Author: Beth Swartz, Translation: Atiya Mohamed Al-Omari
Organizational Change:
I. What and Why? The history of education presents numerous great ideas, but many of them face failure in implementation. New reforms emerge, providing hope for change, only to wither away. Often, the reason for their failure lies in the theory's inadequacy for the new practice. This mismatch commonly occurs in reading education when the best training in phonetics transforms into a theoretical approach to phonetics and then into content indicators. Sometimes, little attention is given to retraining teachers, and innovation stops when the focus shifts solely to theory, neglecting practical application. Presently, educational management faces challenges resulting from a lack of practical application.
In the last years of the 20th century, organized thinking by non-educators (e.g., W. Edwards Deming, Peter Senge, Marvyn Tribus) encouraged learners to emphasize the importance of organizational change. Consequently, local study agencies such as the Skills Acquisition Necessities Secretariat (SANS), funding agencies like the National Science Foundation (NSF), and specialized associations such as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) began to affirm that educational theories require continuous structural change.
II. Organizational Change in Schools: Organized change theories and best practices haven't just been applied at the federal and state levels but, more importantly, at the educational district, school, and even classroom levels. Organized educational change is a plan that encompasses all efforts to redesign an educational system that creates opportunities for every student to acquire lifelong skills. The design process, even in schools, undergoes a change process. Initially, for instance, the school community establishes the skills and knowledge students frequently need in the next ten years.
This organized approach to educational change focuses on practical implementation, emphasizing a continuous structural redesign of the education system to equip students with essential skills. It operates not only at higher administrative levels but trickles down to the regional, school, classroom, and lesson levels. Emphasizing practical application ensures the success and sustainability of educational reforms in the 21st century.
This strategic shift towards organized change aligns education with the evolving needs of the century, facilitating lifelong learning and skill development for all students.
