Effective School Management

17
A Systematic Approach to Change
INTRODUCTION TO THE APPROACH
So far we have considered the nature of change, its complexity, the conditions
that help an organization to cope with change, and the qualities that managers
need to bring about specific changes.
In no way can the management of change be reduced to something like the
checklist that an airline pilot runs through prior to take-off. It is, and will
remain, an art, though the ‘artist’ has at his or her disposal some tools and
technology to help, and it is gradually becoming more of a science than an
art.
We shall describe a general approach to major change, which has been
found by experience to be effective in industrial, health service and
educational settings, and is underpinned by theories of organizational
behaviour. The value of this approach is in helping to identify all the bits of
work that need doing in order to effect the change; unless a systematic
approach is followed, it is almost inevitable that one will be caught unawares
by snags that one has totally overlooked.
The approach described is largely based on the work of Beckhard and
Harris (1987), modified by long experience of its use in ICI (and by ICI staff
working with school heads), and amplified in the educational context by
Fullan (1982; 2001). Everard has used it to produce a practical training guide
to the implementation of the Education Act 1981, Decision-making for Special
Educational Needs (Evans  et al.,  1989), which was piloted in four local
authorities in 1988–89. Although the examples relate to SEN, the core
material (instructions, handouts, slides, worked examples, etc.) can readily
be adapted for other change programmes.
The approach is mapped out in Figure 17.1. There are six key stages that
have to be carried out sequentially, though some recycling may be needed in
the later stages of the process. These stages are as follows:
(1) A preliminary diagnosis  or reconnaissance, leading to a decision  to
undertake a change programme: is the change sound? Is it inherently
likely to succeed?

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EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT