Don Ledingham, in discussing some government imposed goals for school
performance, wrote;
>My problem is that these externally imposed targets have the potential to
>reaffirm teachers perceptions that they are not in a position of self
>determination and that a 'Theory X' style of management, which
>regards the workforce as essentially untrustworthy and in need of
>external control, is in predominance.
Yes. This same response to government imposed goals is experienced here
in America.
>My question is, "How do I introduce the concept of targets (which are
>completely alien to Scottish education) in a way in which teachers can
>feel in control and not react to them in a negative manner which might
>then necessitate an imposition from us, as managers?"
Almost 30 years ago General Electric used a process that forced it to
listen to and implement changes wanted by and implemented by its
workforce. They called the process "Work Out". The process is one in
which appointed managers conviened a meeting of all the people in a work
group to answer a simple question - what work do we do that frustrates
you in achieving your goals? As each frustrating parcel of work was
identified a solutions was saught. If a solution could be implemented
by fiat of a manager he or she was expected to implement it right in the
meeting. If the solution required further work one of the workers was
chosen (hopefully by volunteering) to implement it and the appropriate
manager was tasked to make the needed resources available to the
worker. Each of these follow on efforts were tracked to completion.
I have used a variation of this process to great success in getting
management to involve the work force in improving both group
performance and improving the quality of work place life.
>I am coming round to an open appeal to a small group of Heads of
>Department for help in fulfilling our school's commitment. Perhaps by
>giving them some ownership of the problem at the earliest stages we can
>create an atmosphere where management and staff work together in a
>positive and collegial manner.
Yes, yes, yes! But I would suggest that your thrust with these senior
people be that they should enlist the classroom teachers in this effort.
I cannot advise strongly enough to go to the coal face to improve coal face
perfromance.
It seems to me that in a country that has struggled for years to gain some
control of its life from London that this type of effort cannot translate
well to your workplace.
Cheers,
--"William J. Hobler, Jr" <bhobler@worldnet.att.net>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>