1. Based on your own experience think of an educational institution that needs change. Discuss several methods that the organization can use to overcome resistance to change?
2. You must have observed many school principals and other administrators in educational institutions. Create two lists based on your observation?
3. What you would most likely do if you were the person described in the situation?
1. While researching about various educational institutions, I am across this institution which according to me was in a terrible shape and immediately needed some change in the way it was working otherwise it would die a natural death. As I observed its present condition, I prefer not naming g the institution and let’s assume it to be XYZ. By bad condition I do not mean that it was did follow the rules and regulations as such or the administration was pathetic but as an outsider I could [perceive that the education does need some major changes to survive in the long run.
According to the survey conducted by me and colleagues on the institution I noted the exact changes that were needed for its improvement. I believe what was important in this place was to bring about skill based teaching rather than the theoretical teaching that was been monotonously be carried out. It is very important these days to have practical knowledge about things because in the end it wills these skills that would help someone to feed their stomach rather than anything else. Another important change required is to get a smarter rather creative teaching faculty for this institution. This has become the need of the hour. The children in today’s generation have become sharper and teacher need to match up their level, introducing new methods of teaching along with other interesting activities to keep them engaged and makes the sessions enjoyable for them.
What else was required was a kind of total revolution in the technology used and infrastructural development of the institution. Here again I am not trying to say that the structure unacceptable or so but I simply mean that this change would be good in order to cope up with today’s modern society. Another change which I found was absolute necessary was personalizing of education i.e. the way of teaching should be varying depending on the ability of the student. One thing that should be kept in mind that everybody is not the same and one size cannot fit all. Some kids take time to learn while some can learn faster. Thus the teaching methodology should be tailor fit depending upon the child’s ability to cope up with things.
Having noted so many changes in the educational institution I would now try to analyze what methods can the organization in turn follow to resist the changes taking place not necessarily the ones that pointed out here. People generally resist change due to reasons like misunderstandings, selfish interests, and low tolerance of change and so on. However there is a need to overcome such resistance and this could be done in the following ways:
2. Based on past observance here’s a list of things that head of institutions did that highly motivated the teachers to put in their best and work harder was the following :
Things that the heads did which destroyed the motivation of it faculty members were:
Observing both the motivating as well the demotivating factors one can say that the head of any educational institutional should try and follow the ‘middle path’. One should neither be too strict making them unapproachable or too lenient. One should know how balance and know how behave one. Another quality effective leadership is when the head works in a diplomatic manner rather than being emotional. One should also be very particular about their behavior and not acting very ‘bossy’ rather than imposing g the authority when the situations demand. For effective leadership one should always have self-confidence which is very essential in motivating himself before he motivates anybody else. However this in any case shouldn’t become over confidence. All this would help a head to be an effective leader in any educational institution.
3. One such program I heard about was the training that was conducted in a local university on the concept of cooperative learning. This is a new very concept for the school and this could be something different and a new experience for the students of our school. I did some research work on this and found out that cooperative learning can actually help the children to perform better. As we all know that humans cannot live in isolation, and there is need for the people to interact with one another and stay together in a peaceful way if one living in a society. The theory of cooperative learning is based on this phenomenon. It helps the children to stay together, work together and also learn together. I have done a thorough reading on the concept of cooperative learning and its importance for school goers.
Being the head of the institution, it is my sole responsibility to ensure that the implementation of the concept of cooperative learning happens in the most fruitful manner to provide maximum results. I need to demonstrate instructional leadership in order to facilitate, improve and promote the holistic growth and development of every student in both scholastic and non scholastic arena. I need to put up special focus for at risk children and whether they are being able to apply the skills they learn in the practical environment. The vision along with long and short term goals are clear for me and based on them, I engage the parents, teachers and students towards achieving the vision which is only possible through continuous and comprehensive work. The available data which I have gathered from all the stakeholders during the implementation of cooperative learning is being used by me for further analysis and studying the details and obscure areas so that they can be improved.
I have also taken up a proactive role to support the instructional efforts of the teachers. I communicate frequently with the students and have also asked my respective teachers to directly communicate with me so as to pass on instructions and address the needs of the students. The instructional values are being directly imparted to the teachers so that the teaching learning process can be effective and interesting.
Apart for instructions, being the principal it is my utmost duty to provide and allocate resources and materials to the teachers well ahead of the class so that they can prepare themselves in advance and make their respective classes interesting and worthy.
I ensure that we have the latest technologies being used in the classrooms so that children understand better and thus learn better. All the classrooms are equipped with smart boards enabling the students to have a better understanding of each subject. In order to ensure that the students are comfortable in the ways and the methods that the teachers are using, we endure that we have regular checks for the same. For this purpose I took the initiative of sending the trained teachers for various programs to learn new methods of teaching and then coming and putting them into practice in our very own school.
The grass root problems can be solved only if I visit the classrooms and see where there is an issue. So, I regularly visit different classrooms and evaluate the performance of students as well as teachers individually and also in a composite manner to have a fair idea regarding the success of this cooperative learning pedagogy. The various feedbacks and on spot criteria I obtain are being discussed with the teachers so that requisite rectification is made and then it is rolled out again. I also collect regular feedback from teachers and parents regarding this and look for areas where improvement is necessary. Be actively involved in the classroom activities with the students and teachers and draw upon points. I would now ask the teachers to switch on to the old method of teaching for a few weeks. Again I would be actively involved in the all the classroom activities along with students and the teachers.
After undertaking my personal observation I would now compare the results as well the performance of each child during the time when cooperative learning was going on and in turn compare with the time when we had switched back to the old system of learning or rather the usual method that has been followed throughout. After gather all the facts together, I would thereby make a comparison of each students performs during the time when the cooperative learning method was undertaken and when it was put off. This would now give a very clear idea of what actually is the outcome of this method and whether the children are likely to benefit from this program or we should actually take it out of the system. Based on this I would be able to respond to the question and complains that are pouring in from the parents from al the sides.
Response:
After getting to know that the parents are complaining to the teachers as well as the boss, I decide to take this matter seriously and arrange a meeting with the parents who feel that the new method of cooperative learning would a be a problem for their children and creating problems for them as well. I arrange for a meeting with all the parents. Having done so, I would individually deal with all the questions that thrown at me. As I have already my homework, I am now in a position to make them understanding the benefits of cooperative learning, why it is important and how will it be helpful for their children in the long run.
The first problem that a parent raised was it was ‘slowing his/ her child’. To this I could respond by making her understand that the method is not slowing the child but is actually teaching her/him how to work in a group with other children. It teaches the spirit of cooperation where the child is getting to learn a lot. The next question was dealt by highlighting the fact that this is actually a way to promote competition among the students, however this competition from every aspect is a healthy one.
Another parent stated that cooperative learning is a waste of time. To this my response would be if the children do not enjoy what they learn how they would actually develop an interest in their studies. Learning through playing would be one of the best ways to make the child active and be drawn towards their work. All the activities undertaken during the cooperative learning classes actually promote a better understanding of their work and studies. One of the parents remarked that her child is given all the work of the group. To this I can definitely assure her that it will made sure that work is divided equally among the children and also endure that everyone is responsible for their own price of work. The last question came up was of other children being nasty to her son in the group. This could be solved by reshuffling his. We would decide to put him in such a group where he would have his friend , where he would be comfortable working with them which would help him to open up better and this would also make him want to come to the school.
References:
Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. John Wiley & Sons.
Aydin, S. (2012). Factors causing demotivation in EFL teaching process: A case study. The qualitative report, 17(51), 1.
Eyal, O., & Roth, G. (2011). Principals’ leadership and teachers’ motivation: Self-determination theory analysis. Journal of Educational Administration, 49(3), 256-275.
Farid, M. T. A. S. (2011). Factors affecting teachers motivation. International journal of Business and social science, 2(1).
George, L., & Sabapathy, T. (2011). Work motivation of teachers: Relationship with organizational commitment/La motivation au travail des enseignants: La relation avec l’engagement organisational. Canadian Social Science, 7(1), 90.
Lunenburg, F. C., & Ornstein, A. C. (2011). Educational administration: Concepts and practices. Cengage Learning.
Schalock, R. L., & Verdugo, M. A. (2012). A Leadership Guide for Today’s Disabilities Organizations: Overcoming Challenges and Making Change Happen. Brookes Publishing Company. PO Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21285.
Sursock, A., Smidt, H., & Davies, H. (2010). Trends 2010: A decade of change in European Higher Education (Vol. 1). Brussels: European University Association.
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