72 E838 Effective Leadership and Management in Education

SECTION 7
MANAGING CHANGE FOR
ORGANIZATIONAL IMPROVEMENT
Studying Section 7 should take you about 15 hours.
This section focuses on the management of change, or innovation, in relation to
how an organization improves and becomes more effective (key question 3). It
also relates to key question 2 on effective leadership.
After studying this section you should:
• have a better understanding of the main problems in managing change,
and the factors associated with successful organizational improvement;
• be able to apply this understanding in:
- analysing the management of change in your own organizational
context;
suggesting ways in which you and your colleagues might tackle
change more effectively.
All the readings for this section are in Reader 3, Part 3.

7.1 INTRODUCTION
In the current context, managing change effectively is a major organizational task,
not just for senior managers but for staff with leadership roles throughout the
school or college. The literature on educational change is vast, so I shall focus
here on an area of major importance for educational managers: planned change -
that is, deliberate alterations in policy and practice designed to improve
organizational performance. Such change may be introduced by teachers within
the educational establishment, or, as has been very evident in recent years,
required by external agencies, particularly central government, funding bodies
and inspectorates. This section makes frequent reference to 'school' improvement
and change since much of the relevant literature deals specifically with schools;
however, the general principles are also applicable to other educational
organizations.
Most schools and colleges would claim that they engage in planned change to
attempt to improve their performance. Internal change within the organization
has the advantage that it takes into account the context and particular needs of
the school, and is planned and developed by the teachers who will be
responsible for putting the change into practice. On the other hand, such an
approach by its nature is usually incremental and small scale, and may be
parochial and limited in its effects, with much reinventing of the wheel and
'collective pooling of ignorance' (Blenkin et 1992). Externally initiated
change, particularly government legislation, offers the apparent advantage of
bringing about large-scale innovation across schools and colleges relatively
quickly. On the other hand, this approach fails to take into account the needs,
priorities, values and cultures of particular organizations, and hence is often
resisted by teachers.
In recognition of the limitations of both internal and external efforts at change,
there has been increasing work on organizational improvement strategies, both in
the UK and elsewhere. Broadly speaking, school improvement approaches seek
to build on and enhance schools' capacity to develop themselves by encouraging
a systematic approach that is school based and managed but incorporates what
we know about managing change and school development. School improvement
work often involves groups of schools, with outside advice and support.
Section 7 Managing change for 73

School improvement is usually seen as an ongoing process of organizational

development aimed at enhancing student learning and achievement. regard
school improvement as a distinct approach to educational change that enhances
student outcomes as well as strengthening the school's capacity for managing
change' (Hopkins et Reader 3, Chapter 24).
The structure of Section 7 is as follows: first we look at some of the problems
involved in managing change, and suggest that these may be linked to a limited
and unrealistic view of the change process. We then examine various
perspectives or metaphors for understanding and managing change in education
and look at two contrasting perspectives on school culture. This leads to an
analysis of the role of culture in school development, and the contribution of the
school effectiveness research to organizational improvement. We then examine
how improvement activities might build in insights from conceptual and empirical
work on managing planned change and school effectiveness. Finally, you are
asked to consider how successful schools manage the process of ongoing
development, and the main factors in the effective management of change.

7.2 MANAGING CHANGE

In the current context, all educational organizations are faced with large-scale and
continuing change, much of it originating from outside the organization.
Managing change is a and complex task for a number of reasons.
1 Much organizational change is unplanned and unpredictable, for
example the illness or departure of a key member of staff.
2 Planned change needs to be balanced with continuity to maintain
personal and organizational equilibrium. Most of the work of the
educational organization and associated management tasks are
concerned with maintaining routine day-to-day activities, principally the
teaching and learning programmes. Too much change leads to fatigue
and 'innovation overload'; too little leads to stagnation.
3 It is often assumed that planned change will be beneficial for those
involved. Innovation, however, in altering existing arrangements, is
both personally and organizationally threatening and brings losses as
well as gains. Any change, however small, is likely to disadvantage one
or more of those concerned.
4 We tend to look for instant results from change, but it may take many
years before the results of large-scale change can be properly assessed,
particularly where student outcomes are concerned.
5 Our 'maps of change are faulty' (Fullan, 1993); they portray innovation
as a simple, rational journey following a logical path from policy
making to implementation. However, we can identify at least four main
stages in the management of the change process (see Fullan, 1991):
initiation implementation continuation or institutionalization outcomes
As the two-way arrows indicate, this is not a simple linear progression:
events at any stage may feed back to alter decisions made at a previous
stage. Thus, in implementing a particular change there may prove to be
unintended and unexpected consequences in practice, which lead us back to
reconsider the original purposes of the innovation determined at the
initiation stage. Similarly, the original purposes and plans for the innovation
are interpreted and adapted by those putting it into practice, so the final
outcomes may be very different from what was initially intended. Change is
thus a long-term process not a simple event. Many changes fail to progress
beyond the planning or early implementation stage. If you look into the
deepest recesses of your store cupboard you may find examples of teaching
materials that were planned for and ordered, but never actually used.
74 E838 Effective Leadership and Management in Education

6 Those managing change in schools or colleges have to deal with

multiple changes, each progressing through the various stages shown
above. The changes interact and impact on each other and may not be
mutually compatible.
7 Finally, changes affecting schools and colleges may be initiated at any
of the decision-making levels in the education system: (a) central/
national (e.g. Department for Education and Employment, funding
bodies); (b) local authority (in many cases); (c) organization (i.e. head/
senior management team); (d) department or subunit; (e) individual
teacher (see Lawton, 1983). Decision makers at different levels within
the system have differing ideologies and change agendas, based on
differing perspectives on the goals of education and the means of
bringing these about. Even within the organization there are multiple
goals (see 1986; also Section 3 of this Study Guide). Wherever
the change originated, it has to be managed through the various stages
shown above, at the three levels within the organization. Becher (1989)
points to the 'implementation gap' between the intentions of policy
makers at national level and what is actually implemented in schools/
colleges and classrooms. Similarly you may be able to identify an
'implementation gap' in the management of change between different
levels in your own organization. The process is further complicated
when implementation problems at one level require a review of
decisions made at another level.

Activity 1
We now turn to look at the implications of these problems for the management of
change. Think about a change that you are currently managing (or have recently
managed) in your own organization. Make notes on the problems and difficulties you
have encountered.

Reading 1
You should now read Chapter 19 by Fullan in Reader 3. As you read, make notes on
how far Fullan's suggestions address the problems you have listed.

It is likely that you identified a number of practical and technical problems:

lack of time, resources, in-service education and training (INSET), and so on.
However, there may well have been more fundamental problems, arising from a
mismatch between rational plans, 'brute sanity' and a context characterized by
multiple meanings, rationalities and goals; a 'faulty map'; expectations of rapid
results; failure to allow for the various stages of change; an 'implementation gap',
and so on. While rational approaches to change are largely prescriptive,
portraying what ought to happen, Fullan's analysis is descriptive, based on what
happens in practice. These ideas have important implications for organizational
planning. While logic and common sense would suggest that we establish an
organizational mission and development plan, and then proceed on this basis,
Fullan proposes more flexible 'evolutionary' planning and working towards a
shared vision and mission as part of the process of development.
As Fullan suggests, how we manage change is influenced by our implicit or
explicit understanding and interpretation of the change process and the context
in which it takes place. Approaches to the management of change depend on
which perspectives, metaphors or models of management we use (see Section
These provide frameworks, lenses or ways of seeing the world as a basis for
interpretation and action.
Section 7 Managing change for 75

Reading 2
Now turn to Chapter 20 by Blenkin et al. in Reader 3. As you read, make notes on:
(a) which of their models best reflect the position taken by Fullan in Reading 1;
(b) which model(s) fit most appropriately your own perspectives on change. You should
note that the sociohistorical approach is discussed with reference to secondary school
subject groupings, but can also be applied to different areas of work in colleges of
further education, and to pupil age/stage related teacher groupings in the primary
sector - that is, nursery, infants, lower and upper juniors.

The analysis in Reading 2 highlights the complexity of the change process and
the factors within schools and colleges that act to hinder and promote
(a) Fullan's approach draws on ideas from the cultural and biographical (often
called subjective) perspectives discussed by Blenkin et al. In criticizing the
technological perspective, Fullan refers to ideas linked with the ambiguity model
(or 'nonrational' model in Fullan's terms), which you looked at earlier in the
Study (b) It is likely that you also draw on several models to understand
change in your own context. Each provides a useful but partial picture; multiple
perspectives or metaphors are necessary for interpreting complex change.
Different perspectives may be appropriate at the various stages of change that
we looked at in point 5 on p. Thus the introduction of change may be
characterized by uncertainty and ambiguity as people seek to come to terms with
it. This may be followed by a political stage as groups seek to maximize their
own gains as the change is implemented, then a collegial phase as individuals
and groups work more closely together as the change becomes established.
Finally there is a bureaucratization phase in which the change becomes part of
the everyday routine of the organization (see Davies and Morgan, Your
reflections and notes in response to question (b) in Reading 2 may also have
raised differences between change as you have actually experienced it and
change as you would like to experience it. As noted above, some perspectives
are more concerned with prescription, others with description.
Blenkin et al. argue that the technical-rational metaphor is predominant in
western industrial societies. In the following reading Sergiovanni develops this
idea, suggesting that the prevailing technical-rational approach, centred on the
metaphor of the organization as a machine, is inappropriate for schools and
colleges.

Reading 3
You should now turn to Chapter 21 by Sergiovanni in Reader 3. This is a provocative
article in which the author presents two extreme ideal types - that is, analytical models
that are not to be found in actuality. As you read, make notes on the application of
Sergiovanni's ideas to your own organization. Is there a case for more emphasis on the
expressive, rather than the instrumental, aspects of organizational life?

Clearly, both extremes of Sergiovanni's continuum are undesirable and unrealistic

for education. He is suggesting a shift in balance rather than a move to either
extreme. Your response to this reading will depend on what sort of organization
you work in. If you are based in a small village primary school, for example, you
will probably feel that community values receive enough attention. On the other
hand, you may feel that your organization is characterized by an undue emphasis
on factors such as test and examination pass rates, pupil rules and regulations,
and by a lack of collaborative relationships among staff. Clearly the leadership
style of the head/principal is relevant here.
There is much evidence to show that successful schools do attribute a great deal
of importance to affective factors, such as fostering a sense of community, and
shared values and purposes among both students and staff, and collaborative
76 E838 Effective Leadership and Management Education

staff relationships (see, for example, Nias et al., 1992; Pollard et al., 1994).
Similarly the school effectiveness research that you looked at in Section 6 draws
attention to the importance of expressive and affective factors such as school
ethos, praise and rewards for students, encouraging students to share the norms
and values of the school. In a discussion of two primary school research projects,
Southworth (1994), drawing on Sergiovanni's ideas, notes that teachers saw their
schools as being characterized by a strong sense of community, and that, in
developing collaborative ways of working, the schools could be seen 'as
travelling on a journey away from organization and towards community' (p. 25).
In looking at the environmental context in which schools and colleges operate, it
has been argued that politicians and governments, in the UK elsewhere, have
overemphasized the instrumental aspects and goals of schooling, for example
pupils' test and examination scores, rather than social outcomes (see Ball, 1994).

7.3 CULTURE AND IMPROVEMENT

Earlier work on school improvement focused on structural and organizational
factors, while more recent research has sought to explore the role of culture in
school development. It became evident from empirical work that effective and
lasting change requires the development of shared meanings and alterations in
teachers' values and beliefs (see Fullan, Managing change is therefore
concerned with influencing the shared sets of meanings, values and beliefs that
comprise organizational culture (see the analysis in Section 3 of this Study
Guide). You may find it useful to now reread Blenkin et discussion of the
cultural perspective.
As the authors note, school culture has both a normative and an interpretive
function - that is, it indicates the way in which teachers are expected to behave
and provides a framework through which events and actions are interpreted and
given meaning by organizational members. A culture of individualism and
'privatism' characterized teachers' work in the past, but it is now widely argued
that effective change is dependent on the establishment of collaborative cultures,
which provide the basis for shared enquiry and ongoing professional learning.
This contrast between cultures of individualism and collaboration is paralleled in
Rosenholtz's (1989) stereotypes of contrasting school cultures (Table

Table 3 Contrasting school cultures

(Adapted from Hopkins 1994, p. 90)

Section 7 Managing change for 77

Reading 4
You should now read Chapter 22 by Hargreaves in Reader 3. The author explores two
typologies of school culture. The first one develops the instrumental/expressive
dimensions discussed by Sergiovanni in Reading 3. The second, more dynamic,
typology explores the constituents of two ideal-type school cultures - the traditional and
the As you read, you should try to map your own school against the two
typologies.

Hargreaves provides a helpful analysis of a complex area. He argues that there is

a dialectical relationship between culture and social structure - they interact and
influence each other. He suggests that although no school or teacher culture can
be shown to have a direct impact on student learning and achievement, collegial
schools may provide structural links between teacher cultures and student
outcomes so that cultural effects 'trickle down' to impact on the classroom.
Hargreaves also notes that there are no clear cause-effect links between
culture and school improvement - culture may be a cause, object or effect of
development work. Some studies have suggested that collaborative cultures are a
necessary condition for whole-school development (see, for example, Nias et
1992); other approaches maintain that culture develops during the process of
change and that the purpose of change efforts is to change the culture (see, for
example, Fullan in Reading 1).
This raises issues about how managers can influence culture. Clearly, seeking to
understand culture, and to work with prevailing cultures rather than against them
in school improvement activities, is one thing; seeking to influence or manage
culture is quite another. This, as will recall from Section 3, is the paradigm 1
view of organizational culture. Various writers have suggested ways of managing
culture (see, for example, Beare et 1989). Indeed, it is claimed by Schein
(1985) that 'the only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and
manage culture'.
However, this gives rise to practical and ethical difficulties. First, culture - sets of
values and beliefs - is carried within people's minds; we can therefore never
interact with it directly, but only with its observable manifestations - that is, what
people say and do, and the ways in which they interrelate together. Thus,
attempting to influence culture, and measuring the impact of such efforts, are
likely to be uncertain and imprecise ventures. Second, the suggestion that we can
influence or manage culture implies a rather mechanistic and simplistic approach,
based on an assumption that heads/principals or opinion leaders can bring about
easy and rapid changes in culture. Cultures are based on shared memories of
organizational history, and are slow to change. Third, there are ethical dilemmas
in the management of culture, raising questions of manipulation and ideological
control by heads/principals. Fourth, attempting to create and manage a
monoculture may not be wise, given rapidly changing and unpredictable external
circumstances. As Fidler (Reader 3, Chapter 6) suggests, having a range of
subcultures within an organization provides various growth points for a flexible
and rapid response to changing environmental imperatives. You should now
reflect on the implications for managing cultural change of Meyerson and Martin's
three paradigms (Reader 3, Chapter 4). As they point out, it is important to apply-
all three viewpoints to understand the complex dynamics of cultural change and
those aspects of culture that are more, and less, amenable to management
influence.
78 E838 Effective Leadership and Management in Education

7.4 THE CONTRIBUTION OF SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS

WORK TO ORGANIZATIONAL IMPROVEMENT
As was discussed in Section school effectiveness studies give us a broad
picture of successful schools and lists of variables that seem to be associated with
effective outcomes, but not the ways in which schools can work towards these.
They provide 'a vision of a more desirable place for schools to be, but little
insight as to how best to make the journey to that place' (Lezotte, 1989). School
improvement studies, on the other hand, have been practitioner based, small
scale and qualitative in approach, focusing on school processes and changes over
time, providing an in-depth picture. However, it is argued (see Reynolds, 1991)
that they have paid insufficient attention to systematic testing of the effects of
change on pupil learning, and to explaining the links between school processes
and pupil outcomes.

Reading 5
You should now read Chapter 23 by Reynolds in Reader 3. As you read, consider how
far you make use of the insights from the two approaches in your own organization's
development work.

Applying these ideas is quite difficult, given the complexities of managing change
and the impact of cultural factors discussed earlier. Also, as Reynolds points out,
the variables involved interact in complex ways, and cause-effect relationships
are not clear. However, Reynolds provides a number of useful suggestions:
focusing on student outcomes and specific contributory factors; systematic-
measuring of the impact of change on student learning; and examining classroom
processes. This suggests the need to monitor the performance of different
subgroups of students over time, and to measure the effects of process factors -
for example, different teaching/learning methods, student grouping arrangements
- on their performance.
Factors associated with effective student learning also provide a useful basis
for development work (though, again, cause-effect relationships are not clear).
The following factors, which operate at both classroom and school level, are
important (Mortimore, 1993): high expectations and providing challenges for
students; monitoring student progress; student responsibilities and involvement in
the life of the school; rewards and incentives; parental involvement; the use of
joint planning and consistent approaches towards students; a focus on clear
learning goals and the effective use of lesson time.

Activity 2
Consider how far and in what ways your own organization addresses these issues.
How are these factors developed and monitored? What improvements are needed?

Reading 6
Now turn to Chapter 24 by Hopkins et al. in Reader 3. As you read, make notes on how
far the project takes into account the issues raised earlier in this section.

The Improving the Quality of Education for All (IQEA) project is designed to take
into account the lessons from previous work on school improvement and
effectiveness. It therefore addresses student outcomes, cultural and organizational
factors, managing externally initiated change, and the interrelationship between
decision-making levels in the change process. However, contrary to the earlier
discussion of this issue (see pp. 76-7), cultural change is regarded as relatively
unproblematic, involving some internal 'turbulence' (rather reminiscent of a plane
journey in uneven atmospheric conditions - slightly bumpy, but you usually
Section 7 Managing change for 79

arrive safely). The account also fails to examine other more difficult aspects of
change, for example cultures of teacher individualism and resistance to
innovation, conflicts and losses, micropolitics, and the fact that many externally
initiated changes do not mesh easily or quickly with organizational priorities and
values.
This lack of recognition of the negative aspects of change is probably not
surprising, because a requirement for participating schools was that all staff
should agree to take part and that at least 40 per cent of staff should collaborate
in the development work. Thus, the project schools were probably already
committed to collaborative ways of working to improve performance, and were
clearly professionally confident enough to expose their practice to outside
experts. Also, of course, as a result of participating in the project, the schools
benefited from a great deal of ongoing expert guidance and advice. The schools
in the study were therefore almost certainly 'moving' schools in Rosenholtz's
terms. But what about 'stuck' or survivalist (Hargreaves in Reading 4) schools and
colleges?
For obvious reasons, little research has been done on ineffective schools and
colleges. Such organizations are usually reluctant to take part in research studies
and, by definition, are unlikely to be engaged in developmental activities. They
are often discovered as a result of external inspection visits, and subject to
attempted 'quick fix' solutions, which are unlikely to work. There is a tendency
to see less effective schools in terms of a deficit model - that is, they lack the
features that effective schools possess. However, it may be the case that, as
Reynolds (1995a) suggests, ineffective or failing schools have a range of
pathological characteristics not found in successful schools. Examples of these
are: a lack of basic competences needed to improve; teachers projecting their
own inadequacies on to the pupils - that is, blaming them for failure; lack of
awareness of policy and strategy alternatives to current practice; fear of exposure
to outside sources of help and advice; dysfunctional relationships
between members of staff and between staff and pupils. Given such conditions,
considerable long-term work is necessary to help staff to learn new planning,
management and teaching skills. In the short term, it is probably more productive
to focus on a specific small-scale achievable goal - for example raising pupil
attendance rates, rather than trying to lift pupil achievements, which may be one
of the last things to improve (see Fullan, The priorities of less effective
schools in disadvantaged areas will be different from those of schools in more
advantageous circumstances. The former will need to create new norms, which
counter prevailing social and student expectations of low performance and
attainments, and focus on rewarding short-term achievements and on schoolwide
recognition of academic success. In areas that are not disadvantaged, pupils and
parents are likely to share school norms in broad terms, so short-term recognition
of success and building shared pupil/school values will not be a priority.

7.5 SUCCESSFUL SCHOOLS

Schools and colleges in disadvantaged areas do face considerable problems in
working towards improvement since so many factors are against them: 'the dice
are loaded against educational success' (National Commission on Education,
1993). It is all too easy to see environmental issues as a barrier to change. We
need to know more about the process of organizational improvement in difficult
circumstances. Nonetheless, many schools in disadvantaged areas are successfully
improving their performance without substantial outside help, which suggests
that this is a possibility for all schools.
80 E838 Effective Leadership and Management in Education

Reading 7
You should now read Chapter 25 by ef in Reader 3. This is a case study
of a school that is successful in less than ideal circumstances, part of a National
Commission on Education (NCE) study of eleven effective schools in disadvantaged
areas. As you read, consider: (a) how far Fair Furlong school meets the NCE 'features
of success' (listed below) that researchers were asked to use in assessing the case
study schools; and (b) your own organization in the light of the NCE criteria. What
improvements are needed and how might they be introduced?
1 Strong, positive leadership by the head and senior staff.
2 A good atmosphere or spirit, generated both by shared aims and values and
by a physical environment that is as attractive and stimulating as possible.
3 High and consistent expectations of all pupils.
4 A clear and continuing focus on teaching and learning.
5 Well-developed procedures for assessing how pupils are progressing.
6 Responsibility for learning shared by the pupils themselves.
7 Participation by pupils in the life of the school.
8 Rewards and incentives to encourage pupils to succeed.
9 Parental involvement in children's education and in supporting the aims of
the school.
10 Extra-curricular activities which broaden pupils' interests and experiences,
expand their opportunities to succeed, and help to build good relationships
within the school.

The school seems clearly to meet the NCE success criteria, and is committed to
continuing improvement. In an analysis of the eleven schools involved in the
NCE study, Maden and Hillman (1996) identify a number of common features,
which they summarize as: 'a powerful experience of moving forward, of
achievement and of irresistible optimism ... and a strong vision of further
success'. The schools each had a unity of purpose that provided the condition for
achieving consistency of educational practice, and common, agreed approaches,
which were particularly important in the areas of: teaching methods, discipline
and behaviour, and assessment. The schools thus operated as cohesive units with
a shared vision that was dynamic and responsive to change within and outside
the organization. The physical environment was also seen as important, since it
affects pupil and staff self-esteem and the way in which they approach their
work. The schools were 'inclusive' organizations, 'where staff share ownership,
involvement and responsibility with pupils, parents and the wider community'
(Maden and Hillman, 1996). Leadership qualities shared by the case study school
heads included: a clear vision, forming the basis for clear, agreed and consistent
policies, practices and systems; energy, enthusiasm and effort; good judgement;
and 'omnipresence' - that is, high visibility around the school and in classrooms.

Interestingly, the schools were not overwhelmed or daunted by the impact of

legislative changes, seeing these as having had little influence on their internal
improvement activities, though they were ready to make use of those aspects of
external change that seemed likely to underpin improvements in pupil
performance. In particular, heads and staff were reluctant to see their schools as
competitors in the educational 'marketplace'; parents were recruited as partners
rather than customers, and viewed as co-educators and co-learners. Similarly, the
national curriculum was not seen to obviate the need for a vigorous programme
of curriculum development within the school. Rather than merely reacting to
external change imperatives, successful schools seem to be moving in 'a self-
propelled "virtuous circle" of improvement and development', in which they
pursue their own priorities and, year on year, seek to improve their 'previous
best' performance. 'The energy released in [successful] schools is generated
primarily by what the school itself believes it can and must do' and
Hillman, 1996, p. 354).
Section 7 Managing change for 81

7.6 CONCLUSION
There are no recipes or instant solutions for the successful management of
change. However, the readings that we have looked at here suggest some useful
ways forward. A number of themes have been highlighted:
• Change is a complex, long-term and non-linear process, not a simple
one-off event.
• In-depth and lasting change involves alterations in people's attitudes,
values and beliefs, and hence in the culture of the organization.
• Change is destabilizing, often threatening for individuals and groups
involved, and therefore frequently involves conflict.
• For these reasons rational models are inadequate for understanding and
managing the change process.
Indeed, ambiguity models may be particularly useful for interpreting the
complexities of change in modern organizations. There are a number of reasons
for this: the 'nonrational' characteristics of schools and colleges identified in the
Fullan chapter in Reading the rapid pace of change within organizations and
in the external environment; unpredictable external demands, and the fact that
all organizations are dealing with multiple changes that interact with each other
and with unplanned events in unpredictable ways. From this perspective,
uncertainty and ambiguity are normal aspects of managing change (Senge, 1990;
Stacey, 1992).
This may at first seem like a counsel of despair for those seeking to improve
organizational performance. However, recognizing these factors and building
them into our strategies for change, provides a more realistic approach to change
management and hence more chance of successful outcomes. Simplistic
approaches to complex change simply do not work. Managing change should be
tackled in a way that is systematic, yet flexible and adaptable, viewing change as
a process of discovery and clarification for all those concerned, rather than the
implementation of a predefined blueprint. Successful change is 'the discovery of
patterns that emerge through actions we take in response to the changing
agendas of issues we identify' (Stacey, 1992, p. 124).
Taking these points into account, we can identify the following six broad
stages in the management of change (adapted from Everard and Morris, 1996,
pp. 233, 235).

1 Diagnosis or reconnaissance
(a) Internal change - assessing whether the proposed change is
needed, practical and wanted by staff, and whether there a critical
mass of support.
(b) External change - determining whether it is mandatory or optional,
and how far it can be adapted or adjusted to fit in with existing
organizational priorities; assessing staff commitment issues.
For both a and b, working out how the change can be integrated with
other current change programmes in the organization.

2 Mapping the future

Establishing where we want to be, and how far and in what ways the
change will help us to get there, in the light of the expected future
internal and environmental context.

3 Describing the present

Reviewing where we are now in relation to the change, and what
existing problems it addresses in the light of current internal and
external circumstances.
82 E838 Effective Leadership and Management in Education

4 Identifying the gaps

Identifying gaps between present and future (2 and 3 above) to assess
the work needed to close these. This involves identifying the main
problems to be expected, strategies for gaining support and overcoming
resistance, and how the change is to be managed.

5 Managing the transition from present to future

This includes preparing contingency plans to deal with unforeseen
problems; allowing time and scope for ambiguity and uncertainty as
people come to terms with the dealing with political activity
including conflict and bargaining; negotiation of consent and consensus
building; gaining commitment and collaboration, enabling
institutionalization of the change.

6 Evaluating and monitoring the change

This includes evaluating how far the change has been successful in
terms of intended results, its contribution to pupil outcomes, whether
it has become consistently embedded in day-to-day practice, and
what has been learned.

The readings in this section also point to the importance of having a

clear overview of the factors involved in the change process and their
interrelationships. Effective management of change involves working with the
individual perspectives of staff and organizational cultures to build a clear and
shared purpose and sense of direction that links purpose, action and outcomes,
in a way that harnesses external change imperatives to internal priorities. The
relationships between these factors are represented diagrammatically in Figure

Figure 3 A framework for managing change

(Adapted from 1993, p.

Section 7 Managing change for 83

Activity 3
You should now consider your own organization's capacity to manage: (a) internally
initiated change; (b) externally initiated change. Reflect on one example of each type of
change. In each case, what problems were encountered in negotiating the six change
stages outlined above? How far were the factors in Figure 3 taken into account? What
improvements in the management of change are needed?

This leads us to a final important point: the effective management of change is

not about dealing incrementally with individual innovations. Rather, it is
fundamentally concerned with building a 'culture for change' where ongoing
development and learning are seen as the norm, not just for students but for staff
and the organization as a whole. Organizations that have developed a capacity
for sustained change based on a shared professional commitment to ongoing
development among all organizational members are often called
organizations' (see Senge, 1990). In the current context, all educational
organizations need to become learning organizations in order to survive, adapt
and flourish in ever-changing circumstances.