Managing Complex Educational Change

This text discusses how to manage change in schools, which is often a complex process. The book draws on the latest thinking from business and education to provide advice on how to put reorganization proposals into place. The process of putting reorganization proposals into place is often full of drama for those involved, and the book provides a thorough investigation of the change process.

This text discusses ways to manage the process of putting major change into practice in schools. A common feature of all Western education systems today is the amount of major change taking place. Past knowledge about managing one change at a time is of little relevance in a world of multiple change. The book draws on the latest thinking from business and education on how to manage change in this chaotic context. Reorganizing school systems is often highly controversial with both teachers and parents. Major reorganization often involves redundancy and redeployment, premature and unwanted retirement, school closure and mergers. Parents may stand to lose their cherished local school, LEA staff involved often face problems they have not anticipated, such as unheralded changes in central government. The process of putting reorganization proposals into place is, therefore, full of drama for these directly involved and affected. The book provides a thorough investigation of the change process and includes lots of important advice as to how complex educational change can be managed successfully. Review: Mike Wallace and Keith Pocklington take on the task of explicating how the management of highly complex change may occur within education. Specifically, Wallace and Pocklington offer a highly nuanaced and insightful analysis of the vast educational reorganization of British schools throughout the latter half of the 1990's... This book offers an important opportunity to rethink how we view complex educational change, especially in regards to the individuals involved. -Teacher's College Record