Change: What Change, How Much and How Quickly?
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
Dear Students, Parents and Carers
Perhaps ironically, one of the constants of modern society is change. It would appear the pace of change is accelerating. This is a very modern phenomenon. What marked many epochs not so long ago was the absence of real change. Societies remained constant and stable, at least in their basic structures, over long periods of time, even centuries. Since the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain in the 18th Century, science and technology in particular have driven rapid developments. Sometimes schools can seem to be behind the pace in this regard. In some ways, this is good, and even desired, as schools can be a kind of anchor, a source of constancy amidst the flux.
In Shore’s case, we need great wisdom in finding the right balance between preserving the very best of our strong traditions – those tried and tested ways – with the increasingly necessary traits of being innovative and entrepreneurial, to ensure we act in the best interests of our students, both present and future.
As an Education academic in my other existence, I know that the literature on change management is extensive. Change for change’s sake has no legitimacy and temporary fads are to be avoided. Where change is embarked upon, there needs to be a strong rationale and stakeholders need to be convinced on a number of fronts. The first is that the change represents an improvement. The second is that it is possible in terms of other exigencies, such as people’s time and capacity to cope. The third is that change has a champion, or champions, who will drive it forward and see it through. The fourth is that the change is sustainable over the long term. This latter element requires the change itself being nourished. Sometimes its proponents need to accept the infamous J-curve where the change itself will make things worse for a while in order to make things better later. Such is the sometimes disruptive impact and initial cognitive dissonance of change.
As a keen student of schools, and oft-time commissioned reviewer of schools, what I have seen is that most attempted change in schools fails. This can be because it is conducted as a revolution. Schools are complex organisations that respond better to evolution than revolution. Sometimes change is driven too quickly to take root, sometimes the case for change has not been adequately made, sometimes its supporters move on to something else before the change is sufficiently embedded to survive. Change is like a young sapling. The soil needs to be properly prepared, and the plant watered if it is to survive.
Often one hears the mantra “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I am not a supporter of this message. It is a way of saying that the status quo is the best we can do, that good is good enough, and that continual improvement is not relevant. If we were to adopt this mantra, we would all still be driving Model T-Fords!
Schools need to be nimble, agile and wise about change. To return to the beginning of these comments, the most widespread changes before us right now seem to be about technology and how to harness it for our boys in a way that expands their ambit, and is a helpful servant and not a master.
We need to be aware, however, that any change we undertake is essentially about modes rather than basics. Key focus on essentials, such as literacy and numeracy, must, and will, remain. We are not, after all, amending what may be called the human condition or the nature of our humanity. Well did the writer Ecclesiastes say “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Indeed, change is most palatable when it sits on a bedrock of fundamental continuity.
Real change in schools, other than disruptive paradigm change, is usually, and sometimes infuriatingly, slow. Schools may be compared to great ocean liners. Although the wheel and rudder are turned, the size of the vessel means that a change of direction goes slowly.
As School Council considers strategic directions, it will, in due course, seek input from representative groups about how Shore best embraces a strong future in a rapidly changing world.
Dr J Collier
Interim Headmaster
