The other components of the educational work organisation however might demonstrate more significant differences. For example the students were divided even more than in today’s society into rich and poor with correspondingly different educational niches. Privately funded tutors and the Public schools system provided for the rich, providing a classical education, whereas the poorer students had a short education in crowded school classes until they left to enter the paid world of work in factories, mines etc, . Women were disregarded in terms of serious education equality even in the more privileged classes and even the Oxbridge colleges only offered full degree status to women well into the 2oth century. The education act post World War 2 became the first real changes for all British children providing an unusual set of rights and basic curriculum requirements.
Much more recently the education system has been centrally controlled to a greater extent with a National Curriculum, the Key Stage 3 Strategy and National Literacy and Numeracy strategies. The Government has take a more regulational role in determine the nature of the work organisation. It has also set targets and published league tables, setting OFSTED teams and HMIs to inspect and label schools as successful or failing. The educational system has never bee as publically accountable and the stress levels of its workforce have never been so high! Performance Management and Thresholds for teachers have been introduced in an attempt to reach a performance related pay, despite fierce union opposition. The “Good old days” of the past with job security and simpler progression has been replaced by a more precarious new way with measurements of value added and increased bureaucracy leading to many teachers leaving the profession after short times. Conversely, however the teaching profession has at least broken through the glass ceiling that prevented many women from achieving higher management positions. There has been a feminisation of the teaching workforce particularly at primary school levels but also increasingly in secondary schools and there are many female managers in post. Change is apparent in most aspect of the educational work environment.
Estelle Morris speaking at a recent conference in Leicester, ( March 2003) after her stepping down as Secretary of State, speaking to an ever complaining and stressed teaching profession, made it clear that in her view education would never be able to sit back and say that it had reached an equilibrium where it would not need further change. The curriculum would be constantly reviewed and revised, the workforce would be restructured, particularly in light of a shrinking supply of teachers, the roles of support staff would be increased in numbers and status with a clearer career progressions route, funding arrangements would be changed, teaching and learning methodologies would develop to encompass modern research findings on how students learn etc. These changes would be necessary to ensure education in Britain remained competitive with the world educational provision. Fundamentally it ensures economic viability as a nation providing the skillbase and entrepreneurship for success.
Tony Blair speaking in November to the innovative specialist colleges conference made it clear how important education is. “We are currently investing record sums in our education system, 6 per cent over and above inflation for each of the next three years. Yet investment will only deliver higher standards if it drives radical change, including far greater diversity, devolution and choice.” He stated that the inherited education system was failing too many pupils, not just because it was under funded, but also because although the best schools were excellent, too many schools did not have the right structures, incentives and support needed to succeed. He declared a continuing desire and intention for change and reform. Reform to secure basic national standards and proper accountability to parents. Reform to increase diversity and choice, so that individual schools, and the system at large, cater better for the talents and needs of each individual pupil. Reform to empower successful leaders, headteachers and management teams, to run schools without unnecessary bureaucratic interference. Reform to staffing and training, so that schools have the modern, skilled workforce they need. He also stated that inevitably radical change almost always arouses controversy.
So why change? Is it because the British education system has always been inadequate? Is it because society has and is changing and education strives to catch up? Is it because of economic pressure and demands of skills in the workplace or changes in the workforce?
David Milliband Minister of State for Schools identifies five factors as the key to change, moving from good to great: Excellent leaders - people with passion for raising standards, but an unwavering openness to change and faith in people rather than structure. A resolute focus of people - not some bolted-on driver but placed right at the heart of change. How the best organisations shatter their ceilings of mediocrity. The strength to use data - facts that tell you what's not working as much as what is. Unshakeable tenacity - to go from build-up to breakthrough, no matter how long or hard the road and finally a readiness to use technology as a means for transformation rather than just a way to do the same things quicker.
Caldwell describes educational change and status quo by using a model of scenarios. Two scenarios extend the status quo: Scenario 1: ‘Robust bureaucratic school systems’ characterised by strong bureaucracies and robust institutions; vested interests resisting fundamental change; and continuing problems of school image and resourcing. Scenario 2: ‘Extending the market model’ characterised by widespread dissatisfaction leading to a re-shaping of public funding and school systems; rapid growth of demand-driven ‘market currencies’, indicators and accreditation; and greater diversity of providers and professionals, along with greater inequality. These two scenarios bring change but within set parameters.
Two scenarios apply to re-schooling: Scenario 3: ‘Schools as social core centres’ characterised by high levels of public trust and funding; schools as centres of community and social capital formation; and greater organisational and professional diversity as well as greater social equity. Scenario 4: ‘Schools as focused learning organisations’ characterised by high levels of public trust and funding; schools and teachers networking widely in learning organisations; and strong quality and equity features. These two models consider school as a changed work environment from traditional Victorian models to the social core.
Lastly Caldwell describes two ‘de-schooling’ scenarios: Scenario 5: ‘Learner networks and the network society’ characterised by widespread dissatisfaction with and rejection of organised school systems; non-formal learning using ICT potential that reflects the ‘network society’; and organization around communities of interest with potentially serious equity problems. Scenario 6: ‘Teacher exodus – The “meltdown” scenario’, an extension of the status quo in some settings, characterised by severe teacher shortages that do not respond to policy action; retrenchment, conflict, and falling standards leading to areas of ‘meltdown’; with a crisis spurring widespread innovation with a future still uncertain. Theses last models consider a dramatically different model that could emerge and breakdown. COMMENT
Another way of considering change in education is to use another model of three directions or tracks for change in education (Caldwell and Spinks, 1998) Track 1 is the building of systems of self-managing schools. More authority and responsibility are decentralised to the local level within a framework of centrally determined goals, priorities, frameworks, standards and accountabilities. Track 2 is an unrelenting focus on learning outcomes for students. There is unprecedented concern for the monitoring of student achievement, with international benchmarking now gathering momentum (as illustrated in PISA). Track 3 is the creation of schools for the knowledge economy, with information and communications technology a powerful force for change. A defining characteristic of the knowledge economy is that the largest group in the workforce is comprised of knowledge workers, being those who solve problems, manage information, or create new knowledge, products and services.
Caldwell develops a design for the third track for change (‘creating schools for the knowledge economy’) using a gestalt — a perceived organised whole that is more than the sum of its parts.
Figure 1: A gestalt design for creating schools for the knowledge economy
(Caldwell and Spinks, 1998)
Changes are described as the following :
g1(Connectedness in curriculum).The essence is dramatic change in approaches to learning and teaching as electronic networking allows 'cutting across and so challenging the very idea of subject boundaries' and 'changing the emphasis from impersonal curriculum to excited live exploration’
g2( Workplace transformation).Schools as workplaces are transformed in every dimension, including the scheduling of time for learning and approaches to human resource management, rendering obsolete most traditional approaches that derive from an industrial age, taking away the old Victorian model!
g3 (School fabric and globalisation).The technological change model. The fabric of schooling is similarly rendered obsolete by electronic networking. Everything from building design to the size, shape, alignment, and furnishing of space for the 'knowledge worker' in the school is transformed. In one sense, of course, the school has no walls, for there are global learning networks, and much of the learning that calls for the student to be located at school occurs in many places, at home and, at the upper years of secondary schooling and, for life-long learning, in the work place.
g4 (Professionalism and great teaching).This change model turns the agenda back t the workforce. A wide range of professionals and para-professionals support learning in an educational parallel to the diversity of support that may be found in modern health care. The role of teacher is elevated, for it demands wisdom, judgement, and a facility to manage learning in modes more complex and varied than ever. While the matter of intellectual capital must be resolved, the teacher is freed from the impossible task of designing from their own resources learning experiences to challenge every student: the resources of the world's great teachers will be at hand This would ne a tremendous answer to the current teaching union demands for work- life balance.
g5 (Teams and pastoral care).A capacity to work in teams is more evident in approaches to learning, given the primacy of the work team in every formulation of the workplace in the knowledge society. This, of course, will confound those who see electronic networking in an outdated stereotype of the loner with the laptop. The concept of 'pastoral care' of students is as important as ever for learning in this mode, and in schools that quite literally have no boundaries
g6 (Cyber-policy, access and equity) A 'cyber-policy of the future' is a priority as issues of access and equity will drive public debate until such time as prices fall to make electronic networks as common as the telephone or radio, and that may soon be a reality, given trends in networked computers
(g7 Virtual schools).The concept of the virtual organisation or the learning network organisation is a reality in the knowledge society. Schools take on many of the characteristics of such organisations, given that learning occurs in so many modes and from so many sources, all networked electronically
Caldwell attempts to analyse the theories of work in the educational system in terms of change can be paralleled with comparative studies in other fields of work. It can be considered against life cycles of aging and dying organizations.
The theories of work look at new forms of organisation such as customer led goals against producer led goals, Michael Barber recently considered the MINIMALIST state public services against the ENABLING state public services. In the Minimalist state most citizens pay for privately provided services and public services are a safety net, for those who can’t afford anything better. In the Enabling state there are strong public services which are universal and diverse and respond to the needs and aspirations of customers
and also there is competition with the private sector on quality
•
COMMENT
Ending
Michael Barber
schools are one part of a broader reform programme. Let me be frank about its origins. There is a tension at the heart of public service reform. Set people working in the public services free and simply let them get on with it and the risk is that those who fail to provide a good serviced carry on failing. And failure for pupils or patients is the greatest inequality there can be. But go to the other extreme, try to raise standards by central diktat, by bureaucratic edict and you risk stifling the very creativity that produces high standards.
We are trying to resolve that dilemma by national frameworks where necessary; but then granting greater and greater freedom on the basis of performance. In addition, we are trying to break down the old demarcations in employment.
The aim is a system of far greater diversity of supply and flexibility in working. Hence specialist schools, foundation hospitals, PCTs and all the reforms to employment conditions.
Ending
Change is beneficial to advance of civilisation , to technology, to organisational efficiency. Change , however can also be too rapid, poorly thought through, pointless, for it is own sake, throwing the baby out with the bathwater! If it’s not broken don’t fix it!
David Milliband
How we move from a situation where we are high in international tables for average performance, but also have high inequality linked to social class, to one where we raise average performance but also overcome the power of home background to determine life changes. How we move from raising standards fastest in the poorest areas at primary levels, to delivering genuine opportunity in secondary education to the 83 per cent of working class children who currently do not reach university entrance standards.
If we do these things, we will not just change our education system, we will change our country. That is what is at stake.
schools are one part of a broader reform programme. Let me be frank about its origins. There is a tension at the heart of public service reform. Set people working in the public services free and simply let them get on with it and the risk is that those who fail to provide a good serviced carry on failing. And failure for pupils or patients is the greatest inequality there can be. But go to the other extreme, try to raise standards by central diktat, by bureaucratic edict and you risk stifling the very creativity that produces high standards.
We are trying to resolve that dilemma by national frameworks where necessary; but then granting greater and greater freedom on the basis of performance. In addition, we are trying to break down the old demarcations in employment.
The aim is a system of far greater diversity of supply and flexibility in working. Hence specialist schools, foundation hospitals, PCTs and all the reforms to employment conditions.
I sense there is now a global consensus on expectations for schools and this is the vision to which I subscribe. It may be summarised in these words:
All students in every setting should be literate and numerate and should acquire a capacity for life-long learning, leading to success and satisfaction as good citizens and productive workers in a knowledge economy.
Change is beneficial to advance of civilisation , to technology, to organisational efficiency. Change , however can also be too rapid, poorly thought through, pointless, for it is own sake, throwing the baby out with the bathwater! If it’s not broken don’t fix it!
References:
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Barber, M. A new kind of Conversation, TCTrust Paper 27th November 2002
Barber, M.(2002)"The Impact of the Reform of Public Services on Education."( , ,27th November 2002
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Beare, H. (2001), Creating the Future School, London, Falmer Press
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Beck, U. (1999) ‘Beyond the nation State’, New Statesman, 6 December pp 25-27
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Blair, Tony. (2002)Speech to the Technology Colleges Trust ,(on TCT web site ) 27th November 2002
Caldwell, B.J. (2002) “Education for the Knowledge Economy: Five Domains of Innovation”,
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DfES, (2002) Time for Standards: Reforming the School Workforce. London:DfES
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Handy, C (1997) The Hungry Spirit, London: Hutchinson
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Hopkins, D. (2002) "Sharing Knowledge and Developing Learning Communities" Standards and Effectiveness Unit, DfES
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, 27th November 2002
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Millar, D.(2001) Education, Work and the Internet,
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Morris, E. Speech to Leicester Education Department, March 2002
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Noon, M and Blyton, P. xxxxxxx Chapter 2
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November, A.(2002), “The Role of Information Communications Technology in Developing Learning for the Knowledge Economy”, Renaissance Learning
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Miha Pogacnik, in Senge, P. et al, The Dance of Change: The Challenges of Sustaining Momentum in a Learning Organisation, Fifth Discipline
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