Effective School Management

Figure 17.5
Force-field analysis

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A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO CHANGE
267
In the Barrow case study, the main driving forces were identified as leadership
and skills development, professional development with a focus on teaching
and learning, fostering resilience and partnership development.
PERSONAL APPLICATION
Draw a force-field diagram for a change needed to move your school towards a
desired future scenario.
PROBLEMS TO BE TACKLED
The next step in the process is to examine carefully the present, projected and
desired scenarios with a view to pinpointing the main problems that have to
be solved, in order that the present scenario may be shaped towards the desired
future, instead of drifting towards the ‘doom’ scenario. Consider the different
demands and responses in the three scenarios. Are the people and the systems
likely to change (e.g. retirement of head, reform of A-levels, less union
militancy, etc.)? Subjective, though informed, judgements will have to be made
about the relative importance of the problems that will have to be tackled:
some may go away, others may get worse.
If you write down a long list of every problem that you can conceive, then
you will almost certainly become discouraged by the enormity of the task
ahead. Big and little problems will be mixed, and until you have thought
about solutions you will not know where on earth to start.
So, the next step is to look for patterns of problems that may overlap or
interconnect in some way. Think in terms of clusters of problems with a
related theme. For example, there might be a cluster of problems connected
with ‘internal communication’, or with ‘maintaining everyone’s commitment
to their jobs while the change is being effected’. Sometimes you will come
across a ‘domino effect’: when one problem in a cluster has been solved, the
solution to all the others will fall into place fairly easily. For instance, if the
English department shows that mixed-ability teaching actually produces
better exam results, it may be easier for other departments to follow suit.
Another helpful sorting technique is to identify and write down the types
of change that you need to make, e.g. changes in
(1) policy;
(2) working procedures;
(3) staff training; and
(4) equipment and layout.
Some problems will have to be tackled before others; some will take longer to
solve: so set some priorities. Whittle down the list to a manageable number of
problem clusters, logically arranged and ranked in order of priority. Set the
less urgent problems on one side, to tackle later.

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EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
PERSONAL APPLICATION
If you are some way down the road of tackling an organizational change, write down
each problem on ‘Post-it’ adhesive slips (for easy sorting). Choose and label a problem
cluster; arrange the problems on a flipchart in order of priority; identify any domino
effects and important interactions.
RESOURCES FOR CHANGE
If you have followed through the approach so far, you will have a clearer idea
of what has to be done to effect the change you want, but possibly some
misgivings about your ability to achieve it, and only a hazy idea of how to go
about solving the problems that you have identified as important. To be clear
about what the problems are, however, is to point yourself down the right
road to solving them. A vague appreciation of the problems is liable to divert
you and others down false trails.
Some introspection is now needed to find out what is going for you.
Managers initiating change bring several things to the change effort. Their
qualities have already been mentioned (Chapter 15), i.e. knowledge, skills,
personality characteristics, situational awareness, style, etc. Their practical
experience, and success or failure in past change efforts, are relevant. Their
position in the organization brings some influence. Their motivation is of key
importance. Questions to ask oneself are as follows:
(1) Do I need to seek additional training to help me make the change?
(2) Which key people have I the power to influence directly?
(3) Can I influence others through indirect leverage, e.g. through the chair of
governors?
(4) Have I any control over the reward system (e.g. career opportunities)?
(5) What can I offer in return for support?
(6) What are my real reasons for wanting change:
(a)
Organizational
to improve effectiveness?
to reduce cost?
to improve the teachers’ lot?
to educate the pupils better?
(b)
Personal
to impress others?
to advance my career?
to reduce pressures on me?
to foster my professional interests?
The balance between these last two sets of motives, (a) and (b), is always
assessed by others and if it is perceived (however unfairly) as tilted towards
personal interests, it can lead to a rejection of the change.
And the final question to yourself:

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269
(7) Am I really determined to bring about the change, irrespective of other
demands on my time? If not, why not? What would clinch my
determination? If not me, who else would take the lead?
Looking beyond yourself into the wider organization, have you got a critical
mass of key skills? ICI once developed this by sending 2,000 managers on
Coverdale training; BCLP put ninety of their teaching force (20 per cent) on
critical skills programmes. People who have shared a common experience
become a powerful resource for change. One of us (Everard) visited China in
1982 and was told that the government was cascading 3 million managers
through a standard management training programme in two years, in order
to trigger off economic progress. It seems to have worked!
PERSONAL APPLICATION
Put these questions to yourself in relation to the change you want to bring about.
Individuals or task groups unfamiliar with problem-solving may need special help
from people particularly skilled as ‘facilitators’. These can be internal, such as trained
TVEI co-ordinators, or external consultants, such as industrial training managers
(Chapter 18). The sort of things they do are shown in Figure 17.6.
DISCUSSION TOPICS
(1)
Politics is the art of the possible. Would more things become possible
if politicians involved with education followed a systematic approach
to change?
(2)
What effect would you expect the development of competence in
managing change systematically to have on the quality of life of teach-
ers? Why?
(3)
Given the extent to which society is changing, are there any implica-
tions for the school curriculum arising from this and the preceding
two chapters?
FURTHER READING
Beckhard, R. and Pritchard, W. (1992) Changing the Essence: The Art of Creating and
Leading Fundamental Change in Organisations, Jossey-Bass Wiley, Bognor Regis.
Plant, R. (1987) Managing Change and Making it Stick, HarperCollins, London.
Whitney, D. and Trosten-Bloom, A. (2003) The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical
Guide to Positive Change, Berrett-K
oehler, San Francisco.

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