The Current Educational Environment - Essay Example

RUNNING HEAD: Situational Analysis and Action Plan Situational Analysis and Action Plan BY YOU YOUR ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION HERE HEREDATE HERE Situational Analysis and Action Plan The current environment The current educational environment, due to the dedication of teachers and parents, has experienced significant improvements in both curriculum and in the generation of quality educational materials. Key educational leadership teams will implement positive changes to the school’s parent and student network and have worked together to create the new mission and vision being implemented today. The efforts of dedicated teachers have created an atmosphere of success at the school which can ensure success with this new vision. A careful curriculum audit was conducted recently which has identified opportunities for further improvement in the methods used to teach children. Through the efforts of our dedicated teachers, the school will manage to increase total pupil retention levels by a wide margin. This, unfortunately, is not enough to maintain the positive competitive edge needed to stand out as an educational leader in the 21st Century. Teachers will need to put their many talents together with the dedicated school leadership and parents and assist the school in meeting the new educational mission. Altering attitudes: Does it come from within? That’s what we intend to find out. A series of strategy seminars are planned, as an initial path forward, to identify which teachers maintain the specific skills most appropriate for different student age groups. These strategy seminars are designed to let teachers know where the school is specifically moving as part of a path forward mentality (Bush, 2004). It is important to develop a team-based philosophy between different teachers, leaders, students and parents areas, and this intervention program will be beneficial in improving the relationship between teachers and students. These will further be designed as open forums in which questions can be proposed to teachers, school managers and concerned parents who might attend these publicized strategy seminars. Improving parent-teacher relations will only enhance the educational goals of the school and make it excel in the interpersonal group dynamic. The long-term benefits of these initial strategy sessions are to identify key skills with different teachers and apply relationship-based learnings to motivate students. The school requires the adopting of a systems-oriented organisation in which various interdependencies exist, such as the linkage between teacher skills and student learning. In order for one area of the school to stand as a leader, it involves personal mastery of job role function. Personal mastery refers to focusing on spirit, patience, and the strengthening of one’s personal vision (Gignac, 2005). This higher level of self-awareness helps to inspire a system thinking where the quality of individual student work and comprehension becomes paramount. How will this be done? One expert in this field offers “too many cooks spoil the broth” (Johnson, 2007: 12) in relation to education and leadership behaviors. Overell (2005) simply calls it “more indians, fewer chiefs”. Motivation is not only about having a positive self-concept, it is about having an autonomous working environment in which leadership trust is built by recognising that the teacher truly does understand their job role and is willing to perform within expectations. The point of the new vision is to not only motivate student learning, but also ensure that teachers, themselves, are motivated to meet the new educational goals by allowing them less management of curriculum activities. Teacher attitude surveys will also be distributed to all members of the business offering opportunities for suggestions on area improvements or leadership structure in the effort enhancing student learning in a multitude of different classroom environments. Morrison (2008) offers that in order to create unity of purpose, leaders (teachers) must have an accurate self-perception of the viability of one’s leadership style before they can be effective leaders. This philosophy will serve as a model during assessment of the teaching and student comprehension assessment tools when making curriculum decisions in the new vision. One expert offers, “Social competence is social awareness” (Fracaro, 2006: 4). This deals with emotional intelligence, or the recognition of the self for the purpose of regulating behaviours and managing self-motive. Social competence is all about having an understanding of students basic social needs and applying these lessons to a systems-thinking organisation. To facilitate learning between different student groups, additional in-house scenario sessions will be developed which allow role play in different teaching scenarios to discuss potential outcomes for student learning. This will give generally-unrelated educational areas that do not function together as a matter of regular school operations an opportunity to build relationships and social competence. An inclusive educational environment is more valuable long-term in the pursuit of motivating student learning. The New Vision It is our vision to develop the leadership disciplines necessary to achieve long-term educational goals and strategies. These disciplines include encouragement, building personal vision, communication, and distinguishing positive from negative visions (Savage, 1996: 18). Students and parents are invited to offer input regarding previous classroom efforts which have not met with success so that these items can be reexamined or redeveloped in order to motivate student learning. We know that everyone is dedicated to getting the job done right the first time. The days of the Theory X educational environment is being phased out by more progressive curriculums. These are educational environments where school leaders believe that teachers needs to be controlled by superiors, are lazy by nature, and need tight controls to get them to perform (McCormack, 2008; Kepelman, Prottas and Davis, 2008; Witzel, 2005). It is visioned for this school to take on a new image of a more progressive educational environment which views the teacher as both valuable and dedicated to helping the school meet its long-term goals for student retention and comprehension. By design teachers genuinely want to succeed and will perform as mandated by both policy and individual student needs. This is why the school envisions to be a Theory Y school which puts the needs of parents, students and teachers first. “Motivation is a factor that significantly influences productivity” (Halepota, 2005). Being motivated for achieving goals is something which comes from within, through a series of self-discipline, self-reflection, and ambition to meet educational goals. It is a vision for this school to have the tools necessary to motivate others, by providing an excellent and rewarding environment where achievement is possible through focus and dedication. Maintaining high student retention levels is all about having resources in a fulfilling environment where achievement is rewarded with praise and well-publicised, in-class acknowledgement for student achievement. It is visioned to have a systems group-oriented environment where the educational environment is inclusive, where all students are given equal opportunities to learn and develop. As much as it is requested for devotion to the teacher, the school understands the importance of devotion to you, the parents and students. Long-term educational goals are the improvement of the interpersonal dynamic at the school as well as adopting a system thinking machine for increased student learning. This can only be achieved through the dedication and skills of teachers, parents and students. It is envisioned that parents, students and teachers can openly communicate new ideas or thoughtful concerns and know that their thoughts will be considered when developing a new curriculum or teaching methodology. It is visioned that all staff teachers, parents and students will have a unified mission to achieving long-term educational goals and student retention levels. This is one of the most critical disciplines in management, regardless of the specific environment (Savage). It speaks to effective leadership where encouragement, mentoring and the exploration of creative ambition is on the forefront of the teacher consciousness. Teachers and even students are not incapable of directing activities and there should be more opportunities for building new mental models by shared associations and the group dynamic. This will build disciplines in ways of classroom respect and also let the free expression of ideas build positive educational solutions. In this new vision, there will be the provision of a quality performance management system which identifies the skills and capabilities of teachers, aligns them to the most appropriate classroom task, and provides reward for job performance which exceeds educational expectations. If teaching methods create measurable student performance levels in the classroom, these new methods can be benchmarked with other student groups to determine and an appropriate reward be issued. This type of performance system is designed to clearly highlight the specific criteria for achieving educational mandates. Under this visioned system, reward is only limited by lack of personal motivation, lack of social competence, or personal mastery. The sky’s the limit in the pursuit of goal-attainment! This school stands for a forward-thinking system in which the ongoing pursuit of educational excellence is a number one priority. It is visioned for flexible and future-oriented teachers and parents to continuously provide new concepts and emphasise teamwork which builds strong relationships. Relationships are at the heart of the new teaching model in which the basic needs of students are recognised and satisfied to the best of the ability of all members within the educational environment, including leadership and parents. This is often about making information available to all members of the school and not limiting the distribution of knowledge. This is about creating solutions which work and applying them with conviction. This is about communicating opportunities for change and assisting in making the change. Forward-thinking is very much in-line with the systems thinking philosophy where each division is an extension of the entire educational whole. Blended vision is the right vision for this school and for students, teachers and parents alike. It is visioned to have less sanctions on teachers and students by constructing an educational curriculum to be as autonomous and creative as possible. All individuals have a great deal to offer in terms of educational retention and should always feel that there is an open door for the free expression of new ideas or changes. A progressive school is only as good as its actions. The new vision will blend these teaching practices with a quality soft approach to building positive teacher, parent and student relationships. The school could not succeed without your dedication and commitment and this recognition will be reflected in the new autonomous teaching philosophy. It is visioned that teachers can remove children from the traditional classroom environment periodically to explore the softer lessons of education such as culture and art appreciation. It is visioned that education in this environment will be more than simply reading, writing and arithmetic. Empowerment is the vision for the new school where each individual can not only express opinion, but can act upon them. Your own individual educational goals belong to you and you can mould them into whatever vision you see fit for your learning needs. In this new educational environment, you are empowered to focus on personal mastery lessons of patience and self-reflection. You can strongly influence your own empowerment levels simply by taking control of the learning process. Envision it. This vision can only be achieved by unifying the school’s long-term educational goals with teacher behaviour and devotion to personal mastery. There is an abundance of work to be done and it cannot be done effectively without parent and student assistance. The new vision is one where dedication is not only a positive outcome for the school, it is a positive outcome for teachers and students in the receipt of performance reward. Social competence will be the focus in this new vision by supplying the lessons necessary for teachers and students to understand one another effectively. Foundations of human psychology, in an accelerated format, will be part of the educational training design which will occur bi-annually. The need for interpersonal communications learning is paramount in goal-attainment as a system thinking educational environment. The vision is to enhance the foundations of learning in all classrooms and provide the necessary tools to create more rewarding and long-lasting professional and personal relationships with students, teachers and parents. It is also the new vision to ensure a proactive learning environment where future planning and needs are considered when developing the best methods to teach students effectively. Being proactive means to “take the initiative” (Smith, 2008). Parents and teachers, and especially students, will be invited to be proactive in the classroom. If students are not understanding the classroom materials, they will be within an inclusive environment where they can take the initiative to accept additional learning from the instructor. This is up to students because the school knows you want to achieve higher learning! The vision is clear: Make the school stand out as a leader both in educational retention levels and classroom competency. Self-critiques can make this vision happen where the focus is on asking oneself What can I do better? in each and every classroom or learning scenario. As part of personal mastery, identifying one’s strengths and weaknesses, self-exploration is what is needed to make this vision a reality. Students are especially important to succeed in this new vision and teachers will be equipped with contemporary lessons about how to assist students in achieving their own personal mastery in all learning scenarios. Concluding Assessment There are clearly motivational challenges which face the school, however the students and teachers are on the right track to succeeding in meeting long-term educational goals. The current strategies for building higher teacher competency and for satisfying educational goals were identified as the implementation of various strategy seminars and social competence sessions in order to make the entire learning process more efficient. However, all of the aforementioned capabilities and competencies of the teaching staff (including all other stakeholders) have and will contribute greatly to the new educational vision. The rejection of the notion that teachers and students cannot contribute beyond that of strict and regimented curriculum demands is one which must be removed from the school so as to give parents, students and teachers new challenges in the educational environment. The action plan proposed is appropriate for this school for meeting long-term learning challenges and has been developed by recognising the absolute value of parents, students and teachers in building a classroom environment in which they are supported and coached. This new educational vision calls for an environment in which equality and unity of purpose are visible and all school partners maintain the tools necessary for both task mastery and personal mastery. These visioned improvements will build on motivational theories and theories of building leadership disciplines to make this school stand out as a leader in learning and student growth. Growth, both educational and personal, will be the final outcome of these lessons and the new school vision. References Bush, Rick. (2004). “Say Goodbye to Theory X”. Transmission & Distribution World. Overland Park. 56(7): 6-8. Fracaro, Kenneth E. (2006). “Employee Behavior Problems? Look First in Your Mirror”. McLeans. 46(12): 4-7. Retrieved 14 Mar 2009 from www.proquest.com Gignac, Francine. (2005). Building Successful Virtual Teams. Artech House Professional Development and Technology Management Library. Artech House, Inc. Halepota, Hassan Ali. (2005). “Motivational Theories and Their Application in Construction”. Cost Engineering, Morgantown. 47(3): 14-21. Retrieved 14 Mar 2009 from www.proquest.com. Johnson, Steve. (2007). “Lean is mean when it comes to a team”. Financial Times, London. 6 Nov 2007: 12. Retrieved 15 Mar 2009 from www.proquest.com. Kopelman, R., Protta D. and Davis, A. (2008). “Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Y: Toward a Construct-Valid Measure”. Journal of Managerial Issues, 20(2): 255-265. Retrieved 16 Mar 2009 from www.proquest.com. McCormack, Ade. (2008). “Be smart and join the conversation”. Financial Times, London. 30 Apr 2008. Retrieved 17 Mar 2009 from www.proquest.com. Morrison, James L. (2008). “Management of Organizational Behavior”. Journal of Education for Business. Washington, 83(3) :181-183. Retrieved 15 Mar 2009 from www.proquest.com. Overell, Stephen. (2005). “More indians, fewer chiefs”. Personnel Today, Sutton. 18 Jan: 10. Savage, Charles M. (1996). Fifth Generation Management: Co-Creating Through Virtual Enterprising, Dynamic Teaming, and Knowledge Networking. Boston, Butterworth- Heinemann. Smith, Barbara. (2008). “Educational Leadership”. 1st ed. Southern Cross University. Witzel, Morgen. (2005). “Is it such a leap of faith to trust in your workforce?” Financial Times, London. 9 Aug: 10. Retrieved 14 Mar 2009 from www.proquest.com Read More