 50 to 60 students commonin lower secondary schools. Because teachers had no access to technology or to additional resources, the projectsuggested simple teaching aids that teachers could quickly construct or prepare using nothing more than ablackboard, recycled paper for posters and cue cards, and their own simple drawing skills.

Multiple Strands. With an a interrelated set of initiatives, ELTTP addressed multiple components of thereform of English language teaching and teacher training, building both individual and institutional capacity, toimprove teaching and management of English language teaching in higher education institutions and in provincialtraining services.

Momentum was generated through the training, the preparation of support materials and the focus ondeveloping a core group of expert local key trainers. These developments had a spill over effect on curriculum,materials design and testing in the Vietnamese school system in those provinces where ELTTP is being integratedinto the organisation.

Resource Centres. Three resource centres were established in teacher training colleges in differentregions of the country. Although initially run by ELTTP, responsibility for the centres was devolved to themanagement groups in each region. People pointed to the value of having up to date collections of languagelearning materials but also noted the benefit of having a central venue that could be used for training in eachregion. Use of the resources by lower secondary school teachers was less than had been anticipated, however,largely because of difficulties with access and travel. ELTTP did address the distance problem by producing smallerresource collections for each province; distance was then less of a problem. These resources included a book boxsystem: metal boxes of relevant books to support distance education tutors; tutors carried these on the back ofmotor scooters and made the resources available to groups of learners.

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Higher Education. Project staff assisted higher education institutions as they developed newprogrammes for English language teaching at universities and teacher training colleges. With project support,including courses held in England on syllabus writing, university teams developed and piloted new modules,producing high quality units consistent with the ELTTP approach used in other aspects of the project.

Other Initiatives. In addition to these planned activities, the ELTTP responded flexibly to emerging needsby adapting or even expanding activities to better address overall project objectives. To support the introduction ofnew English textbooks in lower secondary schools across Vietnam, for instance, project staff developed training andlesson plans to support teachers in using the new textbooks, as well as providing assistance in developing newexaminations that would be aligned with the new textbooks.

Lessons Learned: Successes and Challenges

Strengths of the approach include:

The effective and efficient use of modest resources; and

The emphasis on empowering and building competence and independence in clients, rather thaninadvertently fostering dependence.

International research on education reform provides a lens through which to view ELTTP and to explain theproject’s success. Numerous factors that have proved crucial in other reform initiatives were evident in ELTTP andprovide suggestions for sustaining and extending the work.

Good ideas that work. In ELTTP the teaching, training and materials development were integrated bycore underlying principles and provided practical, realistic methods for improving teaching on a wide scale. The newmethodology is superior to the teaching approaches that had been common in Vietnam, if being able tocommunicate in English is the objective.

Top down and bottom up. From the beginning ELTTP has combined elements of top down and bottomup change, building a good foundation for the future. The Ministry of Education was involved and supportive butwould need to take a more active role if progress was to be sustained.

The project generated a high degree of local “bottom up” enthusiasm as trainers gained confidence andcompetence. In many provinces, virtually all the teachers in particular districts were trained and teams of trainersoperated independently, with less reliance on support from the project consultants.

Beyond the imagery of "top down and bottom up", ELTTP efforts have also led to significant strengtheningof horizontal connections within the education system, with increased communication links across institutions andsectors, at school, district, provincial, regional and even national levels. Such connections were new; institutions hadin the past worked in isolation.

Pressure and support. Within ELTTP, pressure and support were effectively combined in the training, themethodology, the staffing, and the process. ELTTP participants were pushed beyond their level of comfort, butalways with strong encouragement. As one illustration, a group of university instructors were prepared and teach a

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lesson to young students in a school setting. Although such a requirement generated considerable anxiety, traineeshad the support of the trainers and of their colleagues in carrying out the task. The subsequent success of thelessons was incredibly powerful in building the confidence of the fledgling trainers and strengthening theircommitment to the new methodology.

Tests and examinations were beginning to align more closely with the new curriculum and textbooks inEnglish. However, the process was still in an early phase, particularly in provinces where understanding of what isrequired was still tentative. Once tests and examinations are more aligned with the new curriculum and textbooks,teachers have more incentive (and more guidance) to shift their teaching approaches to better match the newphilosophy.

At the school level, teachers in their daily lives need support from their principals, who in turn interact withdistrict personnel. More would need to be done to ensure that principals were knowledgeable about the newteaching methodologies, since they are the ones who provide the pressure and support to foster ongoing schoolimprovement. Principals in turn need to understand and identify with provincial and national priorities for change.

Changing education systems. If the changes associated with ELTTP are to be sustained, the use ofcommunicative approaches for teaching English must be embedded in the education system. As long as the newteaching practices are associated with a specific and time-limited project, the necessary skills and knowledgeremain limited to a relatively small group of key people, in this case trainers and managers involved with ELTTP.

By the end of the project, more systemic change was beginning, with increased communication across andwithin institutions helping to reinforce that change. In some provinces and higher education institutions, newprogrammes that assume communicative approaches to teaching English are replacing, rather than supplementing,the old traditional methods. Tests and examinations are also changing, a development that is essential to avoid the"teaching to the test" that will undermine reforms in curriculum and teaching. The goal is greater alignment of allareas of the education system, so schools receive consistent messages and compatible policies from national andprovincial authorities.

Impact

Given the small number of staff and the relatively modest funding of ELTTP, the project’s accomplishmentsare impressive. Participants consistently reported a powerful impact on people, programmes and organisations – inthe minds of these educators, an impact beyond what would have been expected for such a relatively small-scaleintervention.

Based on a range of indicators, the project can be judged as highly successful.

The project accomplished much, not only developing individuals but also building Vietnameseorganisational capacity to continue training teachers when the project is over. Over 2000 teachers completedtraining programs to improve their English and their teaching of English, while over 100 Vietnamese educatorsbecame qualified trainers, boosting the capacity for provinces and colleges to train more teachers. Close to 100tutors were trained to support groups of learners in the distance education course.

The training that supported introduction of the new grade 6 textbooks reached even larger numbers ofteachers; nearly 10,000 participated in a brief (usually 3-day) session, as well as receiving lesson plan booksdeveloped by ELTTP.

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Although capacity in universities was not a focus until relatively late in the life of the project, considerableprogress was evident, with development of new training modules and engagement of university staff. Universityteams felt confident that once modules were in place and being taught, they would be able to continue on theirown, perhaps continuing to collaborate with colleagues in other universities.

ELTTP developed and established in at least half of the participating provinces a sustainable model forimproving the teaching of English in lower secondary schools, while thousands of teachers benefited from trainingand from access to the materials. All organisations with a stake in such teaching were involved – the VietnamMinistry of Education and Training, provincial educational and training services, the teacher training colleges anduniversities. Organisational capacity was fostered through building teams of core trainers and throughstrengthening connections within and across educational sectors.

ELTTP provides models of training, materials development and institutional capacity development that caninform much related educational improvement work in other jurisdictions. When carefully designed to supportcentral priorities, such projects bring two benefits; they complement broader reform initiatives and they provideconcrete models that guide educators in implementation. For Vietnamese educators and managers, the challengewill be to capitalise on this success, sustaining and extending the gains.

Prepared by Nancy WatsonNancy Watson Research

Toronto, Canada2004

Case used courtesy of CfBT in England, who commissioned the report on which this teaching case is based.

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PersonalNotes/Freewrite

IndividuallyNow that you have examined the change process:

(i) What new insights have you obtained about change?(ii) What action ideas for your own project can you now identify?

Worksheet

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Follow-Up Reading10 Do and Don’t Assumptions About Change

Source: Fullan, 2001.

1. Do not assume that your version of what the change should be is the one that should or could beimplemented. On the contrary, assume that one of the main purposes of the process of implementation isto exchange your reality of what should be through interaction with implementers and others concerned.Stated another way, assume that successful implementation consists of some transformation or continualdevelopment of initial ideas.

2. Assume that any significant innovation, if it is to result in change, requires individual implementers to workout their own meaning. Significant change involves a certain amount of ambiguity, ambivalence, anduncertainty for the individual about the meaning of the change. Thus, effective implementation is a processof clarification. It is also important not to spend too much time in the early stages on needs assessment,program development, and problem definition activities — school staff have limited time. Clarification islikely to come in large part through reflective practice.

3. Assume that conflict and disagreement are not only inevitable but fundamental to successful change. Sinceany group of people possess multiple realities, any collective change attempt will necessarily involve conflict.Assumptions 2 and 3 combine to suggest that all successful efforts of significance, no matter how wellplanned, will experience an implementation dip in the early stages. Smooth implementation is often a signthat not much is really changing.

4. Assume that people need pressure to change (even in directions that they desire), but it will be effective onlyunder conditions that allow them to react, to form their own position, to interact with other implementers,to obtain technical assistance, etc. It is alright and helpful to express what you value in the form ofstandards of practice and expectations of accountability, but only if coupled with capacity-building andproblem-solving opportunities.

5. Assume that effective change takes time. It is a process of “development in use.” Unrealistic or undefinedtime lines fail to recognize that implementation occurs developmentally. Significant change in the form ofimplementing specific innovations can be expected to take a minimum of two or three years; bringing aboutinstitutional reforms can take five or ten years. At the same time, work on changing the infrastructure(policies, incentives, capacity of agencies at all levels) so that valued gains can be sustained and built upon).

6. Do not assume that the reason for lack of implementation is outright rejection of the values embodied in thechange, or hard-core resistance to all change. Assume that there are a number of possible reasons: valuerejection, inadequate resources to support implementation, insufficient time elapsed, and the possibility thatresisters have some good points to make.

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7. Do not expect all or even most people or groups to change. Progress occurs when we take steps (e.g., byfollowing the assumptions listed here) that increase the number of people affected. Our reach shouldexceed our grasp, but not by such a margin that we fall flat on our face. Instead of being discouraged by allthat remains to be done, be encouraged by what has been accomplished by way of improvement resultingfrom your actions.

8. Assume that you will need a plan that is based on the above assumptions and that addresses the factorsknown to affect implementation. Evolutionary planning and problem-coping models based on knowledgeof the change process are essential.

9. Assume that no amount of knowledge will ever make it totally clear what action should be taken. Actiondecisions are a combination of valid knowledge, political considerations, on-the-spot decisions, andintuition. Better knowledge of the change process will improve the mix of resources on which we draw, butit will never and should never represent the sole basis for decision.

10. Assume that changing the culture of institutions is the real agenda, not implementing single innovations.Put another way, when implementing particular innovations, we should always pay attention to whethereach institution and the relationships among institutions and individuals is developing or not.

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Leadership for Changeii

It has become increasingly clear that leadership at all levels of the system is the keylever for reform, especially leaders who (a) focus on capacity and (b) develop otherleaders who can carry on.

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Framework forLeadership

Collins’ Hierarchy ofLeadership

Level 5 → Executive(builds enduring greatness)

Level 4 → Effective Leader(catalyses commitment to vision and standards)

Level 3 → Competent Manager(organizes people toward objective)

Level 2 → Contributing Team Member(individual contribution to group objectives)

Level 1 → Highly Capable Individual(makes productive contributions)

— Collins, 2002

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Collins’ Flywheel

— Collins, 2002

CharismaticLeadership

… is negatively associated with sustainability.

Sustaining LeadersHave

… deep personal humility and intense professional will.

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Dealing with Resistance/Emotional Intelligence

Think of a situation where you encountered strong resistance. What actions did you take initially? Using the worksheet below, pair up and interview your partner.

WorksheetDealing with Resistance

The Situation Initial Action/Reaction

Person 1

Person 2


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Making Matters Worse Use power Manipulate those who oppose Apply force of reason Ignore resistance

Why DefaultStrategies Don’tWork…

…and may often escalate and strengthen opposition to your goals They increase resistance The win might not be worth the cost They fail to create synergy They create fear and suspicion They separate us from others

Getting Beyond theWall

Five Fundamental Touchstones1. Maintain clear focus

Keep both long and short view Persevere

2. Embrace resistance Counterintuitive response Understand voice of resistance

3. Respect those who resist Listen with interest Tell the truth

4. Relax Stay calm and stay engaged Know their intentions

5. Join with the resistance Begin together Change the game Find themes and possibilities

Consider strategies that incorporate most (or all) of the touchstones!

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Emotional IntelligenceSource: Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., and McKee, A. (2003). Primal Leadership,

Appendix B, pp. 253-255, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Self AwarenessEmotional self-awareness. Leaders high in emotional self-awareness are attuned to their inner signals,recognizing how their feelings affect them and their job performance. They are attuned to their guiding valuesand can often intuit the best course of action, seeing the big picture in a complex situation. Emotionally self-aware leaders can be candid and authentic, able to speak openly about their emotions or with conviction abouttheir guiding vision.

Accurate self-assessment. Leaders with high self-awareness typically know their limitations and strengths, andexhibit a sense of humour about themselves. They exhibit a gracefulness in learning where they need to improve,and welcome constructive criticism and feedback. Accurate self-assessment lets a leader know when to ask forhelp and where to focus in cultivating new leadership strengths.

Self-confidence. Knowing their abilities with accuracy allows leaders to play to their strengths. Self-confidentleaders can welcome a difficult assignment. Such leaders often have a sense of presence, a self-assurance thatlets them stand out in a group.

Self ManagementSelf-control. Leaders with emotional self-control find ways to manage their disturbing emotions and impulses,and even to channel them in useful ways. A hallmark of self-control is the leader who stays calm and clear-headed under high stress or during a crisis — or who remains unflappable even when confronted by a tryingsituation.

Transparency. Leaders who are transparent live their values. Transparency — an authentic openness to othersabout one’s feelings, beliefs, and actions — allows integrity. Such leaders openly admit mistakes or faults, andconfront unethical behaviour in others rather than turn a blind eye.

Adaptability. Leaders who are adaptable can juggle multiple demands without losing their focus or energy, andare comfortable with the inevitable ambiguities of organizational life. Such leaders can be flexible in adapting tonew challenges, nimble in adjusting to fluid change, and limber in their thinking in the face of new data orrealities.

Achievement. Leaders with strength in achievement have high personal standards that drive them to constantlyseek performance improvements — both for themselves and those they lead. They are pragmatic, settingmeasurable but challenging goals, and are able to calculate risk so that their goals are worthy but attainable. Ahallmark of achievement is in continually learning — and teaching — ways to do better.

Initiative. Leaders who have a sense of efficacy — that they have what it takes to control their own destiny — excelin initiative. They seize opportunities — or create them — rather than simply waiting. Such a leader does nothesitate to cut through red tape, or even bend the rules, when necessary to create better possibilities for the future.

Optimism. A leader who is optimistic can roll with the punches, seeing an opportunity rather than a threat in asetback. Such leaders see others positively, expecting the best of them. And their “glass half-full” outlook leadsthem to expect that changes in the future will be for the better.


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Social AwarenessEmpathy. Leaders with empathy are able to attune to a wide range of emotional signals, letting them sense thefelt, but unspoken, emotions in a person or group. Such leaders listen attentively and can grasp the otherperson’s perspective. Empathy makes a leader able to get along well with people of diverse backgrounds orfrom other cultures.

Organizational awareness. A leader with a keen social awareness can be politically astute, able to detect crucialsocial networks and read key power relationships. Such leaders can understand the political forces at work inan organization, as well as the guiding values and unspoken rules that operate among people there.

Service. Leaders high in the service competence foster an emotional climate so that people directly in touchwith the customer or client will keep the relationship on the right track. Such leaders monitor customer or clientsatisfaction carefully to ensure they are getting what they need. They also make themselves available asneeded.

Relationship ManagementInspiration. Leaders who inspire both create resonance and move people with a compelling vision or sharedmission. Such leaders embody what they ask of others, and are able to articulate a shared mission in a way thatinspires others to follow. They offer a sense of common purpose beyond the day-to-day tasks, making workexciting.

Influence. Indicators of a leader’s powers of influence range from finding just the right appeal for a givenlistener to knowing how to build buy-in from key people and a network of support for an initiative. Leadersadept in influence are persuasive and engaging when they address a group.

Developing others. Leaders who are adept at cultivating people’s abilities show a genuine interest in those theyare helping along, understanding their goals, strengths, and weaknesses. Such leaders can give timely andconstructive feedback and are natural mentors or coaches.

Change catalyst. Leaders who can catalyse change are able to recognize the need for the change, challenge thestatus quo, and champion the new order. They can be strong advocates for the change even in the face ofopposition, making the argument for it compellingly. They also find practical ways to overcome barriers tochange.

Conflict management. Leaders who manage conflicts best are able to draw out all parties, understand thediffering perspectives, and then find a common ideal that everyone can endorse. They surface the conflict,acknowledge the feelings and views of all sides, and then redirect the energy toward a shared ideal.

Building bonds. Leaders who are effective cultivate a web of relationships. They relate well to diverseindividuals, establishing trust and rapport within the organization and with external partners and networks.

Teamwork and collaboration. Leaders who are able team players generate an atmosphere of friendly collegialityand are themselves models of respect, helpfulness, and cooperation. They draw others into active, enthusiasticcommitment to the collective effort, and build spirit and identity. They spend time forging and cementing closerelationships beyond mere work obligations.

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EmotionalIntelligence

Personal Competence (how we manage ourselves) Self-awareness Self-management

Social Competence (how we manage relationships) Social awareness Relationship management

— Goleman, 2003

RATINGSELF-AWARENESS Low HighEmotional (reading one’s own emotions and recognizing their impact; using “gut sense”to guide decisions)

1 2 3 4 5

Accurate self-assessment: (knowing one’s strengths and limits) 1 2 3 4 5Self-confidence (a sound sense of one’s self-worth and capabilities) 1 2 3 4 5

SELF-MANAGEMENTEmotional self-control (keeping disruptive emotions and impulses under control) 1 2 3 4 5Transparency (displaying honesty and integrity; trustworthiness) 1 2 3 4 5Adaptability (flexibility in adapting to changing situations or overcoming obstacles) 1 2 3 4 5Achievement (the drive to improve performance to meet inner standards of excellence) 1 2 3 4 5Initiative (readiness to act and seize opportunities) 1 2 3 4 5Optimism (seeing the upside in events) 1 2 3 4 5

SOCIAL AWARENESSEmpathy (sensing others’ emotions, understanding their perspective, and taking activeinterest in their concerns)

1 2 3 4 5

Organizational awareness (reading the currents, decision networks, and politics at theorganizational level)

1 2 3 4 5

Service (recognizing and meeting client or customer needs) 1 2 3 4 5

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENTInspirational leadership (guiding and motivating with a compelling vision) 1 2 3 4 5Influence (wielding a range of tactics for persuasion) 1 2 3 4 5Developing others (bolstering others’ abilities through feedback and guidance) 1 2 3 4 5Change catalyst (initiating, managing, and leading in a new direction) 1 2 3 4 5Conflict management (resolving disagreements) 1 2 3 4 5Building bonds (cultivating and maintaining a web of relationships 1 2 3 4 5Teamwork and collaboration (cooperation and team building) 1 2 3 4 5

Identify 3-5 items on which you are relatively low (3 or less) How could you improve on these dimensions? Identify 3-5 items on which you are relatively high (4 or 5) How could you sustain your strengths on these dimensions?


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Activity Person A Read the Kansas Case.Person B read the Thailand Case. Describe key leadership points to each other. In groups of four discuss how leadership differs in the two cases.

KansasAcademy for Leadership in Technology (KAL-Tech)

This case describes a four-year technology leadership development initiative in the state of Kansas. Ithighlights a partnership approach, professional development activities, mentoring, the development of a state-wideleadership learning community, and movement toward sustainability.

Kansas Context

Kansas is in the Midwest. There are 340 school districts, 1,454 principals, and 30,660 teachers who provideeducation for 499,189 students. The average per pupil expenditure is $6,158 per year and the average teachersalary is approximately $40,000. School leaders in Kansas work in a performance-measured, results-driven, and datarich environment. Collaborative partnerships are the norm for this state. The present accountability system has beenin place since 1987. The Kansas Curriculum Standards and the State Technology Plan outline expectations fortechnology use. The Technology Assistance for Kansas Educators (TAKE) is an electronic service bureau that wasdeveloped in the summer of 1997. The Kansas Department of Education has partnered with other technologyleaders throughout the state and the nation to network technology and funding resources for educators, schools,and districts.

KAL-Tech Program

The Kansas Academy for Leadership in Technology (KAL-Tech) was designed to address the major issuesinvolved in creating and strengthening effective leadership for Kansas schools. KAL-Tech focused on leadershipdevelopment in a technology-rich environment. The mission of KAL-Tech was to develop an ongoing sustainablelearning community of all Kansas school administrators that develops and maps a vision and plan for systemicchange through technology integration into schools. The overarching goal of the Academy was to identify effectivestrategies that school leaders could use to improve school planning and student learning with state of the arttechnology applications. KAL-Tech was originally designed to deliver high quality leadership development servicesover a three-year period (2001-04) for superintendents and principals. Due to excellent financial management, theprogram has been extended through June 2005.

There are six days per academy, spread out over a six-month period: two days of kick-off training; threedays of regional, collaboratively planned sessions with mentors; and a one-day closing academy celebration. Teamsof 8-12 participants are organized and work with a mentor. At the end of the second day of the academy program,each team collaboratively designs a plan of study to be implemented over the next six months in regional settings.The plan is designed around ways to map a shared vision and to make systemic change through the use of

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technology. The mentor arranges for follow-up team sessions face-to-face; some sessions are face-to-face andothers are online. The intent of organizing regional cohorts is to build an overlapping network of learningorganizations at the state, regional, district, and building levels. Each participant completes an individualizedAcademy Learning Agreement to integrate their learning experiences into their school or district. They participate ina final day of learning that culminates in a graduation ceremony. At the completion of the six-month academy,participants are invited to continue to communicate and to learn together by becoming active members of the KAL-Tech Network.

Partnerships. The Kansas State Department of Education is the major sponsor of the KAL-Tech Program.Other partnerships that assist with the planning and implementation include: the Kansas Association for InteractiveDistance Learning, the Kansas Technology Coordinators Network, and the Mid-America Association for Computersin Education. The Educational Service Centers and Kansas State University are also considered partners. Professionalorganizations include the Kansas Association of School Boards and the United School Administrators. The HighPlains Regional Technology Consortium, a foundation, is another enthusiastic partner. The Kansas partnersdeveloped an initial three-year plan to work with1000-1200 Kansas superintendents and principals, both veteranand beginning.

The Incentives. At the beginning of the program each participant receives a Palm Pilot, a personal dataassistant to be used throughout the academy sessions. Upon completion of the academy and the requiredIndividualized Action Plan, each academy graduate is provided membership in the KAL-Tech organization, allowedto keep technology equipment used in the Academy, and given a $500 voucher for registration and/or expensesincurred in a team’s participation in a National Technology Conference of their choice.

Definitions of Key Terms. The focus of the KAL-Tech program was the development of leaders in atechnology-rich environment. Leadership was defined as understanding systems change, the importance of buildingrelationships, and the value of creating a shared vision. KAL-Tech referenced the work of Peter Senge to definewhole systems improvement. Triangulated data were used to collaboratively identify needed changes that areframed by teaching and learning; a system plan of action for change was then designed; and provision was madefor the culture and tools for successful system implementation. KAL-Tech adopted Bernajean Porter’s definition oftechnology integration, “when the focus becomes the learning, not what the uses of the tools are, then you aregoing to transform education…”

Program Goals. The program had two overaching goals. Goal one is that school administrators willdevelop a vision for systemic change and implement an individualized action plan that will demonstrate howtechnology and current education research will be used to support and bring innovation to their schoolimprovement plan focused on student learning and achievement. Goal two is that the academy will createconnections among members of the education community that will extend beyond the training institutes and serveas a forum that promotes systemic change in Kansas’s schools.

Standards that Guide the Curriculum. Standards for School Leaders of the Interstate School LeadersLicensure Consortium and the Technology Standards for School Administrators were followed. The NSDC Standardsfor Staff Development and the Porter Accountability Model were also referenced. The three levels of the TAKE modelprovided additional program standards. Four Cornerstones (Readiness for Change, Teaching and Learning,Technology Deployment, and System Capacity) developed by Education Technology Planners, Inc. was used as anassessment rubric. The KAL-Tech Academy used a curriculum design of core topics and then encouraged participants


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to select from several additional activities. All activities were designed to move school leaders forward along athree-stage continuum of systems thinking and technology integration that are based on the TAKE a STEP Modelfrom the Kansas State Department of Education’s program, Technology Assistance for Kansas Educators (TAKE).www.taken.org

Stage One – Awareness. Learners at this level are exploring technology and developing foundationalskills but have not developed sufficient expertise to use the skills in daily life. The system remainsunchanged by technology.Stage Two – Integration. Learners at this level select and apply appropriate technology to successfullycomplete tasks. Technology is thoroughly integrated into existing practice.Stage Three – Leadership. Learners at this level share new knowledge through proactive modeling,peer coaching, and mentoring. Technology is a catalyst for significant changes in learning practice.

The Academy Mentors. The academy mentors are the strongest component of this project, providingpeer support, peer-coaching study team support, and leadership consultation. The mentors receive three days oftraining on the KAL-Tech curriculum and on ways they can support their team of participants. A number of KAL-Techgraduates became mentors as the program expanded. Mentor support meetings were organized to facilitatecommunication and enhance effectiveness of academy mentors. These meetings focused on teaming, facilitation,engaging participants, challenges, and continued professional development in systems thinking. A total of 77mentors have been trained for the program.

Two-day kickoff session. Each Academy begins with a two-day kickoff session for mentors andparticipants. The topics covered included whole systems improvement, research based teaching and schoolimprovement, Porter Accountability model, the palm computer, TAGLIT survey, Blackboard.com, vision web andscenario building activities.

Regional team study group sessions. The next three days of the Academy involve team study groupmeetings at nine regional sites led by the mentors. Each team develops a specific and unique study plan with bothface-to-face and on-line meetings. Topics addressed included learning organizations, coaching, change, teaming,data-driven decision-making and information literacy. Electronic communication tools are utilized and modeled. Anumber of questions focus mediated threaded discussions and live web chats including:

What is the definition of an effective leader for tomorrow’s schools? What do case studies of successful districts tell us about what good leaders do and what conditions are

necessary to support success? Which practices do successful leaders use to improve teaching and learning? How can we can practice to strengthen leadership? How can current leaders help each other meet new definitions of leadership? What do stakeholders expect from effective school leadership? What are the most important policymaking issues faced by school leaders in Kansas? What steps can

policymakers take to promote effective leadership?

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District team attendance at a national conference. As part of their participation in the academyeach administrator has the opportunity to lead a team of district stakeholders to a national educational conference.This is encourage but not required; the academy contributes $500.

Individualized action plans. All action plans include an internal component using technology toimprove student achievement within a school or district and an external component using technology to enhancecommunication with parents and other community constituencies. The action plan is based on local schoolimprovement plans including the technology plan and incorporates the individual participant’s learning goals. Basedon data collected as part of the school improvement process, academy participants develop strategies forintegrating computer technology into their improvement plan.

Additional activities. The KAL-Tech curriculum allows the participant to choose and complete twoadditional activities. Mentors help develop and approve the individual action plan and may suggest activitiesbeyond the two required. Choices for activities include: demonstrations of best practices in technology integration,teach or take a hands-on technology course, teach a technology session in your school district, site visits to schoolswith model technology programs, and attendance at the Kansas Technology Leadership Conference.

Celebration Day. At the close of the six-month academy all participants come together for a final day.Teams share the highlights of their learning while engaged in various academy events. The meeting focuses onevaluation of effectiveness of technology in student achievement, systems change, and the critical issues facingschool leaders in Kansas. The Celebration Day is linked to the Kansas State Department of Education’s TechnologyLeadership Conference.

Assessment and Modification. The academy collects reflection information on the front end of itstraining. At the final academy meeting, the participants are asked to reflect on the question, “What has becomeclear to you as a result of being a part of KAL-Tech?” Mentors also provide assessment summaries: attendanceinformation, participation levels, samples of individual reflections, and group stories. Good anecdotal informationfrom the mentors also provides summaries of “what worked?” and “what did not work?” TAGLIT yields richinformation about the changes occurring in instructional technology use in Kansas schools. Participant and mentorfeedback is used to continually revise the program.

KAL-Tech Steering Committee. A KAL-Tech Steering Committee, serving at the invitation of theCommissioner of Education, assists in decision-making and ongoing planning. Participants for this steeringcommittee are partners in this project. The mentors serve as an informal steering committee. They analyze theproject formative evaluation collected during program training. They also assess outcomes by looking at changes inparticipants, changes in the various schools and districts, and changes in students. They recommend ongoingmodifications to the program.

KAL-Tech Results and Lessons Learned

Participation in KAL-Tech has been high: 759 or 62% of principals, 164 or 57% of superintendents, 83.5%(252 of 302) of public school districts and 96% of counties (101 of 105) have participated in the program. KAL-Techhas instituted a common vision and a common language that is reaching far beyond just those directly involvedwith the academy. In the districts where the superintendent and most of the principals have participated, theconversations have changed. The focus has shifted from “efforts” to “results”. KAL-Tech is changing mental modelswith its team-based collaboration.


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KAL-Tech models a robust professional development standard with its determination to build learningcommunities at schools, districts and regions that overlap and culminate in a statewide learning community. TheKAL-Tech process of creating a learning organization is being replicated in districts across the state. Many teams arecontinuing to network beyond the culmination of the Academy. In several instances, cohorts are merging andcontinuing to share lessons learned. Many spoke of the motivating pressure that builds from the enthusiasm of KAL-Tech graduates and participants. One principal described it as the domino effect — everybody wants to be a part ofwhat’s happening — a great example of positive peer pressure.

Shared ownership of the project has been important. Participants praise having a mentor who developed atrue learning organization. The networking with other administrators and mentors is the opportunity that is themost valuable, and many are seeking ways to kindle the same collaboration in their school setting. Finally there hasbeen a shift from technology acquisition to student impact because of KAL-Tech experiences.

Spin-offs and Sustainability

As a result of good management, KAL-Tech will be extended for a fourth year and will sponsor two moreAcademies during the 2004-05 school year. This will allow additional principals and superintendents to participateand increase the critical mass of leaders focused on common goals.

As a result of KAL-Tech, the Commissioner requested an extension of the activities and provided the fundsto create a second experience for graduates of KAL-Tech. In the fall of 2003 the Kansas Alliance of 21st CenturyLeaders (KATCL) was implemented. This initiative involved 110 administrators representing 40 school districts. Theparticipants worked in 11 regional cohorts that were facilitated by a coach. The coaches were all mentors from theKAL-Tech and practicing administrators. The purpose of KATCL was to provide an opportunity to pursue in-depthstudy of leadership and systemic change in a technology-rich environment. The cohorts worked from November2003 to May 2004 for five days to design a model of the 21st Century learning organization where the focus is onthe 21st Century learner. Change plans were presented in May 2004. Several groups continue to have meetings andconversations based on their plans. Progress will be followed over the next year as plans are being implemented.

In the fall of 2004, another program, the Kansas Distributed Leadership Academy (KDLA), a schoolleadership team approach has been started. The pilot is limited to 10 districts who will work with a facilitator. Whilethe focus is still driven by systemic change, leadership, and technology integration, this initiative is engaging a teamapproach that includes schools leaders from the classroom, building, district, and community. Facilitator trainingwas conducted in mid-October and the district will be begin work in late October.


City/Country?? 2004Case used courtesy of ?? in country??, who commissioned the report on which this teaching case is based.

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ThailandBuilding the Capacity for Educational Reform

This vignette presents an account of how successful change initiated in a single Thai school is spreading toa large number of other schools in Thailand. The innovation involved a curricular program, Integrated PestManagement (IPM). While this curricular reform cannot yet be characterized as a large-scale change, the changeprocess described illuminates features that are necessary for scaling-up a single innovation. These include acombination of bottom-up, outside-in, and top-down strategies.

Country Context

Thailand is a developing nation of 70 million citizens, 98% of whom are Buddhist. The country, known asone of Asia’s “tiger economies,” has experienced rapid growth over the past 20 years. When compared withneighboring countries – Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan – Thailand was slow off the mark with respect toeducational reform. This changed following the economic crisis of 1997 when national policymakers began to linkeducation and economic reform.

Thailand has a highly centralized education system centered in Bangkok, the capital city. There are 30,000primary schools, 2,700 secondary schools, 8.5 million students, and 400,000 teachers in Thailand. The country has78 provinces and under the new educational reform act has recently been organized into 175 education districts,each of which is managed by an officer comparable in authority to an American school superintendent. Systemleaders at the Ministry of Education have traditionally made all of the major educational decisions in Thailand. TheMinistry of Education provides little if any training to teachers prior to implementation of new methods. Once thenew project is launched, supervisors armed with implementation checklists make “hit and run” visits to schoolslooking for information to confirm the belief that change has taken place.

In 1999 a comprehensive national educational reform law was passed outlining new educational goals forthe nation that included literacy, numeracy, improved language capacity, and IT capabilities as well as an emphasison the development of skills in thinking and independent, life-long learning. The same law initiated structuralchanges (e.g., decentralization of administration to local districts) as well as cultural changes (e.g., shift towardsstudent-centered learning) in the educational system. While these changes parallel those found in many Westernnations, their implementation is an even greater challenge given the educational and cultural traditions of Thailand.In traditional Thai culture there is a strong inherent belief that knowledge is associated with age, position andstatus. A strong tradition of teacher-directed, rote learning is consistent with this cultural value and rigidifies rolesand responsibilities in Thai classrooms.

IMP Curriculum: An Example of 21st Century Education Reform in Thailand

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an agro-ecosystem method by which farmers control the balance ofpests and natural enemies in their fields while limiting the use of expensive and potentially harmful chemicals. TheIPM curriculum was initially developed in 1995 by a single teacher, Manas Burapa at the Wat Nong Moos School in


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Nakornsawan province. This student-centered curriculum models many of the features highlighted in Thailand’seducational reform such as the student-centered learning approach, curriculum integration, and involvement of thelocal community.

Manas had been living in a neighborhood where excessive use of poisonous pesticides was a commonpractice among the rural rice farmers. He was aware of the potential dangers associated with use of these chemicalsand also the local farmers’ ignorance of alternative farming practices. He wished for his students to learn about theecology of rice fields, the impact that excessive use of chemicals could have on the environment, as well asalternatives farming practices.

Manas sought advice about alternative farming methods from the Agriculture Extension Department andThai Education Foundation (TEF), a non-governmental organization. This collaboration led Manas and BanharnChantokomuth, a trainer from the TEF, to seek out a suitable curriculum focusing on pest management. Theyidentified an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) training program that had been implemented by Farmer FieldSchools (FFS) in Indonesia under the auspices of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Inthe IPM curriculum, the farmers used field observations as the basis for learning how to make decisions about cropplanning, preparation, production and protection practices. Manas and Banharn modified the FFS curriculum toaccommodate different learning objectives and constraints that would be faced in a primary school.

The primary grade IPM curriculum provides an, integrated learning process in which school children explorewhat is happening in local farms and thereby gain an understanding of ecology and develop critical thinking skillswith respect to environmental, health and social problems. Students use field observations as a starting point forlearning about a wide range of environmental issues. They learn actual agro-ecosystem practices that can beimplemented on their family farms. The curriculum involves parents and community members who provideinformation on plant morphology, the planting calendar, and local pests for students.

Learning activities conducted by the students include field surveys, extermination of insects, creation ofinsect zoos, data collection and analysis, problem solving, and decision-making. These occur in conjunction with theactual process of farming which takes place throughout the planting season. In the IPM curriculum, the learningprocess and context as well as the roles of students and teachers contrast sharply with the passive learning thatcharacterizes the traditional Thai classroom. IPM teachers facilitate the learning process, arrange resources,demonstrate study techniques, set problems, ask questions and provide encouragement. IPM teachers often have tolearn the content of IPM together with the students since they may not know about agro-ecosystems themselves.

The IPM program involves weekly sessions held in the field and the classroom. First, students go into thefield to discover through direct experience every step of how to grow crops, either rice or vegetables. During theseason they are introduced to the stages of the planting cycle: Pre-planting Stage, Seedling Stage, Vegetative Stage,Productive Stage, Harvesting Stage, Post-harvesting Stage. While in the field, they make detailed observations ofthe agro-ecosystem. Back in the classroom, the students document their fieldwork, analyze and discuss the datathey collected in the field. Students work in small groups both in the field and the classroom. Every student isactively involved in practical and analytical work.

Through the curricular activities, students participate in the process of discovery. They engage in collectivelearning in a natural classroom. They learn to think and work systematically through the scientific method. Theylearn to set hypotheses and then use tools for systematic data collection, analysis, and interpretation of results.

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These learning processes sharpen students’ capacities for observation, problem solving, and finally decision making.Students are encouraged to keep portfolios of the work they produce and exhibitions are organized at which theyshare their work with the community.

With support from the TEF, Manas initially implemented the new IPM curriculum at his own school over athree-year period. The results were considered very successful. Evaluations of the IPM curriculum found that thislearner-centered approach had multiple advantages over traditional methods in use including: increased studentmotivation and engagement, increased student effort, student use of problem solving, learning, and decisionmaking tools across disciplines, and increased parent and community involvement.

Scaling up Implementation of the IPM Curriculum

Starting from one school, the IPM curriculum has been refined for use in over 50 primary and earlysecondary schools in four provinces (out of 78 provinces) across Thailand. The curriculum is not only being used inits “pure form” but has also been adapted for use with other curriculum content (e.g., health impact assessment,waste management, river conservation). The scaling-up process of IPM implementation included recruitment ofschools, development of teacher capacities, follow-up support, development of school support systems, communityinvolvement, evaluation and planning, and the annual forum for exchange and dissemination.

Recruitment of teachers and schools. Initially, TEF staff met with provincial and district officeadministrators in selected provinces in order to recruit more schools into the IPM project. TEF staff providedinformation about the program and solicited the names of principals and teachers whom provincial administratorsbelieved might be interested in this type of innovative curriculum and teaching approach. The TEF staff then visitedand interviewed interested principals and teachers in the schools. As time passed and more schools joined theproject, an “eco-schools network” was established. Committees were established in several provinces and criteriawere identified for accepting new schools. The number of new schools entering the program at any given timedepends on the availability of funds from both institutional and external sources.

Teacher development. Various approaches to developing the capacity of teachers have been tried outover the years. The current design includes season-long training (7 weeks). Teachers were trained on the ricecurriculum for the first season and the vegetable curriculum for the second season. TEF has also designed an eight-week course for training teachers to fit the school break calendar. Refresher training sessions were also developedand scheduled two or three times during implementation to identify problems and obstacles, and to provideadvanced training to teachers. These are now coordinated by the network and are integrated as part of theprogram.

Principal development. Only during the past three years did the eco-schools network begin to requirethe principal of the IPM Schools to attend a portion of the pre-service training along with the teachers. In addition,TEF provided supplemental training to principals in the areas of leadership, change management, conflict resolution,observation and feedback and the participatory planning process. This training has increased principal support ofthe program goals, enabled principals to understand technical aspects of the program, and offered ideas on howthey can support implementation.

Follow-up visits. After the training, teachers received periodic follow-up visits from TEF staff and in somecases from teacher supervisors. The follow-up visits were designed to provide feedback to teachers and to trouble-shoot problems that had occurred during implementation of the IPM curriculum. The visits usually occurred at least


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once or twice a season for a school. With the aim of institutionalizing the follow-up visits and developing localcapacity for supporting the program, TEF began to include teacher supervisors in the Training of Teachers courses.Heavy workloads and frequent relocation of supervisory staff reduced the effectiveness of this capacity developmentstrategy.

Developing support systems in the schools. The educational reform act of 1999 required all teachersto develop their skills and knowledge in areas of curriculum development, student-centered learning approaches,and student assessment. With these new expectations, teachers outside the IPM curriculum began to work moreclosely with the IPM teachers. In addition, principals began to become more interested in “Whole SchoolApproaches” that involve all concerned parties in the development of the school. The IPM curriculum became an“action vehicle” around which schools could begin to fulfill the vision of education encompassed in the educationreform law.

Community involvement. Parents and community members can participate in the IPM program in avariety of ways. They were invited to talk, to demonstrate, and to learn with students. At the end of the term, therewas an exhibition where students present their different products, such as big books, reports, essays, experimentalresults; they also role played and performed. This kind of involvement from the parents and community has helpedthem better understand the true concept of IPM and give support to the schools.

Evaluation and planning. Evaluation and planning workshops were usually scheduled at the end of theschool semester and/or fiscal year. The frequency of the workshops varies from one province to another. The goalsof the workshop were to review progress and set the forward implementation plan.

Forum for exchanges and dissemination. The School IPM Forum was organized annually forparticipating schools to exhibit their development, exchange innovations and disseminate their works. Students’field days or exhibitions were usually scheduled during the workshop to enable participants to see the students’exhibitions. Participants in these workshops included policymakers, provincial education administrators, schoolrepresentatives and interested agencies from both domestic and abroad.

Funding. Initially, supportive officials at the Ministry of Education would only find funds in the currentbudget to sponsor expansion to one additional province. In subsequent years, the Office of the National PrimaryEducation Commission (ONPEC), at the national and provincial levels, contributed funds to supplement financialsupport TEF solicited from the FAO. However, long-term support is not available due to frequent changes of seniorleaders at the policy level. At this point, expansion of the IPM program continues to lack reliable central funding andmust be cobbled together from a variety of sources. As a result, TEF was prompted to change the strategy towardsbuilding capacity of the Eco-Schools Network to develop proposals, solicit funding and manage their programs.

The Eco-Schools Network. After nine years of successful implementation, the Eco-Schools Network wasestablished through the support from TEF. The goals of the network are to continue the development of the IPMschools in the province and to solicit funding to support their plans and management. The Eco-Schools Network isoverseen by an appointed committee comprised of teachers, principals, district and provincial officers. The role ofthe committee is to plan for the development of the IPM program, solicit funds, manage, evaluate and disseminatetheir programs. Members of the Eco-School network include all IPM schools. The IPM schools that belong to thenetwork meet provincially to exchange experiences, plan activities and participate in training. At the cross-provincial

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level, a National IPM Forum is organized every year. At the Forum, there are many activities such as exhibitions ofstudent products/projects, presentations, small group or panel discussions on IPM or IPM-related topics andrecommendations for program development and policy.

Bottom-up Change, with Outside-in, and Top-down Support

The IPM program was initiated from the “bottom-up” by a single teacher. The sense of ownership,commitment, and motivation to carry out the program demonstrated by a single teacher seemed to “infect” theother teachers who implemented the IPM program subsequently. This type of commitment, creativity andpersistence is often lacking in programs sponsored from the center of the educational system.

Despite the bottom-up initiation of this program, it must be emphasized that “outside-in” support wasneeded to nurture the program’s development from its earliest stages. Outside-in support from the TEF providedtechnical assistance during the process of identifying and adapting the curriculum. Both moral support in the formof encouragement and technical support in the form of training and follow-up support have continued during thesubsequent stages as the program began to spread to other schools.

Top-down support has also been essential in fostering the expansion of the IPM program beyond just a fewschools. The passage of the national education reform act in 1999 legitimated many of the “radical” features of theIPM curriculum. Top-down support has also come in the form of funding from the Ministry of Education. Indeed,broader institutional adoption of the IPM curriculum will require more concerted financial and management supportfrom the Ministry. Indeed, this case study highlights the critical nature of top-down support in order to disseminatebroader success of locally-generated innovations.

Conclusions

The IPM curriculum was implemented using a ‘Think Big, Start Small’ philosophy. It started from theinspiration of a single teacher working with a small non-governmental organization, the Thailand EducationFoundation. The impact of this small program now can be seen at numerous schools in many parts of Thailand. TheIPM curriculum is, however, a radical change from the norm in Thai schools. It is no exaggeration to refer to IPM asa paradigm shift in learning method. The IPM program requires a significant change in the individual mindsets ofteachers, principals, community members and system leaders. It also requires the development of new knowledgeand skills among school personnel who undertake this program

While the innovative curriculum has not yet reached a national scale of implementation, the process bywhich this innovation grew organically through networks of teachers in combination with external and institutionalsupport represents a useful case of educational reform. Today, the IPM program is recognized as one of the clearestexamples of successful reform of the learning process that has emerged to date in Thailand. It stands out as a modelof an integrated, student-centered curriculum and as a method of developing local curriculum that is responsive tocommunity problems. This change effort originated outside of the institutional structure of the Ministry ofEducation. As such it is an example of how bottom-up change initiatives succeed even within a highly bureaucraticsystem.




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Record 1-3 action ideas concerning implications for leadership in your ownsituation.

Worksheet

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As we turn to the remaining modules we will see leadership in action as it applies todifferent levels of the systems — local, intermediate, system.

Follow-up reading – M. Fullan (2004). Leading in a Culture of Change. SanFrancisco. Jossey-Bass.

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Learning Communities atthe Local Leveliii

All change is successful or not at the local level. In most cases this involvesestablishing new cultures for learning.

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Influences on SchoolCapacity and SchoolStudent Achievement

— Newmann, King & Youngs, 2000

School Capacity The collective power of the full staff to improve student achievement.School capacity includes and requires: Knowledge, skills, dispositions of individuals Professional community Program coherence Technical resources Principal leadership

Learning Communities at the Local Level

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Activity Letter off A-EIn viewing the Montview video what evidence do you see of the five capacityfactors in action?

Worksheet – Montview Video

Assessment LiteracyDefinition

1. Ability to gather dependable student data.2. Capacity to examine student data and make sense of it.3. Ability to make changes in teaching and schools derived from those data

including involving pupils in their own learning.4. Commitment to communicate effectively and engage in external assessment

discussions.

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Activity Letter off A and B. A read the Florida case. B read the South Africa case.In groups of four identify key points concerning professional learning.

FloridaAn Interactive Professional Network for School Leaders

This teaching case is based on an evaluation of the Floridaleaders.net project (FLN) that was conducted inFlorida in spring, 2004. The evaluation examined the planning, delivery and results of the three-year effort toprovide all of Florida’s district superintendents and school leaders (both public and private) with access to qualityleadership development that focused on whole systems change and technology integration

State Context

Florida, known as the Sunshine State, is located in the southeastern United States. Florida’s Gross StateProduct is $472.1 billion (2000). Its economic strengths include International Trade (40% of all U.S. exports to Latinand South America pass through Florida), Tourism (58.9 million visitors in 1999 that had an economic impact of$46.7 billion on the state and employed over 800,000 Floridians), and Agriculture. The State budget is $57.3 billionfor 2004-05. Based on income, property and other state and local tax collections, only 5 states have a lower taxburden. Florida’s population is 17, 019,068 (2003) and is the 4th largest state behind California, Texas, and New York.

Florida Education Context

Florida’s public education system serves approximately 2.5 million students. There are 150,000 teachers(elementary, middle, secondary), nearly 4000 schools, 10,000 school administrators across six regions made up of67 school districts. In 1991, the Florida legislature passed the School Improvement and Accountability Act, callingfor sweeping changes in public schools. In May 1996, the State Board of Education adopted the Sunshine StateStandards that were developed in consultation with teachers, administrators and parents. These standards includemore challenging content for students to learn than previous state standards that emphasized minimumcompetencies. While some improvement has occurred, Florida's school improvement and accountability system andrecent statewide achievement data reveal that too many students are still not achieving at high levels(www.Floridaleaders.net [About Floridaleaders.net])

In 1999, in response to continuing concerns over the performance of students in schools throughout thestate, the Governor's office launched the A+ Plan, a comprehensive plan to dramatically improve Florida schools.The A+ Plan has three parts: (a) addressing accountability and improving student learning; (b) raising standards andimproving training for educators; and (c) improving school safely and reducing truancy. Schools are also measuredon how well the lowest performing students learn. Social promotion has been eliminated. In support of the A+ Plan,the State dedicated $750 million in additional funding for K-12 schools. The Plan mandates annual measurement ofstudent learning through the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT); publicly reported grades for schools,and opportunity scholarships (vouchers) for students in schools that received an F-grade for two years to attend


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higher performing schools. Simultaneously, standards for educators have been raised requiring significantinvestments in professional development and expanded technology-based training. (www.Floridaleaders.net [AboutFloridaleaders.net])

Investment in Technology and Leadership Development. Florida has invested heavily intechnologies to support classroom instruction as well as in professional development. From 1997 through 1999,$241 million was appropriated directly to support technology development. The majority of this funding wasdistributed directly to school districts based on each district's student FTE count. Funds were used to acquire andsupport instructional technologies as well as training and staff development. Nineteen million is allocated tomaintain and improve the Florida Information Resource Network (FIRN), the statewide telecommunicationsinfrastructure for educational institutions in Florida. (www.Floridaleaders.net [About Floridaleaders.net])

Leadership Development. Florida has also invested heavily in leadership development training fordistrict school superintendents. Over the last decade, the Florida Association of District School Superintendents(FADSS) has delivered ongoing training to Florida's 67 superintendents. FADSS administers two programs, a specialcertification program and a chief executive officer leadership development program. From 1997 to 1999, a three-year program of Principal Leadership Development Institutes was offered through FADSS. These institutesencompassed a broad, systemic view of school reform, focusing on implementation of school improvement andaccountability, Sunshine State Standards, and curriculum frameworks. A total of 2,098 school leaders receivedtraining under this initiative. FADSS is currently expanding its leadership development program for principalsfocusing on data analysis techniques and data-driven decision-making. (www.Floridaleaders.net [AboutFloridaleaders.net])

A Center for Statewide Technology Training. In 1990 the Florida DOE created a statewideprofessional development center for technology –the Technology Trainer Enhancement Center (TTEC) based at theMiami Museum of Science. In 1996, InTech 2000 was developed to help educators throughout Florida usenetworked technologies to enhance instruction. Utilizing a training-of-trainers approach, the InTech 2000professional development program ultimately reached more than 75,000 elementary school teachers in all 67 schooldistricts in Florida. Over the last decade, TTEC has designed more than 30 training-of-trainer modules to helpdistricts build their capacity to deliver quality technology-related in-services. "Making Technology Happen" is aninstitute for school administrators and provides a variety of awareness level and hands-on experiences for schoolleaders to improve their ability to implement and manage the infusion of technology into their schools. To date, theMuseum has prepared 147 Making Technology Happen (MTH) master trainers in all six regions.(www.Floridaleaders.net [About Floridaleaders.net])

Florida Leaders.net. Florida Leaders.net (FLN) was created within this technology rich context in 2000 asa three-year professional development program for school leaders. FLN participants developed technology andleadership skills during Leadership Institutes and through on-line collaboration. Four objectives of FLN included: (a)adapting, expanding, and integrating existing leadership development and technology training thereby creating acomprehensive leadership development program for principals, (b) ensuring broad based impact by providingongoing training and sustained follow-up to school leaders throughout the state, (c) integrating technology into theongoing superintendents' training program provided by the FADSS, and (d) creating an interactive professionalnetwork of school leaders using technology to communicate, collaborate, solve common problems, and shareinnovative lessons (Cooley, 2004).

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The Partners. The major collaborating partners and resources for the project included the FloridaDepartment of Education, in collaboration with the Florida Technology Trainer Enhancement Center (TTEC), Bill andMelinda Gates Foundation, Miami Museum of Science, Palm Inc., the regional Area Centers for EducationalEnhancement (ACEE), the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, the South Florida Annenbergchallenge (SFAC), and the Professional Development Institute and Barry University.

Leadership Institute: Content and Regional Delivery System. Adult learning principles andassumptions were used to design a three-year comprehensive leadership development program for school leadersthroughout Florida. The participants met 200 days over the course of the three-year project. There were seventraining modules including: Creating a Vision; Navigating the Web; Introduction to TAGLIT, Searching/EvaluatingWeb Resources; Data Driven Decision Making; Creating Electronic Presentations; and Tips for Success. Within thesemodules content focused on the a range of topics including: use of disaggregated data, use of technology to assistfaculty in meeting Sunshine State Standards, use of Palm Pilots or other PDA’s to store a range of data, use ofdocumentation for evaluation of professional development activities, use of technology to evaluate increases instudent achievement, use of TAGLIT in developing and updating a school-wide technology plan, and the use of anonline system to transfer data (i.e., transcripts) to a master data base electronically.

The Florida Leaders.net project used a regional delivery system that consists of three components (Cooley,2004):

Training of Trainers. Florida Leaders.net identified 20 master trainers (i.e., principals, staff developers,technology staff) in each of Florida's six regions. FLN supported a regional coordinator at each ACEE who scheduledand coordinated the work of the master trainers in each region as they delivered training to Florida principals.Master trainers were supplied with PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistants) and laptop computers throughout theduration of the project as an incentive since they received no compensation. Training the master trainers andprofessional partners was carried out via intensive three-day and one-day sessions respectively.

One-on-one Professional Partnership. In addition, FLN identified a total of 60 retired schooladministrators (approximately 10 per region) who served as part-time Professional Partners for principals. TheProfessional Partners received training in mentoring skills, leadership and technology integration and providedcomprehensive professional mentoring at the school site level. Professional partners, who did receive compensation,were provided with PDAs with the idea that they would model its use as they worked with the participant group.

Electronic Support. In addition to the 200 face-to-face training days and mentoring for the participants,FLN created, maintained and promoted a virtual statewide network of school leaders who shared strategies, resourcesand solutions aimed at enhancing student achievement in all Florida schools. An important supporting step was takenwhen fifty Florida district superintendents took a one day modified FLN training session. Program planners initiated thestep of bringing as many superintendents to training as possible to help provide momentum to participate from the top.

Impact of Florida Leaders.net

Planning Information for Districts’ Staff Development Plan. School leaders actively working inthe districts were aware of the requirement to integrate technology planning for staff development. Most wereaware of the mandates in No Child Left Behind for technology training and were aware they were required toprovide planning information for the district staff development plans. For others, FLN training in technology hadspurred integrating technology training into these plans.


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The Use of Technology in the Classroom. Some districts incorporated technology training in staffdevelopment as FLN workshops were counted as hours towards credit for technology certification. Teachers askedfor training in Microsoft PowerPoint as a result of watching principals model how the software can be usedeffectively in school situations. District officials are now considering TAGLIT (a tool for assessing school technologyuse and the status of school technology systems which was taught through FLN project) as a district-wide tool fordeveloping technology improvement plans.

Experiences with FLN Master Trainer(s) and FLN Professional Partners. Using principals asmaster trainers and allowing districts to select who would serve in that capacity has been a masterstroke in thedesign of FLN. Peer-to-peer relationships were developed as a result of using principals as master trainers. Otherdistrict staff members were also sent for training which caused a ripple effect that helped the technology planningprocess become an integrated district-wide process replacing silo-type plans that often have no relationship one toanother. Professional partners, were widely accepted and highly regarded. The role of the partners involved workingwith more than one district which allowed them to share and exchange information across district lines. Partnerswere very useful in spreading best practices, encouraging positive impact on the districts, raising personalmotivation and assistance, and helping with site-based follow-up.

FLN Website Support for Training. Staff at the Miami Museum of Science, host of the project, kept thecurrent website content current for the project’s duration. The ease of the online registration was universallypraised. While many participants used the website routinely others rarely used it but claimed the training in usingthe sites was extremely helpful. Additionally, it was considered an excellent resource for school/administrativeneeds and enhanced ability to approve and document participation.

Impact at School and District Level. E-mail became a useful and frequent communications toolbetween both support staff and principals. Some principals communicated regularly with a professional partner ontechnology issues while many used the network to communicate with other principals in their state sharingstrategies and solutions to problems. FLN training facilitated and enhanced data collection, analysis anddisaggregation resulting in a revamping of school improvement programs that have lead to data-driven decision-making for some. Professional partners identified experts in technology assessment at little or no cost to schools.Other impacts include: (a) teacher evaluations and surveys conducted using technology produced instant results, (b)grades and homework posted on the internet for parents, (c) mutually beneficial relationship were created amongprincipals, (d) the use of PDA’s as a management tool, (e) teachers are now including a technology component aspart of their professional growth plan as a result of principals modeling best practices, and (f) principals who did notparticipate initially have seen their peers utilize the new technology and are asking for additionally training.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Floridaleaders.net project was a well-planned and well-orchestrated undertaking that increased technologyabilities of Florida’s school leaders. Overall, it was estimated that FLN participants experienced a 41% gain inknowledge and leadership skills in the use of educational technology. FLN project results include development andimplementation of a statewide project support staff system, training and materials for project support staff, onlineproject management software and participants’ website, curriculum materials, and 3,569 trained participants.Master trainers emerged as a dynamic district-wide (and potentially state-wide) resource for Florida’s educationsystem, and mentoring activities offered by professional partners offers a rich resource for future training efforts

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geared towards school leadership. This cadre of master trainers and professional partners is a serendipitous by-product of Floridaleaders.net. The FLN Professional Partner Model developed by the project is being incorporatedinto state efforts to reform educational leadership standards and professional development for school leaders.Professional Partners will support and provide follow-up coaching and mentoring to Florida's school leaders througha series of newly developed leadership training programs designed to improve their skills as instructional leaders.Currently, the program continues as a component of the Florida Department of Education's efforts in the area ofeducational leadership.

Since the inception of the FLN project the state has worked with and incorporated NSDC standards indeveloping and adopting statewide standards for professional development. Newly proposed standards for highperforming school leaders will be adopted shortly by the state board of education. All new professionaldevelopment programs must now comply with the Florida Professional Development System Evaluation Protocolwhich requires extensive follow-up to insure that professional development training results in improvedperformance and student achievement.




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South AfricaEducation Management Program, Free State 1997-2002

This case contains three sections: state level overview of the project; district level commentary from one of12 districts in the state (Kroonstad district); and a school/community vignette from one school (Roseamohetse PublicSchool).

State Level

Building a collaborative leadership capacity at all levels was a priority for transformation in the postapartheid era. OISE/UT served as lead consultant in the design and implementation of a set of interrelated multi-year programs focused on building leadership capacity and change management. The intervention model used adesign, which created new working relationships, modeled collaborative leadership and helped participants engagein new behaviours while providing support to sustain a new culture for learning at the provincial and district levels.A set of program strands was developed and launched by OISE/UT in 1997 and sustained throughout the project:Leadership Capacity for Senior Department and District Leaders; Leadership Capacity for District Training Teams;School Leadership Teams; Principal’s training; School Governing Bodies; the Farm School Initiative, Gender/HIV/AIDS.Annual programs designed for Senior Department of Education leaders and District Managers supported educationtransformation in the province and integration with national initiatives. Programs for District Leadership Teams trained400 trainers in 12 District teams of School Management Developers and Principals to provide Principal training, wholeschool development and facilitation skills for the implementation of school governing bodies across the province.

Leadership Capacity for Senior Department Leaders. Annual programs were designed for the ChiefDirector, the senior leadership team and Provincial District Managers to build sustainable capacity in theDepartment of Education to support transformation in the quality improvement of curriculum, instruction, andschool leadership. The program focused on strengthening governance and administration of education includingdevolution of authority to the district and local school level and the empowerment of principals, teachers and schoolgoverning bodies as change agents. Key components included: strategic planning, alignment of priorities andresources and policy development and implementation planning and evaluation.

Leadership Capacity for District Training Teams. The leadership capacity of more than 400 seniorleaders, school development managers and teachers was developed so they became providers of coaching, training,and modeling of collaborative instructional leadership for Principals and school leaders in 3000 schools. A criticaldimension was the decentralization of expertise from the DoE to the district levels through the development ofchange management and leadership capacity. The 12 District teams designed and implemented comprehensivedistrict and school plans, which integrated all provincial and national training initiatives for Principals and teachers.They developed training materials and designs for school leadership teams; the induction and training of Principals,School Governing Bodies and Youth Leaders.

Gender & HIV/Aids. Work on issues of sexual harassment, gender and HIV/AIDS included training at theprovincial and national level. Gender based violence workshops were facilitated and an interactive module foreducators was developed with a team of South African educators, Opening our eyes: Addressing Gender Based

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Violence in South Africa 2001. Reports on the impact of school based anti-violence programs were prepared andused to inform implementation. An ongoing project involves working with Youth in both Canada and South Africato develop strategies for empowering youth and improving communication about issues related to HIV/AIDS

Results. Leadership capacity was enhanced at school, district and Free State Department of Educationlevels through sustained training and integrated with emerging provincial and national policy initiatives incurriculum (OBE), school governance and assessment. Sustainability was enhanced as many of the 400 leadersinvolved in the project have been promoted to key leadership roles in emerging provincial initiatives and seniorleadership positions in the Department of Education and government. The department and district leaders continue touse the training documents and skills learned to implement evolving reforms. The 12 District Teams continue tofunction as multi-disciplinary collaborative training teams with the capacity to design and deliver leadership training forprincipals and schools and to support community-school governance/partnerships and change management initiatives toincrease instructional capacity. Local change agents have developed extensive resources and programs in Principalinduction and training and Gender and HIV/AIDS education. Over 15,000 educators were reached in the initial phase ofthe project and matriculation results increased in the provinces’ 3000 schools by 18% in the five years of the project.

District Level: KroonstadCommentary: Anthony

Since the new constitution was accepted and implemented in 1994, education has been undergoing rapidchanges. The education system as a whole has been affected by the changes taking place in society since the firstdemocratic dispensation. The need to change the way institutions and the people in them react has never beengreater. Among the problems were:

schools in the townships were performing poorly due to the legacy of apartheid education. Reasons may be attributed to years of opposition and resistance to Bantu education, lack of discipline, application and motivation of learners and educators lack of community support and ownership of schools lack of essential learning and teaching resources extremely high levels of violent and criminal behaviour in schools poor relations between learners and educators poor leadership lack of skills and knowledge of Schools Governing Bodies (SGB)

The results in secondary schools were very low and in township schools even worse. Matric results in someschools in the Free State were less than 20%. In 1997 the average results for Kroonstad were 43.8%, for 1998 itwas 46%, for 1999 it was 46.6% and in 2000 it moved to 58.8% and in 2001 it was 59%.

Schools that performed beyond 40% were referred to as dysfunctional and districts were asked to workmore with those schools to improve their results. The Free State had 12 districts up until 2000 and schools weretherefore clustered according to the districts.


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The trend towards greater decentralization and partial privatization for many schools placed moreresponsibility on the school management teams. Schools therefore required new and improved skills, knowledgeand attitudes to cope with a wide range of new demands and challenges.

There was a need for education management training in schools at all the levels of management, that isprincipals, deputy principals and heads of departments. It was however also important to reach ordinary teachers sothat they be in a position to manage their classrooms effectively to improve the general standard of learning andteaching.

Goals/purpose for reform.

The Kroonstad district wanted to change and improve results Change management of schools Understanding what school leadership and management means A better understanding of the relationship with other stakeholders in the school, and to work with

them to achieve the school’s vision and aims. Understanding diversity School Improvement and effectiveness School Governing Bodies (SGB) to understand their roles and responsibilities. Induction of newly appointed school management teams (SMT) Appointment of school management developers (SMD) at the district level

Teams were formed consisting of members from the district ( SMD, Teacher development and appraisalofficer,Principal, educator, learner and facilitator in the district). These teams were formed and capacitatedthroughout the province to understand the change process, to develop leadership skills to manage change, to shareresources efficiently, to provide leadership in the classroom management, student development and bring aboutstaff development and the SGB.

Strategies/interventions taken.

Managing the process of change Common language and knowledge of the change process Deep knowledge of the content of education reform Strong facilitation and process skills The processes to monitor and evaluate

Workshops along these aspects were done and district teams had to go back to their districts to implementand give support to school teams and communities. Vision and Mission statements and the goals of the schoolswere made. We also had the chance to share with other districts on their successes. The team had to report back tothe project on the developments, challenges and lessons learned. We became a learning organization. Workshopswere cascaded into schools and stakeholders could identify because colleagues at the same level participated andpresented. This was therefore not top down approach due to the vertical teams formed.

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Workshops. Workshops were held on how to be an ideal school and the journey of change. Schools hadto indicate and set targets to improve the school. The district team had to give support and assist when needed.Dysfunctional schools were those secondary schools with matric results lower then 40%. These schools weretargeted for improvement. The team would them design a plan which will add to train and develop educators butalso motivate learners in those schools. Funding was made available to build capacity of such schools.

Programme content.

Conflict resolution Communication skills Financial Management Schools of the 21st Century Leadership and styles COLTS (Culture of learning and teaching service) School improvement and effective Teambuilding Selecting the appropriate staff for schools Staff development

Getting Results.

Evaluating results and identifying reasons for the results Instructional leadership workshop Teaching strategies Motivational talks Rewarding good results and improvements made Learning support material provided on time

Challenges

Giving schools and their local community greater control through local managerial responsibility. Self-evaluation of schools and the system on the total practice (curriculum, teaching/learning styles and

organization) and how to improve. How the district would encourage processes of systemic decision making which provide resources and

services to schools in ways that meet their needs to deliver. To encourage and support collaborative practices between parents, learners and teachers in schools

and the rest of the system. Transformation of education from a divided and apartheid system to a single system. Introducing results focused education. Resourcing township schools to provide quality education. Reculturing and restructuring institutions to bring about change.


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The challenge was therefore on all stakeholders (parents, teachers, school management teams, departmentof education, business and learners) to seek strategies of involvement which will enable the educational system toproduce educationally empowered individuals that will occupy their rightful positions in society, and makemeaningful contributions that will make the nation realize its objectives.

Impact

Changing and building capacity of schools workshops was attended by primary, secondary and schools onfarms management teams. The number of schools in the district were 345 with the farm schools inmajority.

Schools would send two delegated to the training and their responsibility was to cascade it in the schooland the district team would visit some of the workshops.

Getting results was planned only for those schools that performed less then 40% in the matric results. The district performed better yearly and became the best in the province performing above the province

average. The district has been the first in the province for the past two years and received the provincial trophy for

best district in the province by the premier. School that performed best in the township also received extra resources and funding as an incentive if

their improvement has been significant and better.

School and Community Level

The following transcript accompanies the video in which one school principal talks about how he broughtabout improvements at the school level.

Verbatim TranscriptVideo: “Making a Difference”

… Participatory Principal, Reseanohetse Public School

Principal I’m not going to lead this school alone.

I believe that for something to be prosperous all the people who are involved in thatorganization must be fully committed to achieve the objectives of that particularinstitution.

Narrator As you can see, Mr. Pheto believes in a cooperative management style even thoughhis background is rooted in a Bsauto community which supports a more hierarchicalapproach. He does things in a different way.

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The success in the quality of the school depends on the capability of the staff, thecommitment of the staff, the motivations the staff get for them to realize our thirdobjectives. For us to do that, is only if we involve everyone. And that does not suggestabdication of responsibilities as the principal but recognition that the institution willsucceed if the people are happy, contribute, and get involved in the implementation ofobjectives of the school.

The principal forms part of a school management team that comprises heads ofdepartments and together they come up with a strategic management plan. That planis shared with all other staff then and agreed version of the school is arrived at.

Principal Because these people are involved in setting objectives of the school, they will also becommitted in realizing those objectives. It will not put that much pressure on themanagement if people were involved from the word go.

Narrator Mr. Pheto maintains it is important to work closely with the school governing body.Thus they have special duties assigned to them.

Teacher I think Mr. Pheto is a good manager because he is the one who is giving people theopportunity to reveal whatever they have. And if he sees that you are good atsomething, he tried with by all means at his disposal to encourage you to do that andif you don’t have things he makes a point to get those things so that you can go onwith the project.

More especially in science we were having some special equipment, he was the manwho wrote letters to the mines to ask them to give us money so that we can buy theequipment.

School Governing Body I often stop by the school to see if things are going well. Today it is such a case. Butthis man does his job well as the principal. He also has a good relationship with theschool governing body.

Principal I want everyone of us to know everything about the school so that any teacher orgoverning body member can help anybody from outside.

Narrator It is for this reason that everyone at the schools looks the same. The principal set up auniform committee which, decided that the principal, teachers, learners all wear thesame uniform for it signifies unity and that no one is above another.


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Teacher He is always involved in everything. Involvement is vital because when you areinvolved it means you are accountable, you are going to know what is happeningthere.

Drama Teacher He is helping me with the drama and taking the play to Tabanchu. I was demotivatedbecause we could see nothing was happening but he motivated me to collect the kidstogether and from there we went to Tabanchu to perform.

Principal Our vision is very long term. I will be very interested to see a number of doctors,lawyers, engineers among the society … we have started their education here. Wewant to see this school a successful school, a school that will make a difference. Aschool that will add to the total educational objectives of South Africa. If we cancontribute in bringing out a new nation that is having tolerance, a new nation that isproud of its resources then I shall die a happy man.



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What have you learned about learning communities at the local level that youcan apply to your change project?

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Role of the Districtiv

Our research and that of others shows that you cannot develop strong learningcommunities by schools and communities working on their own. Other levels of the systemhave a role to play in developing school and community capacity.

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Activity: Letter off A and B.Person A read the England case. Person B read the Guinea case. Discuss key factors and problems related to sustainability in each case. In groups of four, identify at least one factor critical to sustainability in your

own situation.

Large Scale Reform in England

The focus of this vignette is the experiment in large scale reform that has occurred in England since 1997.Although the reform effort in England has involved both primary (elementary education for 5 – 11 year olds) andsecondary schools (ages 11 – 16 or 11-18 for those schools with ‘sixth forms’) the emphasis in this vignette will beon the performance of students within the 5 -11 year age range because at this stage of the reform programme thelink between reform strategy and student performance is most clearly seen.

Large Scale Reform in England – Phase One 1997-2002

Since 1997, England has worked on achieving high standards across an entire system of 24,000 schoolsand over 7 million school students. The government has a large majority and has real power. Expenditure oneducation is increasing by over 5 per cent in real terms per year. Meanwhile a combination of macro-economicpolicy and changes in the tax and benefits system has already brought over one million children out of poverty since1997. These are broadly favourable circumstances in which to attempt a major reform programme.

In order to move from the evidently underperforming system of the mid-1990s to the world class vision andto do so while generating short-term results, the government put in place a policy approach best described as“high challenge, high support.” Building on the Thatcher government which instituted high challenge policies(new standards, new tests, new school inspection, new publication of school test scores) with low support in themid-1980s, the New Labour government sharpened the challenge and, crucially, added the support. Highchallenge/high support policies included: ambitious standards, devolved responsibility, good data/clear targets,access to best practice and quality professional development, accountability, increased intervention in proportion tosuccess (rewards, assistance, consequences). The chart on the following page summarizes policies that wereimplemented in the first phase of reform.

The Focus on Literacy and Numeracy in Primary Schools

The early focus on literacy and numeracy in primary schools was an important and necessary first step.Performance at age 11, at the end of Key Stage 2, is a key indicator. Competence in literacy and numeracy areabsolutely vital to the life chances of children in our schools. They are the strongest predictors of success at age 16and beyond. The positive influence of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies on student performanceattracted world wide attention. The percentage increase in student performance in Literacy and Numeracy between1997 and 2004 is illustrated in the following table.

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Re-Creating a SchoolSystem:

7 Lessons(from 1988-1996)

1. It is about instruction, and only instruction2. Instructional change is a long, multistage process3. Shared expertise is the driver of instructional change4. Focus on systemwide improvement5. Good ideas come from talented people working together6. Set clear expectations, then decentralize7. Collegiality, caring, respect

— Elmore & Burney, 1999

Re-Creating a SchoolSystem:

10 Lessons(from 1998-2004)

1. Internal leaders with a clear, coherent driving conceptualization2. Collective moral purpose that extends to everyone3. The right bus4. Leadership and capacity building for those on the bus5. Lateral capacity building6. Deep learning7. Productive conflict8. Demanding cultures9. External partners10. Growing financial investments over time

— Fullan, Bertani & Quinn, 2004

Activity All read ‘The District Context (p. 69) Person A: Read Lessons 1-2 (pp. 70-71) Person B: Read Lessons 3-5 (pp. 71-73) Person C: Read Lessons 6-8 (pp. 73-75) Person D: Read Lessons 9-10 (pp. 75-76)

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New Lessons for District-Wide ReformSource: Fullan, M., Bertani, A., & Quinn, J. (2004)

Educational Leadership, April (Draft Copy).

The District ContextIn Change Forces with a Vengeance (Fullan, 2003a), we argued that we need a tri-level reform model for large-scale, sustainable educational reform, namely: (1) what has to happen at the school and community level (2)what has to happen at the district level, and (3) what has to happen at the state (state/federal) level. This paperencompasses the first two levels, and is based on the work in which we and others are engaged in districts inCanada, the U.S. and England.

The new work in school districts is more systemic and coherent, more deep, and more nuanced in itssophistication. While it is still a work in progress there are some key lessons that are emerging. In this paper wepresent ten of these lessons. Our definition of district-wide reform is when all or the vast majority of schools ina district are engaged in continuous, interactive improvement of student learning with a collective focus onbuilding individual and organization capacity.

Our current work involves the following districts. In Canada: York Region School Board (Ontario), TorontoDistrict School Board (Ontario), Edmonton Catholic Schools (Alberta); the U.S.: Chicago Public Schools, GuilfordCounty (Greensboro, N.C.), Baltimore Public Schools; in England: Bristol Local Education Authority. The lessonsin this article are a composite of the experiences in these districts, and in the literature more generally. Thelessons are not presented in order of priority — all ten working in concert are required.

The lessons are:

1. Internal leaders with a clear, coherent driving conceptualization2. Collective moral purpose that extends to everyone3. The right bus4. Leadership and capacity building for those on the bus5. Lateral capacity building6. Deep learning7. Productive conflict8. Demanding cultures9. External partners10. Growing financial investments over time

When these lessons are employed with rigor they have a powerful affect on school capacity and in turn onstudent learning. The following examples offer proof even though they were not necessarily using all tenlessons. In England, achievement levels for 11 year olds in literacy and mathematics increased from 63% to75% in 19,000 schools in the 1997-2001 period. In the Toronto District, achievement in literacy increased by 9percentage points in four years. In Edmonton, student results on province-wide assessment have risen 11.5% infour years. In Chicago, schools are demonstrating improvement in (i) the emergence of strong professionallearning communities at the school level; (ii) the development of school leadership on the part of principals andschool leaders; and (iii) school gains on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. In short, the lessons do make a difference.

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1. Leaders and the Driving ConceptualizationThe terms — professional learning community, capacity building, assessment for learning — travel easily, theunderlying conceptualization does not. Icebergs don’t travel well if you are just trying to move the visible part.Many leaders try to take short cuts by slicing off the visible part of the iceberg assuming they have captured itsfull power.

Deep district reform requires leaders at or near the top who can conceptualize the direction, both in referenceto teaching and learning, and in terms of change strategy. Expertise in pedagogy and expertise in change aretwo different domains which must be integrated (for an example, see our work in the Toronto District,Rolheiser, Fullan and Edge, 2003). The knowledge base for teaching and learning, and for change is increasinglyadvancing. Top leaders must grasp this knowledge base and build a coalition of leaders who constantly pursueit in practice. While success cannot be accomplished only from within (see lesson 9) it must be driven daily fromwithin.

Internal leaders (at or near the top) have several key advantages in articulating a strategy. First and foremost,they typically have the mandate from the Board that appointed them. Second, they have the "big picture" ofthe organization because of their unique position in the organization. Third, they usually have a high degree ofpublic visibility, which provides them the platform for communicating the strategy. Finally, they have access tofinancial and human resources as well as the authority to make the strategy a reality. In short they have theimprovement charge, systemic view, public fora, and control over resources to drive the conceptualization. Justas we have identified the importance of distributed leadership at the school level, large-scale reform needs tobe driven by a model of pluralized leadership with teams of people sharing in creating and driving a clear,coherent strategy.

2. Collective Moral Purpose that Extends to EveryoneThe moral purpose of educators has been around since the beginning of teaching, but it has often been anindividual phenomenon — the heroic teacher, or principal or superintendent who succeeds (for brief periods)against all odds. This moral martyrdom is great for the individual’s soul, but does not add up. We need insteadto think of the moral imperative as an organizational or system quality (see Fullan, 2003b).

Collective moral purpose has at least three components. First it makes explicit the goal of “raising the bar andclosing the gap” with respect to higher and lower performing individuals and schools. This must be stated andpursued in the collective consciousness and corresponding actions.

Second, moral purpose must extend to the adults not just the students. Many passionate, morally drivensuperintendents have failed badly because they blindly, even courageously committed to students, runningroughshod over any adults that got in the way. This is one of our nuanced findings. We do not mean thatpersistently uncaring and incompetent teachers should be tolerated (see lesson 8), but to be successful, leadersmust treat the development of students and adults co-equally when it comes to the moral imperative. Youcannot advance the cause of students without attending to the cause of teachers.


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Another new finding: the moral imperative must extend vertically as well as horizontally throughout the socialenvironment. District leaders must foster a district culture where school principals are concerned about thesuccess of other schools in the district, not just their own (lesson 5). Districts must be concerned about otherdistricts and the overall environment in which they are working. Everyone has a responsibility for changing thelarger context for the better.

Part and parcel of lesson two is the realization that competition among schools within districts or even acrossdistricts leads to counter productive behaviors. Pfeffer and Sutton (2000) refer to this problem as “wheninternal competition turns friends into enemies” (p 180). Such competition undermines interdependence, trustand loyalty, and related characteristics of strong knowledge sharing organizations. The authors argue that insuccessful organizations “competitive juices are aimed at external competitors rather than at people from otherlocations, units, or departments within the firm” (p 202, emphasis in original). Lessons two (and five) fosteridentity beyond one’s school to other schools in the system which makes district-wide improvement more likely.

3. The Right BusJim Collins (2001) talks about getting the right people in the right seats on the bus. We want to start one stepback with the question of what is the right bus (structure and roles). We are not great fans of restructuringbecause too often it is used to create the illusion of change. But structure and alignment are crucial to success.We use the Chicago Public Schools only for illustrative purposes, and then spell out the underlying principles.Chicago has some 600 schools and has evolved over the past fifteen years through a centralization-decentralization reconciliation. Its recent reorganization contains the following features:

24 clusters (18 elementary, 6 high schools) ranging in size from 12 schools (high need) to 43 schools (wellperforming).

Each cluster is headed by an Area Instructional Officer (AIO) — formerly Region Education Officer whosejob it is to focus relentlessly on teaching and learning.

Each cluster has a Management Support Director (MSD) who is responsible for all managerial tasks andcrises that normally divert AIOs from focusing on teaching and learning.

Each cluster contains key instructional staff — coaches for reading, math-science, specialized services, atechnology coordinator, and in some areas a coach for English Language Learners. .

Each school within the cluster is lead by revamped school teams headed by the principal and supported byteacher leaders (e.g., literacy and math and science specialists).

All leaders at the cluster and school level are engaged in multiple forms of ongoing capacity building (lessons 4and 5).

The principles underlying these developments include:

The structure must be driven and refined by the values and thinking in lessons one and two. There must be a laser like focus on teaching and learning (for adults and for students). The structure and roles are aligned which means creating an infrastructure that

(i) identifies a direction and all parts of the system pursuing the same direction;(ii) a synergy where many people are working in a coordinated effort toward the same purpose; and(iii) ideas, people, and financial resources are aligned to support the directions and goals.

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Alignment reinforces focus and coherence. Embedded in this “infrastructure building” is the difficult human resource work that is required. This means

changing the structure to match the challenges at hand, and also adjusting the structure periodically toensure that it is working and to maintain sensitivity to changing conditions.

In short, there is much more to structure than the typical organization chart reflects. Indeed, the other ninelessons feed into structure.

4. Leadership and Capacity BuildingLeadership is to this decade what standards based reform was to the 1990’s if you want large-scale sustainablereform (Fullan 2003a,b). There are several nuanced sub lessons here. First, the main mark of a successful leaderis not his or her impact on the bottom line of student learning at the end of their tenure, but rather how manygood leaders they leave behind who can go even further. These two aspects, of course, are not mutuallyexclusive; leaders need to focus on both achievement and the development of leaders for the future.

Second, it is not turnover of leaders per se that presents problems, but rather discontinuity of direction. Aligned,collaborative organizations foster continuity of direction. Third, ongoing professional development is requiredfor those in the roles including relational coordination — how different roles in complex, uncertainenvironments work in tandem (Gittell, 2003). Here, learning in context is key i.e., learning not just throughworkshops, but also through daily interactions in cultures designed for job-embedded learning andcoordination. Capacity building is essential for everyone: school level, area level, and system level including themost senior executives. Explicit processes for building capacity of leaders if fostered at all levels.

Capacity building requires that the organization be very clear about where they want the capacity to reside:what capacity they were trying to build for the short term as well as the long term; and how to coordinatecapacity building across organizational boundaries. In Chicago for example, people learn in weekly meetings,study groups, focused institutes, extended academies, and walkthrough site visits (in which teams visit schoolsto learn from and react to strategies underway). If a system wants to ensure alignment and coherence, it has tobuild structures and cultures where coordinated learning occurs and where messages and actions becomeconsistent within and across roles and organizational levels — not a sealed off consistency but one in whichproblems are confronted and new learnings are incorporated as you go.

STARS sidebar example to illustrate capacity building:

STARS (School Teams Achieving Results for Students) is an innovative program focused on building thecapacity of school leadership teams to increase instructional capacity and improve results. Launchedwith 150 schools in Chicago in 2002 and in Guilford County with 115 schools in 2003, thecomprehensive strategy includes both school level teacher-principal teams, and district level Area orInstructional Improvement Officers. The sustained multiyear effort includes week long institutes andsustained follow-up of five days annually. The transfer of skills to classrooms and schools is enhancedby cycles of application and regular examination of student results in follow-up sessions. The fosteringof deep professional learning communities and lateral networking across the district are continuallybeing reinforced.


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5. Lateral Capacity BuildingAnother nuanced finding — the role of the district is not just to foster vertical alignment (between the districtand the schools) but equally important to promote horizontal exchanges and collaboration across schools. Thislateral capacity building is one of those high leverage strategies that has enormous multiple payoffs for theinvestment required. What is lateral capacity building, and what are its benefits?

Lateral capacity building involves any strategy that connects schools within a district (and more broadly) for thepurpose of developing new ideas, skills, practices that build the ability to bring about improvements. Twoexamples. The Bristol Local Education Authority in England has 19 high schools. Ten of the schools are abovethe national norm on various measures of performance; nine are below. Over the past year the districtleadership along with the 19 principals have developed a strategy that pairs schools and departments (e.g. amath department in one school working with a math department in another school to improve mathematicslearning such as raising the bar, closing the gap). This new way of learning is a feature of the district’s evolvingculture. There are several other examples in districts in England of schools working with each other to improvestudent learning, and of leaders networking across districts to improve capacity.

A second example is the Walkthrough utilized in Chicago with small groups (principals, coaches, area officers)conducting site visits to examine what given schools are doing and with what results in order to learn from thestrategies and contribute feedback to the visited school.

When done well, the payoffs are considerable. The most prominent result as mentioned in Lesson Two is thatindividual school principals become almost as concerned about the success of other schools in the district asthey are about their own. Teams working together (principals, coaches, and area officers) develop clear,operational understandings of the driving conceptualization and attendant strategies. New ideas, skills andcapacities are developed along with a shared sense of purpose, coherence, commitment to district-widedevelopment.

6. Deep LearningBelief systems like moral purpose should not change, but the details of the vision to get there should bemalleable. The districts we work with employ Lessons One and Two to develop and articulate a compellingvision but they recognize that the vision will continually evolve during implementation. Political pressures,policy shifts, financial conditions, and field realities all impact realizing the vision. Effective districts do not somuch get the strategy right to begin with as much as they continually refine it based on collecting and usinginformation systematically during implementation. Because of alignment, relational coordination and theimplementation of the other lessons these districts maintain close contact with problems, promote and inviteregular feedback, and engage in problem-solving actions. It is this disciplined inquiry and focused learning asyou go that fuels deeper and more sustainable improvement.

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Starting at the student level, assessment literacy or assessment for learning is a powerful school improvementstrategy. How to gather/access student performance data? How to make sense of (disaggregate) data? How tolink data to instructional improvements? These are all key basic questions and capacities. One also needs toknow whether teachers, administrators and other staff are growing; whether professional learning communitieswithin and across schools are evolving; whether capacity building strategies are effectively impacting teacherand principal learning; whether district staff and the system are relentlessly pursuing ways to better serve theneeds of staff schools, and the area; and whether students and parents are satisfied.

In this scenario information becomes shared knowledge through a social process of data collection,interpretation and application within and across levels of the system in order to continually understand theimpact that initiatives are having. Finally, what is clear in this work is that the learning for both students andeducators needs to become deeper. For students this means going beyond literacy and numeracy into the kindof learning we saw from Claxton. For adults the use of ‘assessment for learning’, and focusing on changing theculture of the school represents more fundamental changes in ongoing learning, and problem-solving.

7. Productive ConflictThis is the hardest lesson of all to implement. All changes worth their salt reveal differences. District-widereform, because it is complex involving many levels and people, produces even more questions anddisagreements. Successful districts must engage in a difficult balancing act. If they give in too soon in the faceof conflict and fail to stay the course, they will not be able to work through the inevitable implementationbarriers. On the other hand, if they show an inflexible commitment to a vision (even if based on passionatemoral purpose) they can drive resistance underground and miss valuable lessons until it is too late. What can bedone?

First, as leaders in districts get better at implementing the other nine lessons they become more effective atidentifying ‘good” and ‘bad” conflict. Indeed, these cultures, because of their built-in checks and balances helpsort out productive from dysfunctional conflict. They use the productive conflict to catalyze refinements andmake mid-course corrections while minimizing the effects of dysfunctional conflict.

Second, successful organizations explicitly value differences and do not panic when things go wrong. Pfefferand Sutton’s (2000) study of organizations that close the knowing-doing gap found that these organizations“learn from mistakes” and “drive out fear” while still being disciplined about what is being learned.

Third, districts that are going to move forward take the orientation that disagreement is “normal” in all changesituations, and that it is what you do with conflict that is the crucial capacity. Successful districts arecollaborative, but they are not always congenial and consensual. They value and work through differences,which can only be done if you have a high trust yet demanding culture. Finally, we can say that some issues arenon-negotiable — raising the bar and closing the gap, ongoing development of capacity, transparency ofresults. The non-negotiables reduce the areas of conflict, and channel differences into areas that are essentialfor solving problems necessary to move forward.


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8. Demanding CultureThe tip of the iceberg problem misleads those examining successful districts from afar. Yes they arecollaborative, and committed to the development of students and adults alike; but they are also highlydisciplined cultures. The discipline is built in through the implementation of the ten lessons. Moral purpose istoo important to leave to chance. The highly interactive cultures being developed essentially incorporate highpressure and high support, virtually seamlessly as the lessons unfold and interrelate. Whether you are doinggreat or bad work it is impossible to go unnoticed in these cultures. As we have seen in the previous lessonpeople in these cultures know that improvement is tough going, know that disagreement is a normal part ofany change process, and thus are more inclined and prepared to confront it.

As Bryk and Schneider (2002) found in studying ‘high trust’ school cultures in Chicago, these cultures are morenot less likely to take action against persistently uncaring or incompetent teachers. They give people greatsupport, but only to a point; they take action not just because an uncaring teacher is bad for the children in hisor her class, but also because failure to act in a bad situation poisons the whole atmosphere. Students, parentsand colleagues know when bad teaching is being tolerated.

High trust organizations combine respect, personal regard, integrity and competence - yes competence. Youcannot trust even well intentioned people if they are not good at what they are doing. Note especially the fourorganizational consequences of high trust schools identified by Bryk and Schneider: enables risk and effort;facilitates problem solving; coordinates clear collective action; sustains moral and ethical imperative.Improvement involves great effort and difficult work. Low trust cultures do not have the capacity to engage insuch work. High trust cultures make the extraordinary possible. They energize people and give them thewherewithal to be successful under enormously demanding conditions. These cultures are disciplined andconfident that staying the course will payoff; they are tough on competence and professional ethics.

Finally, we note that Bryk and Schneider are talking about high trust schools; we are raising the bar to say thatwe need high trust districts in which the entire set of schools are motivated and supported to engage indemanding work, able to withstand frustrations along the way, persisting as they make reform doable andworthwhile.

9. External PartnersWe don’t know of any improving district that does not have active external partners. On the other hand, weknow of districts that have substantial external partners and additional resources and are going nowhere. Thekey is who is driving the bus and do they know what they are doing. Leading in tough circumstances is complexpartly because there are many opportunities to obtain external resources and work with external partners. Ifyou don’t have your act together (the previous 8 lessons) external partners can worsen the situation by addingto overload and fragmentation.

External partners do two things in relation to districts on the move. First, they act as catalysts to do things thatmight not otherwise be pursued with vigor. Again change is hard and sometimes external pressures (combinedwith internal potential) can be the stimulus — the external excuse — to tackle something that might nototherwise be addressed. In this sense districts use external partners to stir the pot (in purposeful directions).

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Second, external partners can provide the additional expertise to help build and/or complement internalcapacity building. Chicago for example utilized the resources of the business community through the McKenzieGroup to lead the planning effort for its Human Capital Initiative. McKenzie staffed and coordinated the processfor nine months producing a series of reports and recommendations through five different task forces. Anotherexample has Chicago engaged in a reading demonstration project with six metropolitan universities with thesupport of a local foundation. This project is producing recommendations outlining how different models can beused to build instructional capacity in reading at the school level. The McKenzie Group work was done probono, and the demonstration project was funded by the Chicago Community Trust.

External partners can include business, foundations, community-based organizations, universities andincreasingly other school districts, as long as the initiatives are guided by an overall plan consistent with thelessons learned in this article. In England, for example, 4,000 elementary school principals who have hadsuccess in leading the improvement of literacy in their schools are being paired with 4,000 principals who areinterested in learning more about how to do this. Partners are essential, but only if they help build capacity.

10. Growing Financial InvestmentThere is another new lesson emerging. Governments, the public (and foundations, businesses etc.) are willingto put more money into public education, not just because there is need, but rather when they perceive that theinvestment will payoff. Last year’s success is next year’s new money. New investments will not yield results (asthe Annenberg Challenge found out) unless they are coordinated with the capacity of districts to use the moneyeffectively.

In terms of public (government) investment two things have to happen. One is that existing resources must beruthlessly redeployed in the service of teaching and learning (again the previous nine lessons). Over a two-yearperiod, the Chicago Public Schools have significantly increased their allocation of resources for system-widecapacity building through professional development. For example, the Chicago Reading Initiative investmentgrew from twelve million dollars in 2001-2002 to twenty-one million dollars in 2003-2004. For most districts“investment growing” will require the organization to redirect (stop-doing) resources from prior programs tothe emerging priorities (start-doing) in order to support the new vision.

Second, we need to figure out what it will take for responsive governments to have the confidence to riskinvesting new additional money — confidence that the investments will eventually payoff politically, morally,through improved performance in the judgment of the public.

This is critical. Foundations should not substitute for government spending but rather should amplify it. DavidMiliband, the Minister of Education in England put the case for growing public invest in thee words:

To show that increased investment will lead to changes in the life chances…. that is what I want to beable to argue: that investment in education should be the top priority not just because education is themost important investment for the future of the country, but that education will put investment to besteffect when it comes to changing the life chances of young people. (Miliband, 2003)

In brief, one of the major rewards of implementing the previous nine lessons is the growing financialinvestment in education from the public purse, amplified by additional private money enabling schools to goeven further.


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ConclusionOur knowledge of district-wide, large-scale improvement is still in its relatively early stages, but it isincreasingly deeper and more sophisticated. Three issues remain (in addition to doing more of what weadvocate in the ten lessons).

First, it is becoming apparent that initial gains in student achievement (e.g. literacy and mathematics) which aresignificant, tend to plateau i.e. with the right strategies you can increase achievement but only to a point. Whatmight be required to go further will likely involve stronger strategies (such as supporting collaborative cultureswith more resources, investing in leadership, improving teaching conditions, etc.). Furthermore, the increasedtrajectory of success as measured by student achievement will stall, causing policymakers to conclude falselythat schools are failing to improve when in reality more time (and more robust strategies) are needed to godeeper. This is a complex point and we mention it as the next frontier of improvement work (Elmore, 2003,draws a similar conclusion).

Second, district-wide success, so far has been confined to elementary and to a certain extent middle schools.We do not know of any example of district-wide success involving all high schools in the district. High schoolreform is now being addressed more systematically, so we should see some valuable developments and lessonsover the next few years, such as the Bristol initiative, and the Gates Foundation strategy to build professionallearning communities at the high school level (provided that this strategy fosters development of all highschools within given districts). Most of the districts we are working with are now tackling high school reformwith a district-wide orientation.

Third, and beyond the scope of this paper, Michael Barber (and Michael Fullan), the chief architect of thesuccessful British strategy to improve literacy and numeracy, are developing a similar article to this one focusingon lessons learned about state level policy and strategies which are needed for large-scale, sustainable reform.This third (state) level of reform in the tri-level reform model (Fullan, 2003a) is the most complex, but morejurisdictions are realizing that without a more coherent state/federal level infrastructure any district success willbe short-lived.

In the meantime, we are encouraged by the growing number of districts that are becoming seriously engaged inthe ten lessons. District-wide reform has never been more vibrant as more and more districts reach out to learnfrom one another in the process.

ReferencesBryk, A. & Schneider, B. (2002). Trust in schools. New York: Russell SageCollins, J. (2001). Good to great. New York; Harper Collins.Elmore, R. (2003). Doing the right thing, knowing the right thing to do. Harvard University Consortium for PolicyResearch in Search in Education.Fullan, M. (2003a). Change forces with a vengeance. London: RoutledgeFalmer.Fullan, M. (2003b). The moral imperative of school leadership. Townsend Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.Gittell, J. (2003). The southwest airlines way. New York: McGraw Hill.Miliband, D. (2003) School leadership: the productivity challenge inaugural lecture. National College of SchoolLeadership: University of Nottingham, October, 2003.Pfeffer, J. & Sutton, R. (2000). The knowing-doing gap. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.Rolheiser, C., Fullan, M. and Edge, K., (2003). Dynamic duo. Journal of Staff Development V24, No.2, pp. 38-41.

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Activity: Letter off A and B. Person A read the Mombassa case. Person B read the Knowsley Case. Identify and discuss the main points in each case. In groups of four discuss

the role of the district or reform in your own situation.

Knowsley LEA

Knowsley Local Education Authority (LEA) (school district) is a metropolitan authority just east of Liverpool. It isdefined as the 6th most deprived authority in England; over 79% of residents live in the most deprived 10% wardsin England. The LEA consists of 59 primary schools, 11 secondary schools, and 7 special schools with a total studentpopulation of 28,000, and 1,500 professional staff. Knowsley has considerably higher levels of social and economicdisadvantage than the national average. Unemployment is high, and income levels are low. For many years therehas been a culture of low aspiration and self-esteem; historically, student achievement is low, and the take-up offurther education is poor.

In 1999, Knowsley LEA was audited or inspected as part of the regular cycle of inspections conducted byOFSTED (Office of Standards in Education). The 1999 assessment found weaknesses on most basic dimensions ofperformance: student achievement, capacity to improve, relationships between the LEA and schools, linkage to thecommunity. A second inspection was conducted in 2003. The question before us is: can a low performing, complexand difficult district improve significantly within four short years? It did. And it did so by using in a comprehensiveway many of the ideas we have been talking about in this book. Let’s take a look at what it accomplished, and thenhow they went about it.

First, what were the changes in performance between 1999 and 2003? I paraphrase and quote from the OFSTEDinspection report (OFSTED, 2003):

Recent developments and the implementation of well thought through initiatives have resulted in Knowsleyestablishing itself as an LEA of some significance. It has improved over the past three years and shown howvision and leadership together with excellent relationships with schools, can revive an education service. [p. 2]

More particularly,

Primary school standards are rising faster than the national rate of improvement. In 1999, Knowsley’s rateof achievement for 11 year-olds in literacy was 64% compared to 71% in 2003; for numeracy the figuresare 64% and 69% respectively. Knowsley’s rate of achievement rose more rapidly than national ratesduring this period.

The number of pupils continuing in full time education improved significantly ... from 50 to 62%. [p. 6]

Only student achievement at secondary schools — a problem everywhere was found wanting. Pupils’attainment is unsatisfactory but improving in secondary schools.


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Between 2000 and 2003 Knowsley’s scores for 5 A*-C grades at GCSE [the main measure of secondaryschool improvement] increased from 25% in 2000 to 33.7% in 2003, after virtually no improvement in theprevious 4 years. This improvement is much higher than the national improvement rate over the same 3years. [p. 2].

Funding from external sources has improved dramatically as much following success, rather than causing it(remember our ‘growing financial investments’). In 2002-03 external funding was £33.6 million or 28% ofthe total spent compared to £8.7 million or 10% in 1999/2000 (OFSTED, 2003, p. 8).

In other parts of the inspection report, OFSTED comments on several of the system quality accomplishments(which begin to get at how the LEA did it):

Changes in staff at the [borough] council level and amongst key partners have made this a very differentauthority, operating in a new way from that inspected in 1999. The director of education ... most of theleadership and management team, the team of school improvement officers and many of the specialeducation needs (SEN) and social inclusion staff have all joined the department within the last four years[reminiscent of getting the right people on the bus]. The new administration has developed further theexisting strengths in partnerships and collaborative working and has taken them to an unusually high level.Headteachers of individual schools see themselves as part of a wider-team with responsibility for theeducation service throughout the borough .

Together with schools, they have embarked upon a series of carefully considered and very well-fundedinitiatives that are intended to transform education ... The productive partnership with schools goes beyondthe changes being wrought at the classroom level. They characterise the authority’s new approach tochallenge, monitoring and interaction, underpin the framework for continuous professional developmentand are the foundation for a rigorous programme of school self-review. [p. 2]

Monitoring arrangements are thorough. They are based on a detailed analysis of performance data, visits toand contacts with schools undertaken by school improvement officers and other officers of the LEA, and[monitoring is based] increasingly on the outcomes of school reviews. [p. 14]

The last inspection found that the LEA’s provision of performance data to schools was inadequate. This ismuch improved and schools are provided in a timely way with good sets of performance data along withadvice and training on how to use these to support improvement. This is now a strength of the LEA . [p. 14,my emphasis]

Such ‘assessment for learning’ observes OFSTED has applied to all schools but has been additionallyeffective with respect to improving schools that need extra help, and with special education and social inclusion ofpupils in the borough.

Finally, from the OFSTED report:

The leadership of LEA officers is particularly good. They have raised the profile of education, clearlyidentified what more needs to be done, are effective in challenging schools, but also take care to highlightand celebrate success. This approach secures very strong support from schools ... The ComprehensivePerformance Assessment (CPA), published in December 2002, gave the education service two stars forcurrent performance and three stars (the highest grading) for its capacity to make further improvement.This inspection reinforces the latter judgement. [p. 4]

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The above represents an objective assessment from an external authority. But let us now consider thestrategy from the perspective of the Director of Education, Steve Munby. Notice the language, starting withthe title of a document describing the purpose and strategy of the reform:

Broad and deep: A whole authority approach to motivation and learning, The Knowsley TransformationStrategy [Munby, 2003]

The drivers for change states Munby and colleagues are: low student performance, new leadership,external funding, and narrowing the gap between the highest and lowest performing schools.

Under ‘managing change’ he points to: “common moral purpose and shared principles; combining boldness withimplementation strategy, [and] partnership – managing change together.” Munby and colleagues refer to a teaching andlearning strategy to focus on powerful learning: “establishing and sustaining the optimum mind state for learning andmeeting the human mind’s need for novelty, challenge, meaningmaking and feedback in learning.” This is far more thatliteracy and numeracy scores even though these short-term results remain a priority.

Munby et al then list (note the language) “Priorities for Sustainability” which include:

Establishing an innovative, coherent and comprehensive policy framework which provides direction forschool learning and teaching policy development

The training of Lead Learners (LLs) Key LLs supporting clusters of primary and special schools to embed practice Continued cluster based networks – action learning, describing and sharing practice, supporting small-

scale action research to provide evidence of impact on pupil motivation, engagement with the learningprocess.

Encourage and support the further development and embedding of a culture of co-planning, co-teaching, co-review and co-coaching in schools — everyone a leader of learning.

Beyond this short list, there are a number of partnerships, a focus on social inclusion, linkage to thecommunity and the borough.

In a summary statement:

Knowsley’s policy is to use collaborative working to drive system-wide reform and to change the roleand function of the LEA itself. A big focus is in the inclusion and children’s services agenda –promoting mutual accountability and binding schools to collective targets. Key factors underpinningthis include:

Moral purpose Leadership in the big picture The LEA as facilitator and relationship builder


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Frequent sampling of environment ‘crafted gossip’ constantly checking out, reflecting and moving thedialogue forward

Incentivising inclusion and reform Investing time and resources [Munby, 2004]

This would be rhetoric if Knowsley has not already done a lot of this. There is much more to be done, but couldthere be a better concrete example of what I have called ‘the new theoretician – systems thinkers in action’: moral purpose,big picture, relationship building new and far, monitoring and adjusting approaches, investing time and resources. All ofthis represented not just by the Director of Education, but by the proliferation of leaders at all levels, including the fact thatschools across the borough have bought into the overall plan and their part in it.

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Identify some insights and ideas you have gained from this module that could beuseful for your own change initiative.

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Sustaining Reformv

Sustaining reform is clearly the most difficult aspect of all change efforts. Forstarters we use a general definition: sustainability is the capacity of a system to stayengaged in the complexities of continuous improvement consistent with deep values ofhuman purpose.

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Eight Guidelines forSystem Leaders

As education achievement starts to improve, the question of whether gains canbe sustained and enhanced becomes crucial. In some jurisdictions where we haveworked (such as the England case which we will be examining shortly) initialmajor increases in student achievement have plateaued requiring additionalstrategies to go beyond the new plateau.

In order to go beyond plateau system, leaders must focus on the conditions forsustainability. We have identified eight key conditions (Fullan, 2005). In effect,the call is for leaders at all level to enact system thinking in action by addressingall eight components on an ongoing bases.

1. Public Service witha Moral Purpose

In examining moral purpose in The Moral Imperative (Fullan, 2003b) I talkedabout how it must transcend the individual to become an organization andsystem quality in which collectivities were committed to pursuing moral purposein all their core activities. I define moral purpose in four ways:

commitment to raising the bar and closing the gap of student achievement

treating people with respect—which is not to say low expectations

orientation to improving the environment, including other schools within andbeyond the LEA

engaging “the big picture” in terms of national policy and societal goals.

2. Commitment toChanging Context atall Levels

Changing whole systems means changing the entire context within which peoplework. Researchers are fond of observing that “context is everything”, usually inreference to why a particular innovation succeeded in one situation but notanother. System thinkers in action basically say, “if context is everything” let’schange it for the better.

On a small scale, Gladwell (2000) has already defined context as a key TippingPoint: “the power of context says that what really matters is the little things”(p.150). And, if you want to change people’s behaviour “you need to create acommunity around them, where these near beliefs could be practical, expressedand nurtured” (p.173).

System thinkers in action create opportunities for people to interact beyond theirown situation in order to change the climate or context for getting things done.

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3. Lateral CapacityBuilding throughNetworks

Lateral capacity means deliberate strategies where peers learn form eachother—across schools, across LEAS, and so on. Networks are not ends inthemselves but must be assessed in terms of their impact on changing thecultures of schools, LEAS and the system as a whole. David Hargreaves (2003)has made the case for lateral learning and the conditions under which it needs tobe pursued with vigour. The conditions include:

sufficient opportunity for ongoing purposeful exchange

a limited focus which can be pursued in depth in order to identify specific,high yield best practices

mechanisms for transferring and implementing best ideas

developing and mobilizing leadership in many quarters

motivation and ownership at the local level is deepened—a key ingredientfor sustainability of effort

the focus of innovations must take into account or otherwise link to the LEAand national system of priorities

Lateral capacity building is not about loose, diffuse networks. Exploration anddevelopment of new practice is evidence-based, focused and results in theaccumulation of leading practices permeating the system.

4. New VerticalCo-dependentRelationship

We know that problems have to be solved locally. Solutions rely, at least in part,on the users themselves and their capacity to take responsibility for positiveoutcomes. The question is what is going to motivate people to seek positiveoutcomes, and how are people and groups to be held accountable? The answer isa mixture of “disciplined” collaborative networks on the one hand, and whatDavid Miliband calls “intelligent accountability” on the other hand. Networks ifpursued as we just discussed in element 3 do build in a strong but not completemeasure of accountability. As such communities interact around given problems,they generate better practices, shared commitment and accountability to peersand other constituencies.

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There will always be a tension between local and vertical authority. Systemthinking means that both parties are empowered and move toward mutualinfluence. In systems thinking, both locals and those at the center take intoaccount each other’s world i.e. their world-view enlarges. Recall Senge’s phrase“a shift in mind from seeing ourselves as separate from the world to connected tothe world”— in fact as part and parcel of the world. This applies to both localsand those at the centre—both redefine their world to include the other as part ofthe same system. Connectivity and cohesion are constantly cultivated, whilerecognizing that the interests of local and central entities are in dynamic tension-the idea is to find complementary synergy while appreciating differences.

The recent reintroduction of school and LEA—based self-evaluation strategiesrepresents an extremely valuable potential tool for traversing the two worlds witha single mechanism. Good self-evaluations focus on local development whileexplicitly addressing LEA and national priorities, standards and performance.There is still a tension, but a productive one in redefining the system as includinglocal, regional and national realities.

5. Deep Learning Sustainability in my definition requires continuous improvement, adaptation andcollective problem solving in the face of complex challenges that keep arising.Going beyond the standards plateau requires by definition deeper solutions.These solutions are of two types—one concerns teaching and learning andrelated pedagogy; we need disciplined innovation which zeros in on thoseinnovations which engage otherwise disengaged learners.

The second solution concerns changes in the culture of learning organizations. Ina word, we need to create cultures of system thinking in action. Clearly deeppedagogy and deep learning cultures feed on each other. The reason we have notgone beyond plateaus is that we have not yet fostered and harnessed thecreativity, commitment and access to leading practices across the system.

6. Dual Commitmentto Short-term andLong-term Results

Short-term progress can be accomplished at the expense of the mid-to-long term,but they don’t have to be. LEAS and schools can set targets and take action toobtain early results, intervene in situations of poor performance all the whileseeking deeper change which could pay off down the road. Over time, the systemgets stronger and fewer severe problems occur as they are pre-empted bycorrective action sooner than later. The shorter-term results are necessary to buildtrust with the public for continuous investment.

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Toyota’s long-term success is based on such a principle. The foundation principleof 14 principles is: “Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy,even at the expense of short-term financial goals” (Liker, 2004:71). The long-termphilosophy at Toyota is comparable to our moral purpose: “Toyota’s strong senseof mission and commitment to its employees, the customer and society is thefoundation for all the other principles” (p.72).When it comes to moral purposeconcerning short and long term goals,only a win-win relationship will do-one thatgets short term results,while simultaneously paving the way for long termdevelopment.

The matter of results raises the question of what kinds of outcomes are wetalking about.Here the concept of ‘personalised learning’is critical .Miliband(2004) states that personalized learning involves “decisive progress ineducational standards where every child matters”(p 3).The paradox of is thatpersonalised learning requires system cohesion.To meet the needs of everychild,says Miliband, will require “a new relationship between theDepartment,LEAs and schools that brings a sharper focus to our work”(p3).

System thinking in action runs the risk of being interpreted as a call for abstract,diffuse action.Let us remember that the goal is to use applied system thinking inthe service of providing sustained,co-ordinated effort in order to go beyondspecific existing plateaus.Part and parcel of system thinking in action isfocus,cohesion,evidence-based best practice,assessment,accountability,andabove all greater connectivity within and among levels of the system.Cohesioninvolves bringing diverse elements together ,amid common principles,andhabits.It is less a matter of alignment ,and more a matter of permeableconnectivity.

7. Cyclical Energizing As I have said,sustainability does not mean linear upward success. It is cyclical fortwo reasons. One has to do with energy and the other with periodic plateauswhere additional time and ingenuity are required for the next adaptivebreakthrough. Primary literacy and numeracy plateaued because the set ofstrategies that brought initial success could not be maintained, and were notpowerful enough to take us to higher levels.

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To go beyond plateaus we need further innovative work to investigate, learn,experiment, and develop better solutions. System thinkers in action actuallycreate the intellectual (ideas) and moral (purpose and social commitment)conditions that increase motivation without sapping energy. Put another way,because the ideas are better, and because people are committed to each other,more can get done with less effort. The new theorticians in action keep an eye onenergy levels (overuse and underuse) and build the kind of cultures that aresensitive to overload and to energizing conditions. Energy not time is the key tosustainability.

8. The Long Lever ofLeadership

If a system is to be transformed, leadership at all levels must be the primaryengine. The main work of leaders is to help put in place all eight elements ofsustainability including this one( fostering leadership in others). To do this weneed a system laced with leaders who are trained to think in bigger terms and toact in ways that affect larger parts of the system. One of the main marks ofsystem thinkers in action is not so much their impact on the bottom line ofstudent achievement (although it includes that) but rather how many goodleaders they develop who represent a critical mass for going further. By definitiongood system leaders directly spawn and develop other system leaders.

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WorksheetFishbone

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Activity: Letter off A and B.Person A read the England case. Person B read the Guinea case. Discuss key factors and problems related to sustainability in each case. In groups of four, identify at least one factor critical to sustainability in your

own situation.

Large Scale Reform in England

The focus of this vignette is the experiment in large scale reform that has occurred in England since 1997.Although the reform effort in England has involved both primary (elementary education for 5 – 11 year olds) andsecondary schools (ages 11 – 16 or 11-18 for those schools with ‘sixth forms’) the emphasis in this vignette will beon the performance of students within the 5 -11 year age range because at this stage of the reform programme thelink between reform strategy and student performance is most clearly seen.

Large Scale Reform in England – Phase One 1997-2002

Since 1997, England has worked on achieving high standards across an entire system of 24,000 schoolsand over 7 million school students. The government has a large majority and has real power. Expenditure oneducation is increasing by over 5 per cent in real terms per year. Meanwhile a combination of macro-economicpolicy and changes in the tax and benefits system has already brought over one million children out of poverty since1997. These are broadly favourable circumstances in which to attempt a major reform programme.

In order to move from the evidently underperforming system of the mid-1990s to the world class vision andto do so while generating short-term results, the government put in place a policy approach best described as“high challenge, high support.” Building on the Thatcher government which instituted high challenge policies(new standards, new tests, new school inspection, new publication of school test scores) with low support in themid-1980s, the New Labour government sharpened the challenge and, crucially, added the support. Highchallenge/high support policies included: ambitious standards, devolved responsibility, good data/clear targets,access to best practice and quality professional development, accountability, increased intervention in proportion tosuccess (rewards, assistance, consequences). The chart on the following page summarizes policies that wereimplemented in the first phase of reform.

The Focus on Literacy and Numeracy in Primary Schools

The early focus on literacy and numeracy in primary schools was an important and necessary first step.Performance at age 11, at the end of Key Stage 2, is a key indicator. Competence in literacy and numeracy areabsolutely vital to the life chances of children in our schools. They are the strongest predictors of success at age 16and beyond. The positive influence of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies on student performanceattracted world wide attention. The percentage increase in student performance in Literacy and Numeracy between1997 and 2004 is illustrated in the following table.

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Summary of Key Stage 2 results – percentage of pupils achieving level 4+

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

English 63 65 71 75 75 75 75 77

Mathematics 62 59 69 72 71 73 73 74

Phase One Reform Policies – 1998-2003

AMBITIOUS STANDARDS • High standards set out in the National Curriculum• National Tests at age 7, 11, 14, 16• Detailed teaching programmes based on best practice• Optional World Class Tests based on the best 10 per cent in the 1995 TIMSS

DEVOLVEDRESPONSIBILITY

• School as unit of accountability• Devolution of resources and employment powers to schools• Pupil-led formula funding• Open enrolment

GOOD DATA/CLEARTARGETS

• Individual pupil level data collected nationally• Analysis of performance in national tests• Benchmark data annually for every school• Comparisons to all other schools with similar intake• Statutory target-setting at district and school level

ACCESS TO BESTPRACTICE AND QUALITYPROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT

• Universal professional development in national priorities (literacy, numeracy,ICT)

• Leadership development as an entitlement• StandardsSite [http://www.standards.dfee.gov.uk]• Beacon Schools• LEA (district) responsibility• Devolved funding for professional development at school level• Reform of education research

ACCOUNTABILITY • National inspection system for schools and LEAs (districts)• Every school inspected every 4-6 years• All inspection reports published• Publication annually of school/district level performance data and targets

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INTERVENTION ININVERSE PROPORTIONTO SUCCESS(Rewards, Assistance,Consequences)

For successful schools• opportunity to take on a range of leadership roles• celebration events• deregulation• school achievement awards scheme• greater autonomy over curriculum, pay and conditions

For all schools• post-inspection action plan• school improvement grant to assist implementation of action plan• monitoring of performance by LEA (district)

For underperforming schools• more prescriptive action plan• possible withdrawal of devolved budget and responsibility• national and LEA monitoring of performance• additional funding to assist turnaround (but only for practical improvement

measures)

For failing schools• as for underperforming schools plus• early consideration of closure• district plan for school with target date for completing turnaround (maximum 2

years)• national monitoring three times a year• possible fresh start, or city academy or takeover.

For failing LEAs (districts)• intervention from central government• possible contracting out of functions to the private sector

The statistics by themselves do not convey the impact that the strategies have had on the system as awhole. In 1998, very few LEAs had 75%+ of students achieving at Level 4 English. By 2002, the majority of LEAshad achieved this standard. It is also important to realise that in terms of equity the results have been sustainedacross the range of socio-economic disadvantage. In every category students and schools are performing at thehighest level and that the rise in the median level of improvement is consistent across free school meal bands.Although there is still progress to be made the transformation of the national picture in six years is very striking.

This level of progress has recently been corroborated by the publication of the results of the Progress inInternational Reading Literacy (PIRLS) study. The PIRLS study is a comparative study of reading achievement of 10-year-olds in 2001. Over 140,000 pupils in 35 countries participated in PIRLS 2001. England was ranked third interms of Reading Achievement with only Sweden and The Netherlands higher. In a similar study undertaken in the1990s by the NFER, England had a performance around the international average, rather than the high positionachieved in 2001.

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The National Literacy and Numerous Strategies have influenced almost every primary classroom in England.The gap had narrowed substantially between pupil results in the most and least successful schools. Almost allschools received some training and teaching has improved substantially since the strategies were first introduced. Inparticular, they noted improved coverage of literacy and numeracy, planning based on learning objectives ratherthan activities, more whole class teaching and greater pace. There is still however considerable variation acrossteachers and schools in terms of subject knowledge, pedagogical skills and understanding, suggesting the need forgreater capacity building than was originally envisaged.

What however is significant about this data profile is that following an initial and significant increase overthe first three years there was a leveling off performance for the next three years, and only recently has furtherprogress been made. This is a trend that has been noted in virtually every large scale reform initiative. What usuallyhappens however is that when early success is followed by a leveling off in progress there is a subsequent lack ofcommitment to the programme of reform. What is unique in the English case is that the plateau effect has in factbecome a platform for further achievement.

Moving Beyond the Plateau of Achievement – Phase Two 2003-2007

The reform strategy in 1997 was both top down and prescriptive. Michael Barber, its key architect,characterised the approach as ‘informed prescription’ as compared to the ‘uniformed prescription’ of the Thatcheriteagenda that New Labour inherited. There is no doubt that ‘informed prescription’ was responsible for the impressiveearly gains, and it may be that in the early stages of a long term large scale reform programme that ‘informedprescription’ has an important role to play. At least in England in the mid/late nineties the system needed bothenergising and the injection of knowledge that had the potential to change practice. In the medium term however,informed prescription also has its downside, and it may be this that accounts for the leveling off in performanceafter the initial increase in performance.

Focusing on accountability for too long can create a culture of dependence and reduce professionalautonomy. The responsibility for maintaining high standards and high quality teaching needs to be embedded in theteachers, schools and LEAs to maintain and deepen early gains. Giving teachers ownership of the strategies buildstheir capacity to adapt their teaching, solve problems and refine their practice while remaining true to the principlesunderlying the strategies. To achieve these outcomes some felt that the next phase of reform should signal a shiftfrom what was called ‘informed prescription’ to a phase of what could be called ‘informed professional judgement’.

The National Primary Strategy

The National Primary Strategy signalled a major shift of strategy on the part of government. And it is thissignificant shift in strategic direction that, many claim, accounts for the breakthrough in terms of test scores in2004. The strategy argued that the next phase of progress would be achieved if schools:

• maintained a clear focus on the place of literacy and numeracy at the core of the primary curriculum• built the capacity to locate and adopt effective practice from schools facing similar circumstances• exercised their freedom to develop a meaningful whole school curriculum that reflected the demands of the

national curriculum• harnessed the resources and skills of their staff• met the particular learning needs of every child

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Five components make up the National Primary Strategy. First, there is an unrelenting focus on quality ofteaching, development of learning skills, and application of formative assessment. Second, a shift in emphasis tofocus on the broad and rich curriculum based on literacy and numeracy. Third, the development of the PrimaryStrategy Leadership programme and the establishing of local networks for every primary school. This marks asignificant shift from the use of external expertise to the use of capacity in the system to lead change from within.The leadership programme for example, is the largest initiative of its kind; some 1800 serving headteachers havebeen appointed and trained to work alongside colleagues in under-performing schools. In all, the programme isimpacting on 5,000 primary schools, twenty percent of the total. Fourth, the creation and implementation ofteaching and learning frameworks. Fifth, the provision of primary strategy managers, consultants, and instensivesupport.

In short, the primary initiative has moved from a single focus on curriculum change in literacy andnumeracy to a whole school improvement effort that has an unrelenting focus on the quality of teaching andlearning. In the logic of large scale reform it is the early narrow focus on key skills that delivers the initial rapidincrease in standards. It is then the whole school improvement approach that delivers continuous improvementbeyond the early gains. In other words, it is seeing large scale reform as a multi phased process that ensures thatearly gains are not stuck on a plateau of achievement.

Capacity Building as the Next Phase of Reform

Blending informed prescription (and informed external ideas of all types) and informed professionaljudgement is necessary in the next phase of reform. This phase must be also driven by moral purpose, passion and acommitment to capacity building and the creation of new knowledge. It must also be recognised that this willrequire much more intensive and ongoing opportunities for teachers, Heads and other staff in their schools to learnboth individually and collectively drawing on their peers as well as on external experts and ideas.

The policy framework for a phase of reform based on capacity building is seen in the following diagram.The outer circle represents an educational version of the Prime Minister’s public sector reform principles: nationalstandards, capacity building and front line flexibility, intervention for schools in challenging circumstances, andintelligent accountability. Highlighted and linked together in the diagram are the four key levers for next phase ofeducational reform that focus on the quality of teaching and learning: leadership, workforce reform, learningbeyond the classroom, and collaboration. They are in turn supported by the system wide emphasis on ICT, capitalinvestment, external support from the regional and local field force, and innovation.

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dsf

LearningBeyond theClassroom

WorkforceReform

Leadership

Collaboration

InnovationE-learning and ICT

Capital and funding incentives

Field Force

KS3High Quality

Teaching andLearning

NLNS

The four key policy levers are referred to by Ministers as the ‘diamond of reform’ and provide an organisingframework for government policy. Each lever contains a range of policy priorities; for example:

Priorities for the Radical Reform of School Leadership

Focuings on Leadership in general led by the National College for School Leadership and the SpecialistSchool Trust

Having the best Primary and Secondary heads supporting others in gaining the ambition, skills andtools to transform their school.

Priorities for the Radical Reform of the Structure of Secondary Education

Developing lateral energy at the frontline through ‘Leading Edge’ and Specialist Schools and Excellencein Cities clusters and federations that emphasise the importance of leadership, networking and thequality of teaching and learning.

Direct and sustained intervention for those schools that have difficulty in making progress.

Priorities for the Radical Reform of Teaching and Learning

Improving classroom practice through the Primary strategy, KS3, school wide policies on teaching andlearning and focusing on behaviour as a pedagogic challenge.

Remodelling and differentiating the school workforce around the ‘higher order skills of teaching’.

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Priorities for the Radical Reform of Partnerships Beyond the Classroom

Tackling absenteeism and student mobility and supporting children’s well being through better multi-agency provision and extending out-of-school curriculum activities and linking these approaches to theschool’s policy on teaching and learning.

Developing school - community links and the creation of smaller customised community focused(extended) schools in areas of greatest need.

In describing the reform narrative one can see how the principles of ‘high challenge and high support’ havebeen consistently applied as the reform agenda has evolved. The principles of “high challenge and high support”and the diamond of reform provide the necessary but not sufficient conditions for the next phase of reform. What isalso needed is an overarching commitment to raising standards for all students and closing the achievement gaptogether with a clear commitment to systemic reform. This requires a new relationship between policy makers andschool.

The challenge is how to focus this new relationship on achieving both equity and excellence. The solution isto build on what the most successful teachers do best, to create an education system with personalised learning atits heart. This means a system in which every child matters; careful attention is paid to their individual learningstyles, motivations and needs; there is rigorous use of pupils target setting linked to high quality formativeassessment and marking; lessons are well paced and enjoyable; and pupils are supported by partnerships withothers beyond the classroom.

Personalised learning can only be developed school by school. It cannot be imposed from above. Ifpersonalised learning is to become the defining feature of the education system then a new, more focused andpurposeful relationship between the Department, LEAs and schools needs to be developed. This new relationshipwith schools will bring a sharper focus to work at national level and will strip out clutter in order to release greaterlocal initiative and energy. Schools will be freed to focus on what really matters, giving them more help inidentifying their weaknesses, and more tailored and coherent support in putting them right.

There are four key aspects of the new relationship with local educational authorities and schools. Theseare:

an intelligent accountability framework which puts a premium on ensuring effective and ongoing selfevaluation in every school combined with sharper edged, lighter touch external inspection and anannual school profile to complement performance table data;

a simplified school improvement process in which every school uses robust self evaluation to driveimprovement, and produces a single school improvement plan based on a smaller number of DfESoutput measures. Every secondary school will have access to a dedicated school improvement partnerwith whom they conduct a single conversation on targets, priorities and support;

improved data and information systems which give schools the chance to take control of the flow ofinformation through an online ordering system for all Departmental documents, and align the activityof the DfES and its partners to ensure that data are ‘collected once, used many times’;

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a school profile containing data about student performance and the school’s own view of its prioritiesand performance. It will be light on bureaucracy, easy to access and powerful in impact, supplementingperformance tables and replacing the annual statutory report to parents.

This is a challenging agenda, but one that is practical and achievable. The aspiration is based on the beliefthat in the 21st century a qualitatively different approach to teaching is required. This is because both the demandson young people and the demands of young people are changing. These challenges mean that teaching in the 21stcentury should embrace not only the transmission of knowledge, but also learning how to learn. This focus onpersonalised learning is the key to achieving high excellence and high equity which in turn requires a newrelationship with schools. The shift from national prescription to schools leading reform is conceptual and strategicrather than linear and chronological. It is not either or, but a blend that is dependant upon context, within anenabling policy framework.

In summary, the government believes that for the country to succeed it needs both a competitive economyand an inclusive society. That requires an education system which transmits and develops knowledge and culturefrom one generation to the next, promotes respect for and engagement with learning, broadens horizons anddevelops high expectations, and enables all young people to develop and equip themselves with the skills,knowledge and personal qualities needed for life and work.

Prepared by David HopkinsDepartment for Education and Skills, England

2004

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Guinea: Improving Teacher Capacity

This vignette focuses on the Programme de Petites Subventions d’Ecole (PPSE) as an example of a nationaleffort to engage and resource teachers as they define their own professional development and school-level needs.The evolution and impact of the PPSE in Guinea is reviewed from its inception in 1994 to 2000.

Country Context

Guinea, located in West Africa, has a population of 7.7 million people with an annual growth rate of 2.1%.Life expectancy, in 2002, was 46.2 years of age. Gross primary enrolment was 74% and 49% respectively for malesand females. The major industries in Guinea are mining as 25% of bauxite, diamonds, gold are sourced in Guinea.The primary exports are bauxite & aluminum. In 1958, Guinea declared its independence from France, forfeiting allfinancial assistance, and began its journey as an independent country. Since that time, Guinea has experiencedsignificant political and economic turmoil including: a one-party almost dictatorial state until 1984 followed by 9years of military control under the Second Guinean Republic. At this point, presidential and parliamentary electionsoccurred. The constitution was created in 1990 and a multiparty system was put in place in 1994. President Contewas elected during the elections in 1993 and reelected in 1998. Conte’s government enacted a constitutionalamendment to cancel limits to presidential terms and was reelected in 2003. The country is divided into 8administrative regions.

The Guinean Education System

The 6-year program of compulsory education in Guinea is offered in primary schools for children aged 7-13.Students must complete an examination for secondary school entry. A “College” provides the first cycle ofsecondary school. It caters to students between the ages of 14-17. A second cycle of secondary is for programs of 3years in duration from the ages of 17-20 working towards the Baccalauréat première Partie (after Grade 12);Baccalauréat deuxième Partie (after Grade 13). Vocational secondary schools offer 3-year programs for studentsaged 17-20. Students are required to write an entry exam to enter university.

Primary school teachers must enroll in primary teacher training colleges for a three-year preparationprogram. College-level secondary school teachers must hold a diplôme d’études universitaires générales (DEUG) andreceive practical training. Lycee and ENI teachers are required to hold a Maîtrise prior to attending the one-yearprogram at the Institut supérieur des Sciences de l'Education. Vocational teachers pursue a two-year trainingprogram and must complete an entrance examination. Technical education teachers are trained in one year afterpassing an entrance examination.

In 1996, only 25% of the Guinean population over 15 was literate and there are significant gaps betweenmales (60% urban/25% rural) and females (36% urban/6% rural). There is no data for recent years, making itdifficult to monitor progress. There are also significant regional discrepancies in literacy with reported literacy rates.In Guinea 62% of illiterate heads of family household were below the poverty level compared to 42% of primaryeducation backgrounds and 5% of university education backgrounds.

During the presidency of Sekou Touré, the government abandoned French as the principle language ofeducation replacing it with native Guinean languages. While the decision and implementation of this policy was

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made swiftly, the long-term impact includes a generation of students who never had the opportunity to learn French— the language of government and business in much of West Africa. In 1984, this decision was again reversed andwas reinstated as the principle language of instruction. However, there are many teachers who did not experienceschooling in French and have challenges delivering the curriculum in French. In addition to the language issues, theGuinean education was struggling to address their challenges including: school shortages; low student attendance;significant grade repetition; large class size; low quality of instruction; and, low teacher morale; and, low parentalengagement in schools.

In 1998, the Ministry of Education began national, regional and local consultation to create a shared publicvision. The outcome the consultation was a published set of criteria outlining acceptable and targeted goals in arange of areas for educational reform:

Primary school attendance (female): 40% acceptable, 50% targeted Class size: 30-50 rural and 40-60 urban Teacher qualification: minimum qualifications and initial training Textbooks: minimum number of textbooks/pupil Graduation from primary to secondary school: 60% acceptable, 80% envisaged Repetition rate: below 10%.

Change Initiative: The Programme de Petites Subventions d’Ecole (PPSE)

The PPSE began in 1994 as part of the Equity and School Improvement Project supported by the WorldBank. The methodology for the PPSE has been a bottom-up, teacher driven model of school improvement. The endgoal of the PPSE is to improve student learning via creating improved climates of professional learning anddevelopment in which teachers are actively engaged with their peers in determining their personal, collective andschool needs for professional support. The PPSE aims to improve educational quality across Guinea whileempowering teachers and building leadership capacity throughout the education system. Another guiding principleof the PPSE is a focus on capacity building throughout the education system. The PPSE is grounded by the notionthat professional development workshops held outside the school must be supported after the fact with in-schoolrelevant support. The designers of the reform also believed that local engagement would enhance theimplementation of the PPSE at the school, prefecture, regional and national level.

Structure. Each of the 8 administrative regions in Guinea has its own Regional Inspector for educationand oversees a number of prefectures of which there are 33 throughout the country. Within each Prefecture, thereare Préfectoral Directors who are in turn supported by local trainers and teachers. The organizational structure ofthe PPSE mirrors this structure with individuals and groups responsible for the implementation of the PPSEembedded in each level of the system. This was intentionally done to improve local ownership, connection anddecision-making authority with the PPSE as well as build local capacity leadership and instructional capacity.

Core design team. Teachers and school directors form a school-level team called the Cellule RénovationEducative (CRE). The work of the CRE is to reflect on current challenges and identify pedagogical gaps in teacherpractice and school-wide learning. In turn, Cellules propose a solution or strategy to enhance their learning andaddress school-level challenges. These proposals are forwarded through the PPSE infrastructure and are awarded upto $1000.00 US to support school and teacher development. In isolated rural areas, teachers from different schoolscome together to form cross-school Cellules and create proposals.

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Professional support. In support of the work of the Cellules within the schools, an elaborate web ofprofessionals was established throughout the country. At the National level, the National Coordinator works withthe team of Regional Coordinators from each of the 8 regions. The Coordinators are often also charged withresponsibility for elementary education in their jurisdiction. Teams of encadreurs are located within each of theregions and have one or more duties within the system and the PPSE: formateur (trainer); facilitateur (facilitator);and/or, évaluateur (evaluator). They are engaged at each stage of the PPSE process. During the initial trainingperiod, the encadreur/facilitateur encourages teams and assists their formation and development.

Training for the encadreurs. One of the key components of the PPSE was training at all levels of thesystem. The PPSE was committed to the notion that initial professional development is not enough to sustainongoing educational change. The underlying framework of the PPSE incorporated both initial and on-going school-level capacity building including:

Initial 5-day preparation workshop for new regional coordinators Initial 2-week preparation workshop for facilitators Second 6-day session for facilitators Initial 5-day preparation workshop for jury members Initial 6-day preparation workshop for evaluators Two-day in-service meetings for all facilitators and evaluators every other month Three-day in-service meetings for evaluators twice a year Annual launch/financial management/evaluation workshop Combination of formal and on-the-job training for second, third, and further cohorts of facilitators Various planning workshops for national and regional program leaders

The PPSE proposal process. Two types of projects are funded by the PPSE, Type A projects are thoserelated to clearly identified solutions for including literacy, math and local history. Type B projects do not presentclear solutions and require more in depth action research at the school-level to find solutions. An example would bea school that is seeking to address attendance issues but cannot identify a clear solution. Alternatively, in Dalabateachers of a particular school had identified the need for locally based education materials. After much researchand consultation, they collaborated to produce a textbook on local geography and history that was shared withother schools in the region. Proposals were to address single issues and identify a strategy for resolving the issuewithin a one-year timeframe as well as prepare a $1000 US budget for their project. Workshops, support documents(operational manual, proposal writing guide, lessons learned), and local encadreurs were provided to supportproposal development. Proposals were reviewed in a two-stage process by a Prefectoral Jury comprised of 8-10members.

Once projects were funded encadreurs, facilitateurs, and evaluateurs become responsible for supporting theimplementation and evaluation of all regionally funded PPSE projects. They provided professional developmentassistance or contracted for external support according to specified needs. In most cases, Cellules used the bulk oftheir grant money for textbooks and other instructional materials in support of their PPSE goals and for relatedprofessional development expertise. Workshop participants and jury members received a per diem to cover theircosts based on nationally set rates. Evaluation and dissemination were required of all PPSE funded projects. Againencadreur evaluators assisted with evaluation 3-5 days three times per year. At the end of each year, CRE members

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atteneded an annual PPSE dissemination conference. The first national dissemination conference was held in 2000and involved representatives of the best teams from each Region, several encadreurs, all regional coordinators, all 8IREs, central level officials, representatives of the two major teacher unions and representatives of other projectsand programmes. These conferences, held respectively at regional and national levels, serve to disseminateinformation about PPSE projects between CREs and within the wider education community.

Impact

Primary enrollment rates increased from 45.3 to 61.5 from 1998-2001. The average pupil: teacher ratio hasremained at 50:1 (the numbers can rise to 100:1 in some urban schools). Recent World Bank data reports thatsignificant process has been made over the last ten years, from 1990-2000. However, the improvements listedbelow mask gender, regional and local disparities:

AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT 1990 2000

Number of public and private school classrooms 7,615 18,252

Gross enrollment rates (total population) 26.8% 57%

Gross enrollment rates (female students) 17.3 44.3%

Number of primary school teachers 8,140 17,340

Gross primary enrollment (total population) 29 53.5

PASE has been credited with: increasing primary enrollment from 32-52%; increasing national educationspending from 14%-25%; improving availability of quality teaching material; improving student access to learningresources and textbooks; updating teaching guidelines; creating 3000 new classrooms; redeploying 2000 teachersfrom offices and other services to primary classrooms. In 1995, phase 2 of the PASE focused on improving teachingquality, school management, professional development and access to education. In 2001, PASE phase 3 focused onimproving elementary enrolment, completion, literacy achievement rates, monitoring and evaluation systems, and,teacher training.

Participants at all levels of the education system were enthusiastic about the PPSE and were eager todiscuss and explore educational issues. The PPSE framework appears to have generated a common language foraddressing diverse educational challenges and contributed to capacity building at a number of levels within theeducation system. As part of their submission, teachers had to write up their proposal – a challenge that manyfound difficult but, ultimately rewarding.

Jury Panels because of their composition (teachers and inspectors) succeeded in breaking down barriersbetween senior administrators and school teachers. The project also appears to have contributed much to the skillsand capacities of encadreurs. However, all the encadreurs were were male and it women are acutelyunderrepresented in the encadreur group.

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Lessons From the PPSE Experience

The most important lesson from this case of education reform in Guinea is that successful school-levelchange can happen on a national scale in a resource-deprived developing country. There are also valuable lessonsabout how to introduce and implement national school-level change. The PPSE was designed to be scaled-up to anational program since its inception. This was successfully achieved because all stakeholders agreed that a gradual,flexible implementation plan would produce the greatest results. As such, programs like the PPSE need to be simplein organization, flexible in implementation and financially viable. In addition, support for initiatives needs to becommunicated from the top of the national education infrastructure and nurtured from the bottom.

Another lesson from the Guinean experience is that before going nationwide with the PPSE, the overallorganizational structure, participatory approach and other elements of the initiative were tested in several regions.Careful learning from the experiences of these regions was taken into consideration before the additional regionswere brought on-line. One goal of this process was that individual teachers, administrators and facilitators wereable to share their experience, influence the design of resources and supports for others implementing the initiative,and provide feedback on the overall initiative and the implementation process. For example, teachers within theinitial cohort of teams suggested that they needed more support for writing proposals. As a result, a new supportdocument was developed, teachers provided feedback on the document and it was revised once again before beingused within the remaining schools coming online.

At the same time, the pace of the nationwide expansion of the PPSE was closely linked and driven by thecapacity within the system to support successful proposal writing, funding and management. The Ministry and theorchestrators of the programme did not want the initiative to fail. As such, they did not want to push the initiativebeyond the capacity of the system. The PPSE initiative also recognized the value of effective initial training for allparticipating teams. Building on this initial training, school-level support was built into the PPSE design to ensurethe maximum level of success of the school teams throughout the process. As previously mentioned, trainers andfacilitators were drawn from the ranks of educators within the regions to ensure that local educators wereconstantly engaged within the Program.

It was clear from the beginning of the PPSE that the role of the facilitators and trainers was key to thesuccess of the school teams both in preparation of their proposals and implementation of their proposals. Therefore,as trainers and facilitators were drawn from successful school level proposal teams, it would have been a riskyendeavour to attempt to increase the overall number of participating school teams without increasing the overallnumber and capacity of available facilitators and trainers. As the number of available trainers and facilitatorsincreased, more school teams and regions were encouraged to commit to the PPSE initiative.

Feedback on the training occurred in an ongoing fashion and was monitored. If there appeared to beinconsistencies within the training or implementation within the PPSE, adjustments were made to ensure maximumconsistency of delivery and practice. Another significant challenge of the design was the delicate balance thatneeded to be achieved between the autonomy of school teams and the oversight and support of the facilitators andtrainers. The visits by the support staff were costly both in time and resources. Creating a balance between schoolfreedom to work on their own and centrally supported accountability and support was an on-going challenge.



Sustaining Reform

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Purpose: The InnerCore of Teaching

Write a personal statement trying to express what is at the heart of your life as ateacher. Consider the following questions (choose one or more in your freewrite).Verbally share your statement with a partner and discuss.

1. Why did I become a teacher?2. What do I stand for as an educator?3. What are the “gifts” that I bring to my work?4. What do I want my legacy as an educator to be?5. What can I do to “keep track of myself” — to remember my own heart?

— “The Courage to Teach: A guide for Reflection and Renewal,” R. C. Livsey & P.J. Palmer, 1999

Worksheet — Purpose: Freewrite

Module v

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The Moral Imperativeof School Leadership

Level 4 → Making a Difference in Society

Level 3 → Making a Difference Beyond the School

Level 2 → Making a Difference in the School

Level 1 → Making a Difference to Individuals— Fullan, 2003

Hope Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction thatsomething will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense,regardless of how it turns out. It is hope, above all, that gives us strength to liveand to continually try new things, even in conditions that seem hopeless.

— Vaclav Havel


List in point form what follow-up actions you will take as a result of the Learningto Lead Change modules.

Worksheet

Sustaining Reform

105

Follow-up reading – M. Fullan (2005). Leadership and Sustainability. ThousandOaks, California, Corwin Press.

107

Glossary

Change Capacity The collective ability to make change happen based on new

knowledge, new resources and new commitments or motivation.

Change Knowledge Knowledge about how change occurs and the key drivers that cause

change.

Change Processes Understanding the dynamics of change as it unfolds in a situation,

including insights into how to manage change.

Coherence-making Change processes that help connect elements of reform so that groups

gain shared clarity, and shared commitment.

Culture The way we do things around here; behaviors and attitudes.

Cultures of Evaluation Behaviors and attitudes that value assessing what is done, and acting

on such assessments.

Cultures of Learning Behaviors and attitudes that value seeking new ideas, learning from

existing practices and engaging in continuous improvement and doing

so collectively or collaboratively.

Implementation Dip The inevitable bumpiness and difficulties encountered as people learn

new behaviors and beliefs.

Innovation vs Innovativeness Innovation refers to the content of a particular new idea, program,

policy or thing; innovativeness, is the process of engaging in making

change happen in practice.

Leadership Leaders focus on individuals, leadership involves developing leadership

throughout the system. It involves the capacity to lead change, and to

develop others so that there is a critical mass of people working

together to establish new ways.

Glossary

108

Moral Purpose The human desirability of a goal; in education moral purpose often

involves raising the bar and closing the gap of student learning in the

society as a whole.

Organizational Improvements in the infrastructure that represent new capabilities in

capacity-building government and non-government agencies to provide support,

monitoring and other capacity-building resources for the system.

Pressure and Support The combination of high challenge (pressure) and high support

(capacity-building) required for whole systems to reform.

Strategizing vs Strategy Strategy is innovation or content; strategizing is innovativeness or

process. Strategizing involves developing a strategy and then

continually refining it through feedback between thought and action.

Technical vs Adaptive Challenge Technical problems are ones in which current knowledge is sufficient

to address the problem (still difficult); adaptive challenges are

problems that are more complex and go beyond what we know.

Adaptive work is more difficult, more anxiety-producing and takes

more time.

Tri-level Development Movement forward involving all three levels of the system and their

interrelationships: school and community; district/region; and state.

109

References

Black, J. & Gregersen, H. (2002). Leading strategic change. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Black, P., et al. (2002). Working inside the black box. London: King’s College.

Bryk, A. & Schneider, B. (2002). Trust in schools. New York: Russell Sage.

Claxton, G. (2002). Building learning power. Bristol: Henleaze House.

Collins, J. (2001). Good to great. New York: Harper Collins.

Elmore, R. & Burney, D. (1999). “Investing in teacher learning” in L. Darling-Hammond & G. Sykes (eds.) Teachingas the learning profession, 236-91. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fullan, M. (1993). Change forces. London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Fullan, M. (1999). Change forces: The sequel. London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Fullan, M. (2001). The new meaning of educational change 3rd edition. New York: Teachers College Press.

Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fullan, M. (2003). Change forces with a vengeance. London: RouthledgeFalmer.

Fullan, M. (2003). The moral imperative of school leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Toronto: OntarioPrincipals’ Council.

Fullan, M. (2004). Leadership and sustainability: System thinkers in action. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press;Toronto: Ontario Principals’ Council.

Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point. Boston: Little Brown & Co.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. & Mckee, A. (2002). Primal leadership. Boston: Harvard School Press.

Hargreaves, A. (2003). Teachers in a knowledge society. New York: Teachers College Press.

Hargreaves, A. (2002). ‘Teaching and Betrayal’. Teachers and Teaching, V8, No. 314.

Hargreaves, A., & Fink, D. (forthcoming). Sustainable leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Hargreaves, D. (2003). Education epidemic. London: Demos.

Haygroup (2004). A culture for learning. London: Author.

Heifetz, R. & Linsky, M. (2002). Leadership on the line. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

References

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Liker, J. (2004). The Toyota way. New York: McGraw Hill.

Maurer, R. (1996). Beyond the wall of resistance. Austin, TX: Bard Books.

Marris, P. (1975). Loss and change. New York: Anchor Press.

Milliband, D. (2004). ‘Personalised learning: Building new relationships with schools.’ Belfast: North of EnglandEducation Conference.

Mintzberg, H. (2004). Managers not MBAs. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Newmann, F. et al (2000). Professional development that addresses school capacity. Paper presented at theAmerican Education Research Association annual meeting, New Orleans.

Perkins, D. (2003). King Arthur’s round table: How collaborative organizations create smart organizations. SanFrancisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Pfeffer, J. & Sutton, R. (2000). The knowing-doing gap: How smart companies turn knowledge into action. Boston:Harvard Business School Press.

Reina, D. & Reina, M. (1999). Trust and betrayal in the workplace. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline. New York: Doubleday.

Stiggins, R. (2001). Student involved classroom assessment (3rd Ed). Ohio: Merrill Prentice Hall.

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