1

Leadership FOR ChangeLeadership FOR Change

A Review of Key Change ConceptsA Review of Key Change ConceptsA Brief Look at Key Leadership PracticesA Brief Look at Key Leadership Practices

West Virginia 21st Century

Leadership for 21st Century SchoolsNovember, 2007

Jerry Valentine

Professor of School Leadership

Director, Middle Level Leadership Center

University of Missouri

2

Morning General Session: Morning General Session: Gerrita PostlewaitGerrita Postlewait

• Leaders create a purposeful community within the school…

• Focus on the right things…

• Know how to lead change…

• So, let’s look at “Leadership FOR Change” for a few minutes…

3

A Review: 1A Review: 1stst & 2 & 2ndnd Order Change Order Change• First Order

– Incremental– “Next most obvious step”– Relatively quick-fix solutions– Address simple problems where traditional solutions suffice– Single-loop learning where previous strategies will work

• Second Order– Significant departure from the norm– Deep change affecting values, beliefs and assumptions– Slow, evolving process over time– Addresses complex problems requiring new, thoughtful, and often

creative comprehensive solutions– Double-loop learning where new strategies are needed to solve

the problem– Becomes institutionalized in the culture of the organization

4

Another Perspective of Change: Another Perspective of Change: Lewin’s Freeze/Unfreeze/RefreezeLewin’s Freeze/Unfreeze/Refreeze

Model of Change Model of Change

5

Ice Flow: Freezes, Thaws, Reshapes, Ice Flow: Freezes, Thaws, Reshapes, Refreezes with the EnvironmentRefreezes with the Environment

Sun/Shade Current/DepthSun/Shade Current/Depth

6

Freeze-Unfreeze InterpretationFreeze-Unfreeze Interpretation

• Freeze is our current state

• Unfreeze is the time spent to help the school become receptive to change

• Transition is the actual implementation of the change

• Refreezing is stabilizing the organization so the new change can be internalized and on-going until it needs to be changed

7

Same Concept, Different VisualSame Concept, Different Visual

Current State Unfreeze Transition Freeze

Lewin’s Three Stages of Change:

8

Three Common Change ModelsThree Common Change Models

• Authoritative (Top Down)

• Strategic (Established Sequential Steps)

• Transformational (Capacity Building)

Transformational leadership with flexible strategies understood by all is usually necessary to achieve lasting, second-order change

9

Authoritative: Historical, Commonly Used Authoritative: Historical, Commonly Used Strategy for ChangeStrategy for Change

• Increase Driving Forces

• Increase incentives, power, authority

• Decrease Resisting Forces

• Decrease fear, anxiety

• If resistance was low, leaders increased drive;• If resistance was high, leaders increased drive while trying to

decrease resistance

• Basically…change was MANDATED!

10

On-going Emotions of School ChangeOn-going Emotions of School Change

Comfort with

current conditions

Realization of needed change

Realization of urgency for change

Engagement & Problem Solving

Temporary Optimism

Frustrations of implementing the change

Persistence

Comfort w/ on-going change

TIME

Sta

ff A

nxi

ety

Hig

h

L

ow

11

Practical Stages of Strategic, Practical Stages of Strategic, Capacity-Building ChangeCapacity-Building Change

• Build the Sense of Need and Urgency– Establish knowledge, understanding, and realization of need for

change (collaborative conversations)

• Empower Personnel– Establish participative, problem-solving conversations across teams,

task groups, and whole faculty (collaborative conversations)

• Build Direction and Unity of Purpose via Comprehensive Visions– Establish goals and strategies involving all faculty throughout the

process (collaborative conversations)

• Monitor, Measure, and Assess Progress toward Visions– Engage all staff in the collection and analysis of various forms of data

to monitor and change as needed (collaborative conversations)

12

Four Stages of Change under Four Stages of Change under Transformational LeadershipTransformational Leadership

• Making a compelling case for change (intellectual stimulation and clarifying existing values and beliefs)

• Inspiring a shared vision to guide the change (broad-based input for direction setting)

• Leading the change with a sense of urgency (maintain momentum and provide energy and inspiration)

• Embedding the change (internalize the change into the culture while fostering continuous change)

• Adapted from Ian Hay www.weleadinlearning.org/transformationalleadership.htm

13

Social SignificanceSocial Significance

Successful change strategies are…

Socially based andAction oriented

Fullan 2006

14

Collaborative Conversations

Collaborative Actions

Professional Relationships

Trust Respect

School Change

Professional Community

Commitment

15

Staff CapacityStaff Capacity

Assume that lack of personal and group capacity is the problem….

and work on it continuously.

• Fullan, 2005

16

Empowerment Supports Three Personnel Empowerment Supports Three Personnel Concepts Important to ChangeConcepts Important to Change

1. Self-imposed Accountability• Take ownership of their roles/responsibilities• Share information and seek feedback• Communicate more often and thus make better decisions• Establish high standards and value reaching these standards.

2. Collaboration• Teachers like to work with colleagues• Interpersonal relationships grow• Collegial support increases• Teachers develop a sense of belonging

3. Initiative• Teachers feel what they do matters (worth/value)• Teachers believe they can make a difference (self-efficacy)• Teachers share ideas and suggestions • Expectations of success produce energy for extra effort and persistence

under pressure.

Adapted from Fullan 2006 and Kanter 2004

17

Individualized Support of StaffIndividualized Support of Staff

When studying factors that influence achievement:• The difference (variance) among teachers in a

school can be two to three times as great as the variance among schools.

• Naturally occurring teacher effects on achievement are greater than naturally occurring school effects on achievement.

• In poverty schools, the difference is even greater than in affluent schools.

• Nye, Konstantopoules, Hedges 2004

18

Quality StaffQuality Staff

• Individualized support to build the quality of teachers on the bus….because……

• Variations in achievement are greater across classrooms within a school than across schools.

• Fullan 2006

19

The Big Picture of Meaningful The Big Picture of Meaningful School ChangeSchool Change

• Set Directions and Build Commitment through Meaningful Involvement

• Develop Individuals, Teams, and Whole Faculty

• Redesign the Organization, Internalize the Specific Changes into the Culture (Second-Order)

• Internalize the “Change Process”…It has to become CONTINUOUS (a part of the culture)

20

References and Recommended References and Recommended ReadingsReadings

• Berliner, David (2005). Our Impoverished View of Educational Reform. Teachers College Record, August>

• Cotton, Kathleen (2003). Principals and Student Achievement: What the Research Says, ASCD.

• Danielson, Charlotte (2003). Enhancing Student Achievement: A Framework for School Improvement, ASCD.

• DuFour, Richard, et al. (2004). Whatever It Takes, National Education Service.

• DuFour, Richard, et al., Eds. (2005). On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities, National Education Service.

• Fullan, Michael (2003). The Moral Imperative of School Leadership, Ontario Principals Council/Corwin Press.

• Fullan, Michael, et al. (2006). Breakthrough, Corwin Press.• Fullan, Michael (2006). Turnaround Leadership, Jossey-Bass.• Hargreaves, A. and Fink, D. (2006). Sustainable Leadership. Jossey-

Bass.

21

Recommended ReadingsRecommended Readings• Hopkins, David, et al. (1994). School Improvement in an Era of Change,

Teachers College Press.• Kanter, R. (2004). Confidence: How Winning and Losing Streaks Begin and

End. Corwin Press. • Lambert, Linda (2003). Leadership Capacity for School Improvement, ASCD.• Leithwood, Kenneth et al. Eds. (2000). Organizational Learning in Schools,

Swets & Zeitlinger Publishing.• Leithwood, Kenneth, et al. (2001). Making Schools Smarter: A System for

Monitoring School and District Progress, Corwin Press.• Leithwood, Kenneth, et al., Eds. (2006). Teaching for Deep Understanding:

What Every Educator Should Know, Corwin Press.• Leithwood, Kenneth. (2005) Teacher Working Conditions that Matter.

Toronto: Elementary Teacher Federation of Ontario. • Marzano, Robert, et al. (2001). Classroom Instruction that Works: Research

Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, ASCD.• Marzano, Robert (2003). What Works in Schools: Translating Research into

Action, ASCD.

22

Recommended Readings Recommended Readings

• Marzano, Robert (2005). School Leadership that Works: From Research to Results ASCD/McREL.

• Nye, B., Konstantopoulos, S., & Hedges, L. (2004) How Large are the Teacher Effects! Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, #26.

• Painter, Bryan, et al. (1999). Engaging Teachers in the School Improvement Process, NASSP/Middle Level Leadership Center, University of Missouri.

• Painter, Bryan, et al. (2000). The Use of Teams in the School Improvement Process, NASSP/Middle Level Leadership Center, University of Missouri.

• Pheffer, J. & Sutton, R. (2000) The Knowing-Doing Gap, Harvard Business School Press.

• Quinn, David, et al. (1999). Using Data for School Improvement, NASSP/Middle Level Leadership Center, University of Missouri.

• Reeves, Douglas (2006). The Learning Leader: How to Focus School Improvement for Better Schools, ASCD.

• Tschannen-Moran, Megan (2004). Trust Matters: Leadership for Successful Schools, Jossey-Bass.

23

Recommended ReadingsRecommended Readings• Valentine, Jerry (2001) Frameworks for School Improvement: A

Synthesis of Essential Concepts, International Confederation of Principals Recommended Web Reading or Queensland Elementary Journal 2002, or Middle Level Leadership Center, University of Missouri.

• Valentine, Jerry, et al. (2004). Leadership for Highly Successful Middle Level Schools, NASSP.

• Valentine, Jerry, et al. (2006). Project ASSIST: A Comprehensive, Systemic Change Initiative for Middle Level Schools, Paper presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Conference, San Francisco, April. (Available from author or at Middle Level Leadership Center web site).

• Wheatley, Margaret (2005). Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time, San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

• York-Barr, Jennifer, et al. (2006). Reflective Practice to Improve Schools: An Action guide for Educators, Corwin Press.

Jerry Valentine, Middle Level Leadership Center, 211 Hill Hall, University of Missouri (573) 882-0944 ValentineJ@missouri.edu www.MLLC.org

24

25

Extra InfoExtra Info

• The following slides are extra slides provided as a resource for your efforts for change.

26

Primary Conditions for Organizations to Primary Conditions for Organizations to Make Sense of Complex CircumstancesMake Sense of Complex Circumstances

• IDENTITY – Who are we and what do we stand for (values, beliefs)

• INFORMATION– Flow of quality information with the purpose of creating

shared knowledge and eventually shared wisdom.

• RELATIONSHIPS– Pathways to intelligence and commitment for without

them nothing happens

Margaret Wheatley 2005

27

7 Principles of Sustainable 7 Principles of Sustainable LeadershipLeadership

1. DEPTH (SL matters; it makes a difference)2. LENGTH (SL endures; makes a difference over time)3. BREADTH (SL spreads; diffuses across the

organization)4. JUSTICE (SL does no harm to and actually improves

the surrounding environment)5. DIVERSITY (SL promotes cohesive diversity)6. RESOURCEFULNESS (SL develops and does not

deplete internal and human resources)7. CONVERSATION (SL honors and learns from the best

of the past to create an even better future)

Hargreaves and Fink 2006

28

During Times of Change in During Times of Change in Education…Education…

it is essential that school leaders understand the process of change

and the human dynamics of change.

29

Power Changes during ChangePower Changes during Change

• Implementing change processes, (such as creating a leadership team, SI Team, or “think-tank team”) means a change in perceived power for teachers who were in influential positions (such as team leaders or department chairs).

• Such changes can obviously create resentment or negativity toward the change process.

30

School Improvement TeamSchool Improvement Team

• Develop and maintain a school improvement team that leads the faculty and champions continuous improvement– Enlist respected, quality, teacher-leaders who care– Participate in each session—make this your priority– Help the Team become the school’s ”think tank”– Help the team build the capacity to analyze, problem

solve, and design for change– Work as a member of the team to lead the faculty in

visioning, problem-solving, and designing change– Principals directly influence the success of the SI

Team, and thus the engagement of the whole faculty

31

Support and ResourcesSupport and Resources

• Most schools need outside expertise/support to identify sources of knowledge and facilitate school improvement activities

• Most meaningful school improvement requires– personnel changes– curricular and program changes– professional development– time and patience

32

Why Teachers Resist ChangeWhy Teachers Resist Change

• Lack of trust• Absence of belief change is needed• Believe change is not feasible• Cost of change may shift resources• Loss of status or power• Threat to existing values and ideals• Resentment of interference

• Adapted from Yukl, 1998

33

Factors that Affect Teacher Factors that Affect Teacher Motivation and PerformanceMotivation and Performance

• Sense of self-efficacy• Sense of collective efficacy• Sense of collective commitment• Job satisfaction• Stress and burnout• Morale• Engagement with the school & profession• Professional knowledge (content and pedagogy)

• Fullan (2006); Leithwood (2005)

34

Barriers to Collective ChangeBarriers to Collective Change

• When talk and planning replace action• When memory of what we did, what worked and

what did not override new thought• When fear, anxiety, or stubbornness prevents

action grounded in knowledge and reflection• When measurement impedes the use of good

judgment• When internal competition and blame-pointing

override cooperation and relationship building.

Adapted from Pfeffer & Sutton 2000

35

Changing MindsChanging Minds

• When changing someone’s mind, connect to their reality as the point of departure.

• To change another’s mind, don’t espouse your own point of view…

• Rather, engage the psyche of the other person.

• Command and control strategies for change get results, but only for a short time and to a degree.

• Adapted from Gardner, 2004; Fullan 2006