Leading Change Management - Research Paper Example

Leading Change Management Introduction In present days, ongoing change in educational s such as schools, colleges and universities is unavoidable, compared to the traditional times. The education system in K-12 and other education systems have swiftly changed in past few decades. Numerous political, social, industrial, economic and technical aspects form a quickly altering educational setting. While American institutions providing K-12 education system use collective educational practices, differences can be instigated by external situations and organizational cultural heritages. The paper explores the change agent model of Reigeluth & Garfinkle in order to recognize and recommend how K-12 educational institutions can effectively form the standards and approaches of professionals. The objective of the paper is to recognize systematic viewpoint of change in K-12 educational institutions. Change In modern times, ‘change’ is the term which describes alteration in certain circumstances or situations from existing state to a new and modified state. The change in any organization can range from negligible alterations in practice and technology to a radical alteration in the roles of employees. The term change is frequently used to denote both a change which happens in the organization’s external setting along with the alterations which arise inside of the organization in reaction to change in the external setting. The extent to which change signifies a shift also carries other definitional matters (Mecca, 2004). Change Agent Model Change agent plays a vital part in introducing, handling or applying change in K-12 educational institutions. The leaders in K-12 educational institutions often play the position of change agents by perceiving the requirement for change and support the change process. Change agents have the duty to implement change. In K-12 educational institutions, the change agents can play three separate roles such as advising, coaching and that of examining. As an advisor, change agents assist educational institutions to produce information. The general objective is to assist people to determine solutions to the problems in change process by inspection of valid facts. Moreover, change agents also act as coach, by teaching new abilities to improve and solve future organizational problems. Ultimately, change agents train people for providing requisite skills which are important for implementation of action plan (Caldwell, 2003). Change Agent Model in K-12 Educational Institutions The change agent model attempts to communicate educational change to the viewpoints of key actors at both local as well as national levels. One of the most significant models of change was depicted by Reigeluth & Garfinkle in year 2004. They have developed systematic model of change. The system viewpoint is essential for methodical educational improvement in K-12 educational institutions. With the system perspective, it is possible to design educational system which will inspire and support learning as well as complete improvement of human potential. The systematic change processes help to develop a vision for an ideal learning method in K-12 educational institutions. Systematic change can be observed as independent decision based method towards changing importance and faith regarding school and education within varying situation of a progressively multifaceted unified international culture. Systematic change is a recurrent procedure which considers the effect of change on stakeholders (Reigeluth & Garfinkle, 1994). The systematic change model of Reigeluth & Garfinkle requires individual as well as social learning in K-12 educational institutions. The learning to change is a necessary part of the change model in the educational system. The procedure of learning to change in a K-12 educational institution, consecutively, is associated with systems thinking, procreative education, high level of consciousness and the improvement of an evolutionary perception. By recombining the K-12 educational system with the stakeholders, the system model of change in education becomes an innovative and reproductive change learning procedure for all involved in the educational structure (Menchaca, Bischoff, & Dara-abrams, n.d.). The “Systematic Change in Education” by Reigeluth & Garfinkle (1994) signifies paradigm modification which involves changing the entire system, i.e. developing an entirely new education structure in order to fulfill the requirement of information and knowledge oriented civilization. Whereas industrial civilization assumes K-12 educational institutions to categorize children into massive number of scholars, information and knowledge oriented civilization demands critical knowledge and problem solving abilities for every individual. Therefore, systematic change is crucial for successful change in any K-12 educational institution, whether it is a radical change or minor change. In case execution of change program results in contradictory thoughts within educational institution, rejection is likely to arise. In this context, systematic change model can help to teach how the internal components can relate with each other to make a successful change in K-12 educational institutions (Ellsworth, 2000). Conclusion The educational reform is often related with internal and external environmental context, and systematic change is no exception. The system change is dynamic in nature and occurs in long-term period. The change can have volatile consequences and for successful change in K12 educational institutions, there is need for capturing those consequences beforehand. The stakeholders are significant players for change and their involvement is necessary for successful improvement in educational system. References Caldwell, R. (2003). Models of change agency: a fourfold classification. British Journal of Management 14 (2), pp. 131-142. Ellsworth, J. B. (2000). A survey of educational change models. United States: U.S. Department of Education. Menchaca, M., Bischoff, M., & Dara-abrams, B. (n.d.). A model for systemic change management in education. Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics 2 (1), pp. 1-6. Mecca, T. V. (2004). Basic concepts of organizational change for administrative leaders. Retrieved from http://www.pcrest.com/PC/FacDev/2010/FI_reading.htm Reigeluth, C. M. & Garfinkle, R. J. (1994). Systemic change in education. United States: Educational Technology. Read More