K-12 Curriculum Development

Michael Fullan is an international leader on educational change.  He is the professor emeritus of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto and the special advisor in education to the premier of Ontario.  A list of his books and articles is available at Change Forces.

The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive is an important contribution to the field of educational leadership and it helps teachers and administrators understand how to challenge the sacred cows in an organization while impacting schools and student achievement.  The field of education is changing at a rapid pace, yet several educators admit that change is painful and leading an organization or system into unchartered territory requires more than top-down leadership.  Whether your school system is attempting to improve from good to great or you are a system that has been identified as low-performing, this book offers advice which will help you meet your desired outcomes.

The Six Secrets of Change:

I.    Love Your Employees
      School systems should enable their staff to learn continuously and to find
      meaning in their work (Fullan, p. 12).  Fullan cites evidence from the field of
      business and business leadership books which research the need to love
      your employees.  If employees feel connected to the school or organization’s
      goals and they feel respected, then change will be approached differently.
      Fullan does not indicate that employees will embrace change, but the change
      process will go more smoothly if Secret One is implemented. 

II.   Connect Peers With Purpose
       The job of educational leadership is to provide purpose and direction through
       purposeful peer interaction and learning in relation to desired outcomes and
       results (Fullan, p.12).  Fullan introduces the term purposeful peer interaction.
       Other authorsuse terms such as collaboration, teamwork, shared leadership,
       and synergy.  If teachers and administrators rally around the school system’s
       purpose and understandthe common curriculum, educational aims, and the
       timeline for implementing change, then they will more likely feel like part of
       the team.  Teachers often feel like they arethe victims of state mandates,
       federal policies, initiative fatigue, and decisions which impact classroom
       instruction.  Purposeful peer interaction allows teachers to have a voice in
       the decision-making process and to craft how policies and mandates will be
       implemented.  DuFour, DuFour, and Eaker (2008) address the idea of
       purposeful peer interaction with their research on Professional Learning
       Communities.

III.  Capacity Building Prevails
        Capacity building is not new in the field of leadership.  One thing that has
        changed is building capacity within an organization or school system on an
        ongoing basis.  In the past, leaders were advised to build capacity when big
        decisions needed to bemade or when change should be implemented.
        Jim Collins (2001) addressed the need to have the right people in the right
        seats on the bus.  Fullan addresses this concept in Secret Three.  He wrote,
       “organizations seek people who are not only individually talented but also
        system talented – that is, they can work in and keep developing cultures of
        purposeful collaboration” (Fullan, p. 71).

IV.  Learning Is The Work
       Ongoing learning will prepare educators for the rapid change that occurs
       during a school year.  Each year, schools teach students from around the
       world, students who speak multiple languages, students with learning
       disabilities, students who live in poverty, gifted students, and students who
       are coping with moving from one school to another.  One educator cannot be
       expected to be an expert in reaching all students. Through purposeful peer
       interaction, teachers and administrators will learn strategies which support
       the learning needs of each student.  Fullan cites the research of Pfeffer
       and Sutton (2006, p. 145) – Having a learning culture and the capacity to
       operate effectively “is much more important to organizational success than
       having the right strategy” (p. 89).

V.   Transparency Rules
      Traditional models of school leadership favored the principal knowing the
      change initiative and sharing it with a department chair or team of teacher
      leaders.  The teacher leaders would share information with the rest of the
      school staff.  “Transparency concerns assessing, communicating, and acting
      on data pertaining to the what, how, and outcomes of change efforts” (Fullan,
      p. 93).  If educators wish toclose achievement gaps, then they should
      become transparent about the results andshare strategies which work for
      students who are struggling to meet determinedproficiency levels.
      Transparency allows educators to focus on the district’s main goals.  While
      this is Secret Five, transparency is no secret in an organization.

VI.  Systems Learn
       According to Fullan, “When the first five secrets are all put into play, the
       system can and often does learn, but even in the best systems, continuous
       learning is not guaranteed” (p. 107).  He suggests that traditional
       organizations and school systems have focused on improving individuals.  If
       you reflect on how most schools in the United States operate, each teacher
       is evaluated by the building principal.  Each principal is evaluated by a
       superintendent or assistant superintendent.  Individuals are evaluated, yet
       the organization often places emphasis on system change or collaborative
       change.  Change is complex and it cannot be approached by individuals.  In
       order to grow as a school or as a school system, leaders need to create
       opportunities for system learning.  Fullan has spent his career researching
       System Learning and additional articles may be accessed online at
       Change Forces.

Conclusion
The Six Secrets of Change will challenge your thinking and will assist readers in developing strategies for coping with change and for impacting student achievement.  The 21st Century will provide rapid change in the field of education and educators must create learning organizations that can adapt to change.  Teachers and administrators can operate as a purposeful community if they learn how to apply the six secrets of change.  Please feel free to share your thoughts on The Six Secrets of Change.

Fullan, M. (2008). The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their
          Organizations Survive. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
 
Additional References:

Collins, J. (2001). Good to great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others
         Don't. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (2008). Revisiting Professional Learning
          Communities at Work: New insights for improving schools. Bloomington, IN:
          Solution Tree.