Key principles and roles of stakeholders of educational change

Abstract

Knowledge about educational change teaches us that educational reform is a complex and multidimensional enterprise with an uncertain outcome. Besides the existence of a clear education development strategy, one of the most important factors of success of reform initiatives is responsible change management. This paper provides an overview of Fullan’s theoretical assumptions and research data on the key principles of effective change management and the roles of stakeholders in the process of change development, planning and implementation. Reform processes in Serbia in the field of education, which took place during the previous decade, are observed through the prism of Fullan’s assumptions and findings on the responsible management of educational change. It is presumed that the lack of success of educational reforms in our country stemmed from the lack of knowledge about educational change and inadequate management of reform processes, which had a negative effect on the efficiency of reform implementation and motivation of key stakeholders in those changes. For successful creation of future educational policies and change implementation in our country, it is vital to count in the 'voice' of practice, to join forces and potentials of employees in the relevant institutions and schools, in order to decrease risks and increase the possibilities for accepting change in practice.

Znanja o obrazovnim promenama uče nas da je reforma obrazovanja složen i višedimenzionalni poduhvat sa neizvesnim ishodom. Pored postojanja jasne strategije razvoja obrazovanja, odgovorno vođenje promena jedan je od najvažnijih faktora uspeha reformskih inicijativa. U ovom radu je dat pregled Fulanovih teorijskih postavki i istraživačkih podataka o ključnim principima uspešnog vođenja promena i ulogama aktera u procesu njihovog osmišljavanja, planiranja i implementiranja. Reformski procesi u Srbiji u oblasti obrazovanja, koji su se događali tokom protekle decenije, sagledani su upravo kroz prizmu Fulanovih postavki i saznanja o odgovornom vođenju obrazovnih promena. Pretpostavlja se da je neuspeh obrazovnih reformi u našoj zemlji bio uslovljen nedostatkom znanja o obrazovnim promenama i neadekvatnim vođenjem reformskih procesa, što se negativno odrazilo na efikasnost njihovog sprovođenja i motivaciju ključnih aktera u tim promenama. Za uspešno kreiranje budućih obrazovnih politika i sprovođenje promena u našoj zemlji, potrebno je da se uvaži 'glas' prakse, da se udruže snage i potencijali zaposlenih u nadležnim institucijama i školama, kako bi se umanjili rizici, a povećale mogućnosti za prihvatanje promena u praksi.