Drivers for educational change? Educational leaders’ perceptions of academic developers as change agents

This paper examines variation in change agents' experiences of an intended culture change, following their implementation of an organisation-wide initiative at a single university. The purpose of the initiative was to promote better understanding of a range of academic practice and academic conduct issues amongst students and staff, and generate an institution-wide culture change. The change agents were interviewed and resulting data analysed using the phenomenographic approach, from which four qualitatively different conceptions were developed. The results suggest that a full culture change has not occurred, but that instances of localised changes have taken place. Drawing on two theoretical models, it is argued that in initiatives of this type, greater account needs to be taken of the meso level – cultures and practices in departmental and programme contexts – and that such meso level considerations should be used to complement central planning approaches adopted by academic leaders who design such initiatives.

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Democratically Accountable Leadership: Tensions, Overlaps, and Principles in Action

Journal of School Leadership ◽

10.1177/105268460801800205 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 224-248 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Carol A. Mullen ◽

Sandra Harris ◽

Caroline R. Pryor ◽

Tricia Browne-Ferrigno

Keyword(s):

Social Justice ◽

Doctoral Students ◽

Change Agents ◽

Educational Leaders ◽

Leadership Preparation ◽

Democratic Principles

This discussion focuses on the intersection of two dissonant concepts of importance in today's educational scene—democracy and accountability. In this article, we describe how these conflicting ideologies might be resolved, theoretically and practically, through democratically accountable leadership—that is, the dual necessity of educational leaders to successfully function as change agents working for social justice. Understanding how educational leaders conceive of these phenomena is an important starting place toward preparing future educational leaders to deal more effectively with them. Hence, we investigated the idea of rethinking accountability around democratic principles and incorporating it into leadership preparation. Specifically, we present results from a study involving doctoral students (i.e., educational leaders) who were asked to link the principles of democracy and accountability to the application of social justice. As such, the article contains suggestions for implementing democratically accountable leadership into practice.

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Towards an Anti-Racist, Culturally Responsive, and LGBTQ+ Inclusive Education

10.4018/978-1-7998-8463-7.ch007 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 150-175

Author(s):

Artineh Samkian ◽

John Pascarella ◽

Julie Slayton

Keyword(s):

Deep Learning ◽

Action Research ◽

Inclusive Education ◽

Culturally Responsive ◽

Change Agents ◽

Educational Leaders ◽

Program Of Study ◽

Self Study ◽

Instruction And Curriculum ◽

Support Students

This chapter summarizes the ongoing efforts of faculty to develop a program of study embedded in an educational doctorate (EdD) program intended to develop critically conscious educational leaders and change agents. It discusses how courses were collaboratively developed as well as how faculty decided on and began to employ an experimental self-study action research Dissertation in Practice. This chapter then outlines what was learned as a team of collaborators about the best ways to establish coherence and cultivate deep learning to support students' ability to work with adults in the context of instruction and curriculum to address historically entrenched inequities that differentially disadvantage some students while granting privileges to others.

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Liberating Sovereign Potential: A Working Education Capacity Building Model for Native Nations

Journal of School Leadership ◽

10.1177/1052684620951724 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (6) ◽

pp. 493-518

Author(s):

Alex RedCorn (Osage)

Keyword(s):

Professional Growth ◽

Indigenous Education ◽

Change Agents ◽

Educational Leaders ◽

Community Assets ◽

Building Model ◽

Governance Systems ◽

The Status ◽

Leadership Context ◽

Healthy Community

With culturally sustaining pedagogies gaining momentum in our evolving educational landscape, the political backdrop of sovereignty and the pursuit of self-determination through education for Indigenous peoples creates a truly unique leadership context. The purpose of this conceptual article is to introduce a working model for educational leaders in Native nations to liberate educational sovereignty by engaging in broad and dynamic systems thinking that centers on their nation’s cultural and governance systems. From this positionality, this model then calls for leaders to engage in the iterative work of (a) assessing the educational landscape and identifying community assets, (b) fostering professional growth across systems, and (c) engaging in ongoing systems development and alignment advocacy. Furthermore, this model calls for leaders to incorporate critical Indigenous education frameworks and philosophies into these efforts, as well as foster a healthy community of practice across all systems of education to cultivate conditions for ongoing learning and connectivity among professionals. Through these efforts, over time leaders in Native nations can increase their ability to liberate educational sovereignty by creating an army of change agents working to (re)center systems of learning around Native nation’s cultural and governance systems, and pull learning systems away from the assimilationist trajectory found in the status quo of settler-colonial education.

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Educational Change by Design: Creating a School of the Future

Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership ◽

10.1177/1555458920979838 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 155545892097983

Author(s):

Lisa G. Wyatt ◽

Benjamin S. Scragg ◽

Jennifer Y. G. Stein ◽

Punya Mishra

Keyword(s):

Educational Change ◽

Design Process ◽

Educational Leaders ◽

Radical Change ◽

New School ◽

Managing Change ◽

The Future ◽

Grammar Of Schooling ◽

Traditional Grammar

This case study, framed within a school–university partnership, highlights the tensions inherent to employing design-based approaches for educational change. The case illustrates core tensions between an abductive, open-ended, design-based approach to change versus more traditional (deductive/inductive) approaches to managing change in schools. The design process serves as a way to break away from the traditional “grammar of schooling” (Tyack & Tobin) in a system unaccustomed to radical change. The case highlights the challenges of maintaining fidelity to the design process within a range of logistical and resources constraints, such as the time available to participants to engage in the process, and the difficulty of rapidly prototyping a new school model within an existing educational ecosystem. In the teaching notes, we recommend a theoretical lens and set of questions for educational leaders to reflect on as they consider approaches to educational change in their own settings.

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What Skills Do Educational “Change Agents” Need? An Empirical View

Curriculum Inquiry ◽

10.1080/03626784.1988.11076034 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 157-193 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Matthew B. Miles ◽

Ellen R. Saxl ◽

Ann Lieberman

Keyword(s):

Educational Change ◽

Change Agents

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Teachers as educational change agents: what do we currently know? findings from a systematic review

Emerald Open Research ◽

10.35241/emeraldopenres.14385.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. 26

Author(s):

Chris Brown ◽

Robert White ◽

Anthony Kelly

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Educational Reform ◽

Educational Change ◽

Current Literature ◽

Teacher Change ◽

Change Agents ◽

Systematic Investigation ◽

Top Down ◽

Successful Operation

Change agents are individuals who can successfully transform aspects of how organisations operate. In education, teachers as change agents are increasingly seen as vital to the successful operation of schools and self-improving school systems. To date, however, there has been no systematic investigation of the nature and role of teacher change agents. To address this knowledge gap, we undertook a systematic review into five key areas regarding teachers as change agents. After reviewing 70 outputs we found that current literature predominantly positions teacher change agents as the deliverers of top-down change, with the possibility of bottom-up educational reform currently neglected.

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Including Students with Severe Disabilities in General Education Settings

Remedial and Special Education ◽

10.1177/074193259401500103 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 4-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Lech Wisniewski ◽

Sandra Alper

Keyword(s):

General Education ◽

Educational Change ◽

Empirical Data ◽

Educational Leaders ◽

Severe Disabilities ◽

Self Renewal ◽

Regulatory Policies ◽

School Settings ◽

Inclusive School ◽

Students With Severe Disabilities

A number of social, judiciary, and regulatory policies are intended to change current educational practices. Educational change, however, does not automatically occur as a result of policy adoption. Rather, educational change occurs as a result of leaders employing systematic procedures to bring about these changes. A growing philosophical, legal, and empirical data base supports the inclusion of students with severe disabilities in general education settings. This paper presents guidelines intended for educational leaders in effecting the change from segregated to inclusive school settings. Five systematic phases, or guidelines, are presented. In order to bring about successful inclusion of students with severe disabilities, leaders develop networks, assess resources, review options, install inclusion strategies, and provide a system of feedback and self-renewal.

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