Management Theories for Educational Change

Both management and change command huge attention in thir own right in education, and together they occupy centre stage in the professional development of all educationalist. The worlds of education and business have much in common. Both have to be responsive to the external envionment and variety of stakeholders, both have to be "managed", both have to change constantly. Indeed education has been put on a business footing for over a decade and has been using management practices that derive from business.

A producitve partneship and dialogue can exist between the worlds of business and education. Both are concerned to identify the pressure for change, to plan the direction and strategies of change, its contents and processes, to implement it to everybody's collective advantage, in short to manage change effectively through people.

In this book the author identifies the theories and practices from the literature on business manufacturing and commerce which inform principles for managing change in education, showing how the complexity of change can be addressed effictively. Part 1 sets out a range of social, cultural and economic contexts; Part 2 explores the institutional, interpersonal, leadership, management and presonal issues involved.

One principle of effective management of change is its power to empower the individuals and organizations, its power to create and operate win/win situations. That can only be done by addressing the human side of organization. The strengh of the business literatue is that far from advocating the austere, over-rationalised, dehumanised and objective pursuit of profit at all costs, it suggests that the effecive management of change is an affirmation of the humanity of business. That is clearly a messagte of great significance for education.