A Catalyst for Change in the Educational Sector - Case Study Example

?Prevalent Issues in Education Sector In today’s dynamic economy, there is an ongoing acknowledgment that education is vital for long-term prosperityof economy. According to OECD, investment in education results in paying rising and larger dividends, not only for individuals, but also for economies. It further argues that educational accomplishment is connected to long-term social benefits such as political understanding, better health, as well as interpersonal trust. This phenomenon is true particularly for tertiary and higher education. It is usually observed that net return on education is as much as three times than investment in education. Despite of number of economic and social benefits of education, spending on education is experiencing increased pressure these days. As economies are finding ways to recover from global financial crisis, they are shrinking budgets, resulting in scarcer funds left for education sector. Economic complications are also resulting in tightening of enrolment levels in large numbers of institutions, as students proceed for less expensive educational programs or opt out for any educational program altogether. The aim of this paper is to identify top challenges that are facing the educational sector nowadays; however identifying challenges is merely a first step in fundamental transformation of educational sector. Issues in Education Sector The first issue in education sector pertains to over budgeting and underfunding. The impact was global financial crisis was detrimental on education sector. Private and public schools saw their endowments declining. It affected private donors as well who lost their capability of investing significant sum of money within the industry. Another issue is related to intensification of rivalry. As competition intensifies, higher education looks for ways to differentiate themselves by attracting students and top faculty. Some schools are enhancing their curricula to attract students in fields of engineering or science. Others schools are gearing programs to target specific groups such as high-school dropouts or adult learners (Deloitte., 2001). Technological upgrade is another emerging challenge for education sector. Schools that have invested in latest technology are not utilizing its full capacity. Office systems, used to manage information of students, human resource and finances, are woefully outdated. Many schools have homegrown IT departments that make it complicated to centralize or upgrade the parallel system that causes inefficiency or redundancy (Deloitte., 2001). Education sector need to reconsider infrastructure. In order to reduce the cost of infrastructure, institutions are heading for partnerships with private sector to develop share facilities that can be utilized by citizens and students. A strategic approach is essential if schools intend to keep costs aligned in the upcoming years (Deloitte., 2001). Reporting and regulatory requirement oblige the education sector to invest strategically. Cost containment and funding constraints are not the only byproducts of financial crisis. Due to international economic meltdown, governments globally have been speeding up oversight in educational industry by flexing the muscles of regulatory authority. In numerous other cases, antagonism has caught educational sector. In order to differentiate themselves from crowded marketplace, educational institutions need to invest in information systems that are more sophisticated (Deloitte., 2001). Leadership Process: A Catalyst for Change in Educational Sector These critical issues call for assistance from the side of leaders in educational sector. According to Heifetz, (1994), leadership is a process “to address conflicts in the values people hold, or to diminish the gap between the values people stand for and the reality they face” (p. 22). Noonan (2003) in ‘The Elements of Leadership’, states that, “Leadership is developing potential and building community” (p. 3). Conventional views referred school leadership as operational or managerial functions. Principals and superintendent serve the roles of efficient mangers, by guiding daily operations of school district. Today, these conventional views still prevail because school administrators are still directing day-to-day operation at the same time, emphasizing on the standards, students learning, performance assessment, accountability tests, as well as restructuring efforts (Noonan, 2003). The responsibilities and roles of school leaders matter in numerous ways and they can be proved as catalyst for change. The consensus of previous researches states that leadership indeed makes a difference in students’ learning. Impact of leaders on learning tends to involve more factors than merely student learning. In wider context, leadership influences the way schools are operated and functioned. Self-management needs to be practices in providing greater potential for indirect and direct influences on the outcome of pupil and school. Effective leadership is crucial if colleges and schools are willing to achieve range of objectives set by large numbers of stakeholders. As the pressure intensifies from environment, school leaders need to acquire better skills, understanding, and resilience, to withstand their schools (Weber, 1947). Limitations of Leadership Implementation pitfalls are the elements that affect the realization of educational leadership. Failure to have clear goals, shared vision, and objectives with particular and measurable outcomes can trouble the effort of change. Poorly formulated implementation plan that fails to define responsibilities, tasks, and benchmark results in effort failing. Administrators, who do not converse with relevant stakeholders about the challenges and success dramatically, intensify the risk of failure. The leadership gap is one of the biggest pitfalls. Inconsistent curriculum, inadequate practices of teaching, toxic grading systems, infrequent feedback, and resistance to requires skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and communication are byproducts of failure of leadership. In order to aspire 21st century learning and teaching, then it requires 21st century leaders. Particularly, if the schools require skills such as creativity, collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, then leaders need to assess the instances where that can observes these traits within the premises of school and classroom (Kiuhara, Graham, & Hawken, 2009). Another limitation of successful leadership within the educational system is blaming each other. Blame is an ineffective approach. Colleges blame school systems and school systems in turn blame colleges. Teachers blame administrators for inadequate working conditions and unbearable workload and administrators blame teachers for lack of practice and training to teach. If we aim to make the most of opportunities of 21 century, then a shift is required from blaming to accountability. Self-discipline, resilience, and work ethic are integral for every student in this century. Educational leaders must embrace feedback, take personal responsibility, and alter the models require to close the gaps between leadership and educational sector (Whitty, 2008). Theory of Leadership: Goal Setting Theory Edwin Locke’s goal setting theory emphasized on motivating own self and motivating people. Clarity, challenge, determination, feedback, and complexity of task are important components of Locke’s goal setting theory. This theory can be applied for exhilarating the process of leadership in educational sector. The following are the ways with the help of which this theory can be employed within the education sector. Educational leaders and relevant stakeholders needs to develop action plans in order to outline long-term and immediate tasks, timeliness, requires resources, benchmarks, and standards for achieving goals (Perrow, 1986). A political action strategies and communication plan need to be established in order to obtain resources and develop commitment. Needs assessment need to be designed and conducted to inform where the educational institution and educational sector currently stand. It will further indicate how far they are from acquiring their goals and vision. Leaders of educational sector need to develop goals and vision for schools and districts. Both vision and goals must focus on enhancement of teach effectiveness and students learning. Educational leaders further need to develop summative and formative evaluation plan that will direct the successful execution of tasks. Educational leaders must possess sufficient knowledge in order to predict and address in any issue of problem arises. Theory of Leadership: Power and Influence Power and Influence Theory is another leadership theory, which addresses different types of power and influences. Some of them include Coercive Power, Referent Power, Expert Power, Reward Power, and Legitimate Power. As per the situation, a specific type of power can be utilized. The extent of control and power that leaders hold over workplace decision is an important for examining the status and professionalization of work. Academics usually have greater control than administrators of university in the content of research and teaching, hiring new colleagues through promotions and evaluation of members. In this way, they have better influence in ongoing content of work. In contrast to that, people coming from low status occupation tend to have little say over their work. Educational policy makers and school administrators need to utilize the power of their position in constructive manner in order to deal with the prevalent problems dwelling in educational sector (Bauer, & Bogotch, 1997). The way educational policy makers set strategies for schools and the way school administrators follow those policies are much different. Policy makers need to address the prevalent issues in the educational sector. School administrators must also align their institutions with those policies. A larger responsibility is on the side of policy makers to formulate the policies and ensure that they are being implemented. Hefty amount of fine must be imposed on those institutions that do not comply with these policies. It is the responsibility of policy makers to communicate these policies in every institution. They must also develop a regulatory department that ensures the compliance of institutions with these policies. Utilizing power and influence in productive manner is profoundly linked with success of educational institutes (Heifetz, 1994). Works Cited Ayers, W., 2001. To teach: The journey of a teacher. New York: Teachers College Press. Bauer, S., & Bogotch, I., 1997. An analysis of the relationships between site council resources, council practices, and outcomes. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 415 262) Conway, J., & Calz, F., 1995, December/1996, January. The dark side of shared decision making. Educational Leadership, 53, p. 45–49. Deloitte., 2001. 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English education policy 1988 to the present, Educational Management, Administration and Leadership, 36(2), p. 165–84. Read More