Case Study - Introducing a Key Skills Curriculum - Lessons Learnt

I was intrigued as to why the Key Skills Curriculum was not sustained. Bümen, Çakarand Yıldız (2010) use the phrase curriculum fidelity to describe when teachers do not abide to the originally designed curriculum. They name several reasons for curriculum fidelity including, teacher characteristics, teacher training, curriculum properties and institutional features. One other reason, identified from my interviews with the teachers, is because I left the school. The curriculum may have been abolished due to any of these explanations. Either way, I was curious to learn from the experience and decided to explore this further, by developing some lessons learnt. 

Lesson One: Relationships are crucial

This is one aspect of the implementation that I feel went very well. From the interviews, there is evidence to suggest that the people involved with the initiative worked effectively as a group, were cohesive and felt supported by me as an enthusiastic team leader. I had invested time in getting to know my team and I genuinely cared about them. This links to Fullan’s first secret, love your employees. Camaraderie is one of the motivators within this step. Fullan indicates that this significantly contributes to a successful team. (Fullan, 2008.) It seems that this was something that assisted with the Key Skills Curriculum initiative from the outset.  Harris (2012), who has written about how to lead a school, believes that relationships have a major effect on the success of an organisation. I believe that the positive relationships that I had developed, led to a consensusamongst the team about what we were trying to achieve, Knoster’s second key component for change. (Knoster in Mallon, 2010.) Interviewee three stated that the team embraced the change. There was no reluctance or aversion to the change, which can result if consensus is not established, according to Knoster. It would appear that developing effective relationships is a fundamental starting point if you want to implement an initiative and is certainly an aspect of change I intend to continue.

Lesson Two: Conflict and disagreement can lead to a deeper, more meaningful change

The behaviours from my team were positive. As mentioned in lesson one, there was no reluctance or aversion to the change. One could argue that they were too willing. This can have a negative impact when implementing an initiative. Preedy et al (2003), suggest that conflict and disagreement are fundamental to successful change. If the implementation is too smooth, this can be a sign that something is wrong. Wheatley (1999) points out that for change to occur there must be a change in meaning. The people who are involved with implementing the initiative, need to work out their own meaning if it is to result in change. It is unclear from the evidence, whether this was the case. Perhaps the team were more concerned about preserving relationships than shifting their understanding behind the curriculum we were about to deliver. If we had engaged with more debate around the implementation, we may have shifted to a more collective understanding. This is explained clearly by Preedy et al (2003): 

‘Innovators need to be open to the realities of others: sometimes because the ideas of others will lead to alterations for the better in the direction of change, and sometimes because the others’ realities will expose the problems of the implementation that must be addressed’. (p. 187.) 

This has highlighted the possible benefits of having a meaningful debate when implementing a change and will be something I will give more attention too in the future.

Lesson Three: Involve everyone that is affected by the change

This was another key aspect of the development that I feel went well. It was important for me to ensure everyone was involved. Yes, I had built rapport with my team and they were willing to welcome the change, but I knew that this was not enough. I could have simply given them a completed package which told them exactly what to teach, but I wanted them to be directly involved with the design of the new curriculum. I have learnt this from previous experiences, knowing that if I did not ask my team to participate in the process of change, it would likely result in failure. Wheatley (1999) believes that people will only support what they create and it is essential to participate in the things that affect us. She continues by saying that leaders have no choice but to invite everyone who is affected by the change. Fullan’s second secret, connect peers with purpose, illustrates aspects of this too. This is where creativity is nurtured and employees develop a stronger sense of purpose because they are collaborating in a meaningful context. During the interviews, the  teachers talked about how they enjoyed implementing something new and that working together as a group motivated them and gave them confidence. The incentives component of Knoster’s model also demonstrates this. If people do not personally benefit from change, either intrinsically or extrinsically, then they will be averse to doing so, according to Knoster. (Knoster in Mallon, 2010.) The intrinsic benefits in this case were providing opportunities for my team to collaborate. I feel this demonstrates the importance of ensuring everyone is involved with the change and will therefore likely lead to a more sustained project.

Lesson Four: Have a clear vision, communicate it well and connect to people’s hearts and minds

Vision is mentioned by all three experts, Kotter, Knoster and Fullan. This would imply that it is an important measure when implementing change. In her book on leadership, Dent (2012) points out that having a clear vision is one of the most important qualities an effective and successful leader can display.When questioned about the thinking behind the Key Skills Curriculum, all interviewees were able to articulate key characteristics of the original vision: consistency, progression and a child-centred approach. Communicating the vision was a key part of the process. This was done through a variety of methods, including informal discussions and a PowerPoint presentation. The passion I displayed and the belief I had in my team that we could make the vision a reality also contributed to the delivery of the initiative. These are all features of effectively communicating a vision that Dent refers to in her book. From the responses I received from my ex-colleagues, it would suggest that communicating the vision is something I did well, particularly as it had been four years since they have used the Key Skills Curriculum yet they could still remember the vision. In Kotter’s third and fourth steps, get the vision right and communicate for buy-in, he explains that the success of an initiative depends on how well the vision is communicated and understood. (Kotter and Whitehead, 2010.) Knoster places vision as his first component, claiming that everyone needs to know where the change is leading them to, otherwise confusion prevails. (Knoster in Mallon, 2010.) Finally, although vision is not the title of one of Fullan’s six secrets, he does point out that when a vision is shared at all levels of an organisation it invites people to engage with it, which can then generate commitment. (Fullan, 2004.) During the staff meetings, I ensured that I was very clear about the vision and that it was based on evidence. I developed a sense of unity by inviting everyone to talk about why they were in education and what they wanted for our children. This was done through a mind mapping session. I felt that I was able to engage with people’s hearts and minds. Ryan (2008), describes emotionas one of the functions that an effective leader needs to understand. This involves capturing the hearts and minds of people and connecting to their feelings. I believe that is the reason why four years later, the teachers were able to recall the vision. It is now even clearer to me that vision is key to ensuring an initiative is able to take place with clarity, buy-in and maintainability.

Lesson Five: Always have a detailed plan and celebrate the successes

Although the vision was clear and shared effectively, there was no specification on how long it would take to embed. The different stages were not broken down into any time frame and the roles were not explicitly identified. These could have been outlined in an action plan, enabling me to specify a more long term strategy. Knoster points out in his sixth component to implementing change, that without a clear action plan, an initiative can lose momentum. (Knoster in Mallon, 2010.) This may have happened with the Key Skills Curriculum. If I had identified some milestones which included review points, where we could celebrate what we had achieved so far, perhaps made alterations and further improvements, then the curriculum may have been sustained for longer. Creating these short-term wins is the sixth step in Kotter’s model for change. By recognising the progress made so far, with evidence, it will motivate people to continue. (The University of Queensland Australia, 2016.)

Lesson Six: Measure the impact using evidence

The mention of evidence within Kotter’s sixth step highlights another missing piece to the development. At no point did I build into the process a way to measure the impact of the Key Skills Curriculum. Fullan (2008) refers to this in secret five, transparency rules. He explains that data must be collected regardless of what it might show. This needs to be done with transparency and without any critical judgment in order to be most effective. In their book highlighting case studies where teachers have had an impact on children’s learning, Hattie, Masters and Birch (2016), coin the phrase know thy impact. They claim that educators need to have evidence to show what impact they are having on children’s learning. They suggest that this can be done by opening up classrooms, having discussions with pupils and teachers and looking at children’s work. I certainly did this at the initial stages of implementing the curriculum, however, it would have been useful to repeat this procedure periodically so that I could measure the effect and hopefully demonstrate that children’s learning had improved. The evidence could have told a different story, which would have also been useful. This would have provided an opportunity for more refining or adaptation. Furthermore, by creating short-term wins, Kotter points out that this can assure critics the initiative is worthy. (Kotter and Whitehead, 2010.) In this case, it is possible that the head teacher of the school, who joined after the launch of the new curriculum, could have been convinced that the curriculum was worth while keeping. I feel that this could have been addressed if I had been able to equip her with some evidence to support the benefits of the Key Skills Curriculum before I left the school.

Lesson Seven: A crisis can be useful when implementing change

Kotter’s first step, increase urgency is often created by a crisis. In educational terms, inspectors, parents, exam results, student surveys and performance management could all be sources of evidence to suggest there is an urgent need to change. If the evidence is valid, it could be used to begin Kotter’s change process. With the Key Skills Curriculum, there was no real sense of urgency. I had created an opportunity, which is another facet of Kotter’s first step, but it was largely reliant on the goodwill of the team who I had built a strong working relationship with. I feel that this reduced the accountability factor with the initiative and because of this, it did not really matter which curriculum we were following. If the change was evoked by poor results or a damaging inspection report then the stakes would have been higher, possibly leading to a crisis, a greater sense of urgency or even chaos. Wheatley (1999) proposes that order is created through chaos and that we should welcome chaos because it can lead to personal growth and evolution. To be aware of this is extremely useful and can work to a leader’s advantage when introducing change. However, creating a sense of urgency from a crisis is not necessarily within a leader’s control. Therefore, I believe it is their skilful ability to create an opportunity, and share and communicate the vision with passion that will lead to successful change. 

Lesson Eight: Share the leadership

It could be argued that the main reason for the Key Skills Curriculum not being sustained was due to the fact that the key driver of the initiative left. All interviewees pointed this out in their interview. They felt that the thinking behind the curriculum become muddled once I had gone. Furthermore, there had been a high turnover of staff making it difficult to keep the momentum going. There was nobody left that had the same understanding, who could provide training for the new teachers. This meant that it was impossible to facilitate Kotter’s final two key steps: keep at it and make it stick. He makes it very clear that these steps are crucial in order to avoid complacency. He argues that you need to keep the urgency going and then ensure that the change has become entrenched and embedded in the ethos of the organisation. (Kotter and Whitehead, 2010.) I could have foreseen the issues of the key driver leaving had I been more experienced and had a deeper understanding of the process of change. Kotter’s final stages could have been easily facilitated by someone else had I considered Fullan’s (2008) final secret: systems learn. He argues that in order to sustain learning, systems need to develop many leaders at the same time. He believes this is what will help an organisation survive and thrive. This is what Lambert (2002) describes as shared leadership. She argues that if a leader goes it alone, they will find the school becoming overly dependent on his or her leadership. She continues by saying, in order to be an effective leader you need to evoke and support leadership in others. This could have been addressed in two different ways. Firstly, by inviting members of the team to attend the Chris Quigley course at the beginning of the process, giving everyone who attended a deeper understanding of the thinking behind the curriculum and thereby sharing the responsibility and leadership. Secondly, by developing a process to observe each other. I noted from the interviews there had not been an opportunity to do this. Didau (2015) claims that teachers can gain a lot by observing others teach. He advocates an enquiry approach where teachers investigate and reflect on aspects of teaching by watching others. This is mirrored in Fullan’s third secret, learning is the work, where improved performance and deeper learning is achieved by connecting with colleagues in the environment they work. (Fullan, 2008.) If I had invited colleagues to share the leadership of the initiative by attending the course and by taking responsibility for leading an enquiry into the implementation of the curriculum, I am confident we could have created a stronger understanding behind the initiative, which may have had a lasting impact once I had left.  

I enjoyed the process of examining the implementation of the Keys Skills Curriculum. By defining different models for change and relating them to the process I went through, I learnt some valuable lessons. This has moved my thinking from intuition to clarity. I can see a shift in my understanding and feel more confident with what I know and believe. 

CLICK TO READ ABOUT THE DIFFERENT MODELS FOR CHANGE:

FULLAN     KNOSTER     KOTTER