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by Gloucestershire Research School at the Gloucestershire Learning Alliance
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Melody is currently Deputy Director of the Gloucestershire Research School at the Gloucestershire Learning Alliance (GLA) and is part of the Trust School Improvement Team (SIT). As part of her GLA role, she leads on implementing Writing strategies across the Trust with an aim of raising standards for all.
Change is the only constant in life
Implementation in a ‘society’
In society, change is often slow. There are differing parts and forces at play, many resisting any disruption to the status quo. It is no exaggeration to portray a school or Trust as a society of its own: an ecosystem requiring a careful balance of growth and stability. It would not take long for anyone working within the education sector to recall where this balance has been disrupted- disrupted with good intentions, but with negative outcomes. With this is mind, implementing any change must consider the ‘society’ for which the change is to disrupt.
It was whilst implementing a writing strategy across a group of schools that this notion of ‘society’ really stood out for me. Encapsulated by falling data standards and a need for rapid improvement, uniting could easily have become an afterthought. The term ‘rapid improvement’ at times feeling more like an antonym for ‘sustained improvement’. Fortunately, the culture of this group of schools was one where a realistic timeline with a shared vision and values was more valued than quick fixes- for many others implementing change, this may not be the case.
A School’s Guide to Implementation
The updated guidance report, ‘A School’s Guide to Implementation’ (2024) has recognised the need to consider behaviours and contextual factors within any implementation process and has placed the needs of the society firmly at the heart of the system change to be made.
Uniting
Poor implementation can often be traced to differing values, understanding and practices among staff
To overcome this, the EEF have outlined four actions that unite people for the change:
In doing so, the society is well considered, communicated with, and a shared understanding is developed. It would appear getting everyone on the starting line ‘united’ is the key to successful implementation, but a question remains: does everyone need to be on the starting line at the same time?
Does everyone need to be on the starting line ‘united’?
Although there is no denying the power of ‘uniting’ for change, there is much research to suggest that an adoption of a new idea may not happen simultaneously in a social system; rather it is a process whereby some people are more apt to adopt the innovation than others (LaMorte, 2019).
This certainly was the case when implementing a writing approach: some were excited for change and others sceptical, needing to see benefits before fully united in the change. On reflection, I wonder whether there was more that could have been done for these adopters: more shared discussion, more communication, more exploration of ‘why’ it mattered – ‘probably’ is the answer. Yet a year later, and those who provided the most resistance to the changes are now the biggest advocates.
In practise, the answer to the question ‘does everyone need to be on the starting line at the same time?’ would suggest not. Vitally however, everyone must be in the race! By uniting views and values; knowledge and understanding; skills and techniques; and the implementation process you can fundamentally create a society with an improving climate for change.
In its simplest terms, this means doing a good job of implementing something useful increases the chances of being able to implement new approaches in the future (EEF, 2024)
References
Education Endowment Foundation (2024). A School’s Guide to Implementation. [online] EEF. Available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/implementation.
LaMorte, W. (2019). Diffusion of Innovation Theory. [online] sphweb.bumc.bu.edu. Available at: https://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories4.html.
Suggested further reading (change management)
Lewin, K. (1947a). Frontiers in group dynamics: Concept, method and reality in social science; social equilibria and social change. Human Relations, 1, 5 – 41.
Kotter, J.P. and Akhtar, V (2019). The Path to Transformation in Education. [online] Available at: https://www.kotterinc.com/research-and-insights/transformation-in-education/
Rogers, Everett M.. Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Edition, Free Press, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.c….
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