Reflective Essay on Educational Leadership

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Introduction

Whole School Improvement initiatives have been used as a vehicle for improving primary education quality (World Bank, 2004). Treating schools as the unit of change, school improvement initiatives gave rise to the idea of change as a reform of education to orchestrate a complete change in school culture and organization to improve performance. In the whole-school reform or improvement process, it’s very important to identify the needs of the school in which sector change is necessary and which remarks will be appropriate for the school. To identify this need we need to observe closely the school system and its internal and external facts from both inside and outside of the classroom. There can be different sectors or areas to reform in different schools according to their context and needs.

According to the Educational Quality Improvement Program, there are four major areas of school improvement:

Physical environment:

In terms of improvement of the physical environment of the school, we need to work on the infrastructural development of the school.

Classroom, library, playground, laboratory, common room, etc.
Beautification of the classroom and best use of limited space as an alternative playground
Planned infra-structural and sustainable development

Sometimes external resources from the annual budget of the school, as well as internal resources, can help to improve the physical environment of the school. School Managing Committee (SMC), Govt., and other donors play an important role in this improvement.

Cognitive development/ Developmental environment:

In a school, cognitive development is very significant and effective. It is actually creating a convivial learning environment and teaching-learning process

Create a fear-free environment for learners
Using a different approach to student-centered learning and need-based learning
Proper use of learning materials etc. to ensure a better learning space

Teachers and administration together can ensure the improvement of this environment. They can make a fearless ambiance for learners as well as themselves. Teachers also need a fearless relationship with their administrative authority and school leaders.

Social environment:

Equity practice in all aspects like gender, religion, socio-economic background, color, and ethnic minority and consider all the social and cultural contexts of the students.

Remove all forms of the inequity (gender, race, religion, socio-economic background)
Involve the community and students in the ongoing improvement of the school and day-to-day decision-making.
Ensure social and cultural context-based learning based on respect and empathy

Addressing all forms of discrimination and creating an equitable place among all of the students is a very hard job. A teacher has a very major role there. First, there’s a need to create a belief within them that they are the agents of undertaking disparities and then motivate them to address these disparities.

Institutional environment:

It is the professional environment of the school. Managerial, administrative, organizational, and professional things are included in this environment.

Make existing teachers more professional
Focus on decision-making, community involvement, etc.
Collegial relationships and cooperation among all teachers through interdependency and collaboration

If we consider the Comprehensive Framework, there are three elements of improvement and those are a) improvement culture, b) improvement process, c) improvement outcome

Key four actions or initiatives to improve schools:

Develop a plan: After identifying the area that needs to improve, we need to develop a plan and set objectives. In this improvement process, the role and expectations of every stakeholder need to be clear to them. Being a centralized system, all office admin should be actively involved in this plan. Besides experts, external facilitators and internal facilitators need to invest. In the initial stage of change, some anxiety or issues can be created. So, in addition, there also should be a plan to tackle those things.
Clarify and develop the role of school authority and the criteria for the school-based process: Principals need to take a very significant role in this stage. He/she needs to support other staff and clarify their role and the overall process. Listen to their opinion and make them a decision maker. He needs to observe and monitor the progress of individual teachers and give them the necessary feedback. In these changing relationships, head teachers are encouraged to adopt a more open and participatory management style, and parents, school management boards, and students are considered crucial partners in the day-to-day functioning of schools.
Stress staff development and technical assistance: In this step, the principal or admin needs to give other teachers technical support. To implement a new improvement process, some resources and cooperation will be needed. Besides, they need help to reduce involved persons’ stress and difficulties to cope up with the changes.
Plan for continuation, spread, and review: Consider the overall process and the possibility of the plan continuation. If the success would not achieve up to the mark then consider an alternate way. If the existing process works then consider to spread in a broader way and make a review of the plan.

The above-mentioned initiatives of school improvement can be implemented through the framework of Comprehensive or EQUIP framework.

If we consider the Comprehensive Framework of Reezgit & Creemers, there are three elements of improvement and those are-

improvement culture,
improvement process,
improvement outcome.

The mentioned four major areas of improvement can be reconsidered under these three elements.

On the other hand, Michael G. Fullan’s comprehensive framework for classroom and school improvement has also three elements-

classroom improvement,
teacher as a learner,
school improvement.

In the whole school improvement plan, there are some similar things which need to be improved. All of them are interdependent so the improvement process is also interdependent. The whole thing needs to be improved in a simultaneous way and it is an ongoing process.

For taking actions or initiatives for school improvement there are some challenges or obstacles that need to be overcome-

Simultaneously working towards multiple objectives, tracking progress, and collaborating among team members is too complicated
The initial stages of change can create discomfort and anxiety among stakeholders
Lack of readiness – leading to a less-than-desired level of achievement
Lack of willingness of internal leader and administration
Stress with more work and lack of readiness to accept new changes
Learning a new skill through practice and feedback becomes difficult sometimes
Poor organizational condition of the school ( peer norms, administrative leadership, resource management)

Conclusion:

As discussed in this paper, whole school improvement is a change management strategy, it is concerned with changing the ‘whole’ school’s organizational culture and structure, and also school-community relations. A school may have various issues of improvement but if all the stakeholders do not work collaboratively, then the problem will never be resolved. All the stakeholders need to work collaboratively and effectively to address those issues. This paper tried to reflect on the inter-connectedness of all the issues and it also shows how solving one problem will lead to solving other parts of the puzzle incorporated different frameworks.

References-

World Bank Support to Education (2004): A Systems Approach to Achieve Learning for All
Reezigt, GJ., & Creemers, BPM. (2005): A comprehensive framework for effective school improvement. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 16(4), 407-424.
Fullan, M. (2013). Great to excellent: Launching the next stage of Ontario’s education reform. www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/FullanReport_EN_07.pdf

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