Effective School Management

cognoscere causas, quoth Virgil (‘happy is he who can find out the causes of
things’); but we live in an unhappy world.
However, on a happier note, not all problems are intractable, and as time
goes by we do learn how to improve our methods of solving problems and
introducing change. Even tackling seemingly intractable problems is not
impossible: the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.
DISCUSSION TOPICS
(1)
Most managers’ work is not about planning, organizing and making
rational decisions: it is about chaotic situations, ‘firefighting’ to deal
with crises and keeping the ship afloat amidst constantly threatening
seas – Mintzberg. Should we seek a rational approach to dealing with
chaos?
(2)
A dominant feature of planning in schools is the need to respond to a
decision made at LEA or central government level which is likely to
have been perceived as rational by those who made it but appears
irrational or misguided to staff in school – Wallace. How does this
come about, and how might it be prevented?

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EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
FURTHER READING
Boyson, J. (1999) Managing Change in Schools Pack: a Practical Guide to Managing and
Facilitating the Change Process, Financial Times Prentice Hall, London.
Fullan, M. (1993) Changing Forces: Probing the Depths of Educational Reform,
RoutledgeFalmer, London.
Fullan, M. (2001) The New Meaning of Educational Change (3rd edn), RoutledgeFalmer,
London.
MacBeath, J. (1998) Effective School Leadership: Responding to Change, Paul Chapman
Publishing, London.

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ANTECEDENTS OF SUCCESSFUL CHANGE
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