Organizational Change and TechnologyIntroductory informationSchool reform and the aims of educational reformThe tradition of change in American educationStrategies of planed changeOrganizational DevelopmentDeming and Total Quality Management (TQM)Organizational Health and Self-renewalBasic shifts in beliefs, politics, and practices that are necessary to move ahead with authentic reformCurrents of Change Affecting Higher EducationConclusion

Definitions

Developmental change- doing something the same way but betterTransitional change- finding a new way to do the same thingTransformational change- doing something different by creating new structures and new processes to fit new objectives

Elements that need to be considered for a successful change strategy:

The People- Thought should be given to the skills and attitudes of the people involved.The Process- Should be planned and should consider stakeholders, time frame, context, and outcomeThe Structure- Should be flexible enough to be reconfigured and reshaped as needed with changing circumstances

The belief that society can direct change has been shaped from two principal sources:

Marxist political and social theory The empirically based social sciences

EducationViewed as the key to equality in societiesExpected to transmit traditional valuesExpected to be vehicles for change

How can schools be restructured?Can we change educational organizations from the topdown?Can we change educational organizations from the bottomup?What approach is more effective?

School ReformReform efforts have not been effective in altering organizational culture.The nucleus of the core of organizational behavior is power.Dealing with power relationships in school is central to bringing educational change.

Power Relationships and School Restructuring

Reform means to give “new form” to a school changing it in fundamental ways.The key to restructuring lies in changing power relationships in the school.Schools can change through different directions:

Outside (mandates from the state)Within (involving everyone in the process of change)

What kinds of changes does educational reform seek to bring about in the schools?

Scanlon PlanA method of changing from within involving everyone in the processTwo major contributions in our thinking about educational organizational change:

It conceptualizes the organization as a whole.It is an educational rationale that seeks to promote the development of everyone.

Sarason listed five aims that most agree would constitute major changes:

To reduce the wide gulf between the educational accomplishments of children of different social classes and racial backgrounds. To get students to experience schooling as a process to which they  are willingly attracted, not a compulsory one they see as confining and boring.

Sarason listed five aims that most agree would constitute major changes: (cont.)

To enable students to acquire knowledge and skills that are not merely memorized abstractions, but are acquired in ways that interrelate the learning and give personal purpose.

To engender interest in and curiosity about human accomplishments, past and present.  To get students to want to know how the present contains the past.

To acquaint students with the domain of career options and how schooling relates to these options in a fast-changing world of work.

The Tradition of Change in American Education

Natural diffusion-  New ideas and practices arise in some fashion and appear in some unplanned way from school to school and from district to district.

Natural Diffusion ProcessesIt typically takes about 15 years for an innovation to spread to three percent of the school systems.

It then takes an additional 20 years for an almost complete diffusion into an area the size of an average state.

Planned, Managed Diffusion

The strategy by which money is spent may have greater impact on change than things such as per pupil expenditure.

One successful strategy involved three phases:Inventing the new curriculum

Diffusing knowledge of the new curriculum widely and rapidly among high school science teachers

Getting the new curriculum adopted in local schools

Strategies of Planned Change

Robert Chin posited that three "strategic orientations" are useful in planning and managing change:

Empirical-rational strategies

Power-coercive strategies

Normative-reeducative strategies

Empirical-Rational Strategies of Change

These strategies focus on linking the findings of research to the practices of education by improving communication between researchers and practitioners.

Knowledge Production and Utilization (KPU)- The scientific production of new knowledge and its use in daily activities (This is key to planned change).

Assumptions/Implications of KPU

New knowledge (product, technique) will be perceived by potential adopters as desirable

That adopters (being rational and reasonable) will do what is desirable because it is in their own self interest

Other Empirical-Rational Strategies

Personnel Selection and Replacement"Clearing out the dead-wood" & changing the criteria for certification and employment of new people.

Utopian ThinkingRational attempts to project what might exist in the future, what the alternatives may be, and what ought to be can lead to planned efforts to direct the course of events toward a desired goal.

Power-Coercive Strategies of Change

This differs from an empirical-rational approach in its willingness to use sanctions in order to obtain compliance.

Innovations are explained by the characteristics of the organization and the management rather than the nature of the innovation and federal funding.

Schools Successful in Implementing Innovative programs exhibited the following characteristics:

Tendency to reject rigidly packaged innovations

Strongly involved in developing their own materials

Engaged in continuous planning and preplanning

Engaged in ongoing training of people

Consistent technical assistance was available locally for projects

Innovative projects received strong support from key administrators

A Normative-Reeducative Strategy

Those who exist in the organization can deliberately shift to more productive norms the organization’s interaction-influence system:

Attitudes

Beliefs

Values

Organizational Development (OD)

Organizational Development- A coherent, systematically-planned, sustained effort at self-study & improvement focusing on change using behavioral science concepts.

OD is the process for increasing the self-renewal capability of school districts and schools.

Concepts That Characterize OD:

1. The goal of OD2. System renewal3. A system approach4. Focus on people5. An educational strategy6. Learning through experience7. Dealing with real problems8. A Planned Strategy9. Change agent10. Involvement of top-level administration

Findings regarding OD Effectiveness:1. Success is more likely when faculty senses a readiness to

change and welcomes the project.2. Entering into OD requires a skilled consultant.3. Open, active support from administrators is critical to

success.4. OD is more likely to be helpful if staff is in agreement on

goals.5. An OD project can be thought of as consisting of four

main phases:Entry Diagnosis of organizational

problems

Institutionalization

Maintenance

Deming and Total Quality management

Deming devoted much time to cooperation in the workplace:

Power-sharing

Motivating power of a shared organizational vision

Transforming leadership

Win-win conflict management

Growth-enhancing organizational culture

He became a powerful advocate of participative management, empowerment, and transforming leadership.

Transforming Change

Deming’s Total Quality Management (TQM) deals with the organizations culture.

Deming suggested that low-quality work rested on the shoulders of company managers.

Transforming change happens when something is changed into something that is very different.

Lessons from Deming’s Work:

The concept of Total Quality

Management Responsibility

Testing is Not the Answer

Intrinsic Motivation is Best

Emphasize Problem-Solving

Eliminate Performance Ratings

Emphasize Sensitivity to the Needs of the Customer

Kaizen, or the Principle of Continuous Improvement

Organizational Health and Self-Renewal

To be affective, an organization must accomplish three essential core activities over time:

Achieve its goals

Maintain itself internally

Adapt to its environment

Good Indicators of Organizational Health:

Goal focus (people understand/accept goals)

Communication adequacy (vertical/horizontal, internal/external)

Optimal power equalization (collaboration)

Human resources utilization (effective use of personnel)

Cohesiveness (people like the organization)

Good Indicators of Organizational Health:(cont.)

Morale (feelings of satisfaction)

Innovativeness (new ways of growth)

Autonomy (tendency of organization to determine its own behavior)

Adaptation (ability to change, correct, and adapt fast)

Problem-solving adequacy (sensing & solving problems)

Organizational Self-Renewal

Ways of managing the interaction-influence system of an organization to stimulate creativity, promote personal growth, and facilitate solutions to organizational problems.The process of renewal includes the increased capacity to:

Sense and identify emerging problemsEstablish goals, objectives and prioritiesGenerate valid alternative solutionsImplement a selected alternative

What are some basic shifts in beliefs, politics, and practices that are necessary to move ahead with reform?

Basic shifts in beliefs, policies, and practices that are necessary to move head with reform:

From individual to institutional responsibility for achievementFrom instrumentality to entitlementFrom control to empowermentFrom the inevitability to the interruptability of outcomesFrom bureaucracy to democracyFrom commonality to diversityFrom interconnected services to open, comprehensive child and family services

From competition to collaborationFrom intervention to facilitation

What are some trends affecting higher education as we know it?

Currents of Change Affecting Higher Education

Trends of change affecting higher education as we know it:

The communications Revolution

Shifts in the Intellectual Division of Labor

Shifts in the funding streams

Demographic Shifts and Accessibility

ConclusionSchool reform and the aims of educational reformThe tradition of change in American educationStrategies of planed changeOrganizational DevelopmentDeming and Total Quality Management (TQM)Organizational Health and Self-renewalBasic shifts in beliefs, politics, and practices that are necessary to move ahead with authentic reformCurrents of Change Affecting Higher Education

References:Astuto, T., Clark, D., Read, A., McGree, K., &

Fernandez, L. (1994). Roots of Reform: Challenging the Assumptions that Control Change in Education. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

 Jurow, S. (1999). Change: The Importance of the

Process. Educom Review. 34. Owens, R. (1998). Organizational behavior in

education. Boston: Alyn & Bacon. Sixth Edition. Ward, D. (2000). Catching the Waves of Change in

American Higher Education. Educause Review. Jan/Feb, 23-30.

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