Change management in schools : an option or compulsion?

Abstract

Following the publication of the National Curriculum Framework in 2012 a number of documents have been developed to help its implementation. One of these documents is the Learning Outcomes Framework which is based on the new skills-based curriculum. As school leaders and teachers await its publication they are experiencing the need to respond to the changes that are required for its implementation. This study looked into the manner through which administrators and teachers in three Maltese primary schools are responding to the organizational change brought forward through educational reforms within the education system. It also investigated the effectiveness of this large scale reform introduced at national level as seen from the perspectives of these heads and teachers. Findings indicated that the wide-ranging consultation process leading to the development of the National Curriculum Framework for All published in 2012 and the Learning Outcomes Framework in 2014, were seen as being positive but none the less very challenging. However, the study indicated that the implementation phase of the NCF and the LOF was full of stumbling blocks as the process of the implementation of the LOF was temporarily halted following a statement jointly issued in February 2016 by the Ministry for Education and Employment and the Malta Union of Teachers. This resulted in the postponement of the implementation of the document until scholastic year 2017-2018. This has led to a situation where much of the positive momentum created through the development of the NCF and LOF documents to fizzle out and to create uncertainties among stakeholders. This study also pointed out a number of structural problems both at central level and at different school levels which are contributing to this problem. It also indicated that head teachers and teachers in Maltese primary schools are slowly starting to take on greater responsibility and active roles particularly with respect to managing change processes in their schools.