Ensuring the effective management of change within a public school

Abstract

The focus of this study is on the management of change in a public school, namely Hoërskool Secunda in the town of Secunda, Mpumalanga. Teaching staff as well as management team members are confronted with many changes in performing their duties on an everyday basis. It is therefore, very important that a school and its staff members are prepared and informed about changes that need to be implemented in the near future. At this stage, changes are managed well with regard to the time and motivation available for their implementation. However, these changes and the unexpected abruptness with which they are sometimes announced can have a detrimental effect on the school's organisational culture and the motivation levels of the staff members. The main aim of the study is to measure and interpret measurement of the organisational culture of the school and to determine whether the school will be able to handle the implementation of changes effectively, based on the measured organisational culture. This aim is supported by three objectives, which are: - To define the term organisational climate in an organisation (in this study, the school). - To interpret the results obtained from the measurement. - To make recommendations in the form of a plan to handle the management of change in this school. From the literature it is established that the organisational culture of any organisation is very important in determining the resilience with which the organisation will be able to handle change. It is stated more than once that an organisation with an established set of values and effective transformational leadership to guide it will be more effective in implementing and managing change effectively. It also became evident in the literature study that the principal as leader of the management team has a very important role to play in the change management process. Principal succession should therefore be planned and managed carefully. Finally, the literature also revealed that all the stakeholders in the school environment should be informed and involved in the change management process in order for it to be successful and sustainable.Hoërskool Secunda's organisational culture was measured using a questionnaire after which the results were processed and feedback was provided to the staff members and the management committee of the school. From the results of the questionnaires it was established that the current organisational culture of the school is overall very positive. A few concerns were identified within the specific dimensions that were measured and based on these concerns, recommendations were made to the management team of the school with regard to dealing with these concerns. The recommendations that were made should enable the school to address those issues that contribute to perceptions of uncertainty about the direction the school is moving towards in the direct future. This, in turn should enable the school management team to ensure alignment with the vision and mission of the school as well as create a positive, motivating culture where every staff member can function optimally in doing his/her best in the main purpose the staff members of the school have : to teach effectively!