Changing Our Thinking
Table of Contents
Over the years the hierarchy of education has evolved into an unchanging leadership formula that has managed to survive without adopting change management strategies to meet the changing goals and needs of their customers. Now Online education are in trend. There is a free learning Community Called TUTFLIX is a Free Learning source read a guide about tutflix on NewsUp Times. As more mandates have been passed to encourage schools and teachers to perform at a higher level, and expectations for student success have increased, we have not seen leadership evolve and grow to meet those demands.
The result has been that school systems are attempting to reach 21st century goals using 19th century concepts. The passage of “No Child Left Behind” and the broad “highly qualified” teacher designation has simply highlighted the inability of most school leaders to adapt proactively by aligning their techniques and attitudes with successful business models.
Identifying Gaps
Leaders in the academic arena face many challenges. The foremost being that they usually do not have a business background and have been in education for their entire career. (Except for that stint they did at Pizza Hut while getting through college). These individuals are usually excellent educators who enter leadership in a school with great ideas for how to make the system better.
Many of these individuals have some great ideas. But, as with all businesses, leaders are not only involved in operations, but also in budget and politics. This is true of any business, the difference though, is that business leaders are trained in operations, budget and politics.
Profitable Adaptability
Businesses make good customers and profit greatly by creating a proactive adaptability to change. Schools also profit by this same action. However, when identifying gaps, and establishing where to start your change management program it may be wise to look at how your students, community and staff are treated. Are they treated as customers or are they treated as people who just have to be there.
If you went to a restaurant and the meat was undercooked, you would not hesitate to say “take it back, I want it well done.” But, what happens when a teacher comes to you because her classroom is not adequately ventilated, or a student has a problem with a certain subject. If the auto-response is “that’s the way it is,” or, “that’s the way it’s always been,” then this is a gap that a change management program can address.
While businesses take great pains to assure that their vision and goals are clearly understood, spend countless hours assuring that their staff are well trained in conveying those visions and goals, and work very hard at exuding great customer service. Schools have reacted to mandates. This is a costly endeavor instead of a proactive approach, we start the “blame game.” The gaps, when addressed proactively, are much easier to manage than to wait until the state or federal government pronounce on the Internet how bad your school is and you start losing students before families even move into the area.
Collaboration Beyond the Classroom
Teacher training days are already built into the school year. Most of the teachers will attend these training days. Can you imagine what would happen in students homes if parents and teachers participated together in a teacher training day? Parents would suddenly find themselves part of the solution instead of being blamed for the problem.
They do not have the time or energy to go to school on Wednesday night after work and to walk around the classroom. Teachers are tired, parents are tired, children are in a hurry because they have been preparing for weeks. The result of parent-teacher nightmares is that everyone is disappointed. Teachers, because most parents do not show up (just prove that they do not care), parents because they had to drive to school with screaming children to stand for 15 minutes and take homework for students, and students. because the story they really loved was not told enough and they did not have time to really be recognized in this chaos.
There would be an opportunity to teach communication skills and collaboration to a gymnasium of people who deal daily with the students. Imagine a student taking homework home and a parent actually understanding what the teacher is trying to do ahead of time. Free learning community Tutflix is a platform. The reason that parents do not participate in parent-teacher nights and other activities at school is because most are working parents.
