School Development Planning Process | Research Study

coach maturation visualise Process interrogation Study train increase shake offning is an ongoing handle that sponsors disciplineings as complex communities to get word the dual dispute of enhancing quality and managing change. (DES, 19999, Online).In recent age checks started giving more than than apprehension to how the provision and management of change need to be bring forthn more into identify and c arfully planned. Decentralisation, a common characteristic of quite a few of the national educational systems worldwide such as the USA, Canada, England and Wales (Anderson, 2005) and in Malaysia, Honk Kong, Singapore, China and Korea has opened doors to turn upgrowth and in force(p)ness in nurtures (Bolam, 200677). everyplace the years, the education scene in Malta has likewise witnessed a paradigm interchange from an essentially centralised system to one that encourages self-government. ace of the most effective implications of this shift is that of a systematic and t fall out ensemble inform condemnation day approach to education cookery enhancing on the loose(p)dom and al belittleding institutions to shape the possibilities provided by greater autonomy (Lumby, 2007a86). Moreover, furnish and Coleman, (2006) argue that, placed in a competitive environment, self-managing school datedaystimes brook to meet the assimilators need efficiently if they be to achieve survival and supremacy. tour increase autonomy (Karstanje, 1999), self-managing schools ar advance to shoulder more responsibilities and promote their sustain identity and character. One of the most beneficial implications of this shift is that a initiate Development Plan (SDP) can be tailored by the homogeneous school.Considering that, the Maltese Education Authorities argon at present discussing at length the influence and the execution of instrument of a national reform in the education system, the topic seriously appears to be of great inte hi atus. This tuition may be expected to serve as an eye-opener to the strengths and weaknesses of the SDP beingness currently enforced at St.Helen Girls Secondary School. Consequently, the study might be envisaged to be an growth to the school, before it actually starts to negotiate the tailoring of a fresh SDP as leaveing be suggested in the education reform to take place.The in xtion of this study is to investigate the SDP as an effective tool to enhance approximation and collegiality among the t severallying cater and to promote betterment among the learners. The literature review shall in brief justify the need for and the branch of development be after in intercourse to what literature has to decl be intimately the subject. Furthermore, the succeeding(a) look into questions will be discussed and analysed, chiefly What is the brilliance of a SDP to the school? How is the planning process carried off? Who is concern in the planning process? Is the SDP po ten tial action doors to school good? After conducting a case study done qualitative and three-figure pick upk, an compend will go a mode, based on a questionnaire distri only ifed to instructors and an unrestricted interrogate with the star of School. The explore findings will be analysed and compargond to the literature findings.Finally, suggestions will emerge in respect to what can be done in tramp to evaluate, maintain and/or change what has been done during the past s raze years since development planning has started to be organised in an official way at St.Helen Girls Secondary School.Literature ReviewIntroductionAll schools should have a vision of where they hope to go and what they hope to achieve. This implies that a school plan should aim at leading the livelong school confederation in the room for improvement and growth. With its insistence on schools to have their accept SDP, the Maltese National Minimum Curriculum (NMC) came into effect on the foremost o f October 2000. Following is a brief description of the SDP two as a process as healthfulhead as a product. It examines the concepts of development, improvement, collegiality and estimation through and through effective planning.What is the sizeableness of a SDP to the school?A school without planning is like a boat without a rudder. We can non achieve goals unless we plan ship canal and fashion of getting there. (Bezzina, 199958)In aim to keep on course, schools await a surface reason of direction, expressed in vision and delegacy statements and aims and objectives, as well as an effective strategic plan and dangerous efficient action plans (DES, 1999, Online). The SDP can be a great summation to the school in various ways. Bezzina claims that ithelps in giving the school a sense of directionestablishes aims and prioritiesidentifies the necessarily to be done in consecrate to bring rough improvementidentifies stave needsmonitors the effectiveness of the tenet-learn ing processevaluates the success of the changes made, and implements any changes to the planning cycle (199935).The SDP is a means whereby the vision, intendd by Jenkins to be the strategic intent which guides planning (199138), is transformed into reality through clear priorities, targets and actions. It is an instrument, through which schools be able to articulate their needs and as well as their priorities (Ministry of Education, 200114). Moreover, it is meant to indicate the institutions capacities and limitations and and then open doors to school improvement. An English publication defines the SDP in thatIt will be based on the schools analysis of current levels of performance, its sagacity of how current trends and future itemors may impact on the school and fix up out priorities and targets for improvement for the period ahead. (DOE, 20051, Online).This implies that the concept underpinning a SDP is that severally school would undertake, on an on-going basis, a limite d number of small-scale development projects, which the mental faculty identifies as significant priorities. The SDP has at its heart the learning of all students fleck raising standards of attainment. It is a process of learning and growth for all those mired in it. Moreover, it allows schools to organise their programmes of innovation and change with a lot(prenominal) greater strength and success (Hargreaves and Hopkins, 1991).Furthermore, the SDP is highly beneficial for schools since it is craped out by those who put their heads unneurotic in a common effort to develop a true to life(predicate) strategy as to how the educational goals are to be reached (NMC85).How is the process of School Development Planning carried out?The School Development Plan possibility (SDPI) in Ireland considers the Mission, Vision and look ats of the plan to be the core of the SDP process (DES, 199916, Online). As depicted by Hargreaves and Hopkins (1991), Bezzina (1999) and Nathan, a SDP is made up of quadruple stages, in generalAudit when the school analyses its strengths and weaknesses and assesses its own needsPlanning and decision do generation and evaluation of optionsImplementation putting the plan into action, andEvaluation checking the success of implementation and reviewing targets(199661)This entails that the SDP works in a cycle. Furthermore, the SDPI suggests three features through which the SDP is accomplished, mainly throughInitiation where the school decides to embark on school development planning,ensuring that there is commitment to it among members of provide and preparing for component community.Familiarisation when the school community is learning how to ladder out the whole process.Embedding when school development Planning becomes part of the school life and of the normal way of doing things at school.(DOE, 1999, Online).The Irish Document (1999) set ahead argues that the SDP process needs to be systematic, collaborative, ongoing, pro gressive, enhancing and flexible to work properly. It therefore involves a systematic approach to the planning work, which draws the whole school community in concert in shaping the schools future. This needs to be an on-going process, root in a school culture where policies and plans are continuously being developed, utilise, evaluated and revised harmonise to the schools aims and the changes which continuously take place in the community. It is in addition flexible since it offers a framework for collaborative creativity and each school is free to lease the framework to suit its own particular needs.Who is involved in the planning process?Nathan (1996) maintains that, to a large extent, the work entailed in the school plan is performed by the Head of school and the SMT. However, Bradley (1988) argues that a compact in which large number work together will lead to the successful achievement of their goals. This is to a fault depicted in an English publication. The document hi ghlights parental, pupil and supply thing in the planning process as one of the factors that will help schools achieve high standards and improve the quality of learning and teaching (DOE, 20056, Online). by means of partnership, the educational needs will be identified and action will be interpreted accordingly (DES, 199915, Online). Bradley (1988) further claims that partnerships are encouraged when they are willing to yield to some of their autonomy. Their sense of joint ownership strengthens and encourages partnership and is extended beyond the planning process into the actual implementation of the activity. call forth participation is seen as very definitive in schools. According to Braithwaite (1994) 22 Actions are involved in the Australians SDP process, among which is parental engagement. The NMC (2000) claims that parents should be seen as partners in the education of their children, so much that it believes in site-based curriculum development, where teachers and admi nistrators can work alongside with parents and the local community to be able to respond to the needs of that particular school. In explaining how a shared vision is achieved, Lumby (2007a89) holds that notwithstanding the primary(prenominal) leading the planning process, all staff should share in the refreshment and adjustment of vision. Furthermore, Jenkins considers staff involvement as the most useful part of the planning process (199138) in not only arriving at plans but also in raising the chances of their successful implementation (Lumby, 2007a98). While being a threshold to school improvement, Newton and Tarrant declare that Evaluation needs the co-operation of the whole organisation to be effective and accurate. (199233).Is the School Development Plan opening doors to school improvement?Bush and Coleman say it quite just now The origins of school development planning lie in the move towards school improvement and effectiveness (200675). The SDP enables the school communi ty to develop a clear vision of what the school is intimately and where it is going, a shared sense of spirit, a common set of goals and consensus on the means of achieving them. It characterises the school as a learning organisation that focuses on meeting the professional needs of teachers in monastic order to meet the educational needs of pupils. The Irish National patterned advance Report 2002, states that This focus is essential if SDP is to achieve its core purpose school improvement. (DES, 200355, Online).As seen by Law and Glover (2000), school improvement is the result of a three-stage process establishing targets, planning to attain them and finally monitoring and evaluating them. Moreover, studies conducted by antique et al. lead an improving school to be measured and defined as one that increased in its effectiveness over time (1999137).It is also worth mentioning that, an English publication states that Appraisal should support development planning and vice versa. (DES1991) According to Jones (199312), improvement in the teaching and learning is guaranteed when appraisal is considered an integral part of the SDP. Likewise, through their enquiry, Horne and Pearce maintain that integrating appraisal into the SDP resulted in a way of improving the quality of education for the pupils and of raising standards (199662). One reason to which Davies attributes an ineffective school is to the teachers neglect of punctuality resulting from a low motivation that keeps the teachers lingering in the staffroom till the last minute (199435). This implies that lack of appraisal may lead to low motivation in teachers, which in turn will result in ineffectiveness.Furthermore, in discussing the issue about strategic planning, Sergiovanni compares the Traditional with the Alternative rule of planning. He suggests that the latter brings about school improvement in that it empha size of its first the means appraising spate involved, then the ways allowing them to discern what needs to be done, and finally the ends in that they themselves will decide on and attain aims (200995).ConclusionDalin and Rust believe thatA good school is one which itself learns it is a learning school, a living institution that changes in order to remain an institution that stimulates learning. (19967)This implies that, the changes that take place in a school, essential support the preservation of what has worked well in that school, to be able to generate it stability and reputation. The schools SDP is a means of implementing change. It must, in the process, provide a way of hired maning effectively with new developments so as to ensure school improvement whereby, all stakeholders are empowered to make decisions and engage in planning their own educational future.InvestigationIntroductionThe first part of this section presents the aim and objectives of this study. any(prenominal) methodological considerations are then examined. Subsequently, the research ins truments are considered. Finally, this section gives an account of the ethical framework considered, the school context, the procedure and the data analysis used.The Aim and Objectives of this ResearchThis research was undertaken in an tackle to investigate the effectiveness of the process of school development planning of the school under consideration. Also, the research project has more specific objectives, mainly to investigatethe importance of a SDP to the schoolhow the process is carried outwho is involved in the planning processwhether the SDP is opening doors to school improvement.Methodological ConsiderationsThere are two approaches to academic research that can be adopted by a researcher quantitative and qualitative (Bell, 2008 Briggs and Coleman, 2007). In this study, an educational case study (Bassey, 2007142) was used, conducted through both(prenominal) qualitative and quantitative research. According to Bassey, one of the strengths of case study research is that it is carried in its natural context it entails being where the action is (2007143). The case study is aimed at improving educational action (Bassey, 2007142) and which has conjecture seeking and theory testing as an end point (Basset, 2007147). This leads to a theoretical grammatical construction that not only provides sound data and limits assumptions but also attempts to sit out why a situation is good, bad or middling (Bassey, 2007154).In this research project, an discourse with the Head of School was carried out in order to seek insights rather than statistical perceptions of the world (Bell, 20087). One should say that the major advantage of qualitative approach is adaptability (Bell, 2005157) as it emphasises direct benevolent experience. On the some other hand, the major disadvantage is that it is time-consuming and generalisation is much more limited (Bell, 2005157).In an attempt to take advantage from the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative approaches, Tria ngulation is used to cross-check findings (Bell, 2005116). In this manner, the findings are compared in order to determine the accuracy of information (Bush, 2007100) rendering them more reliable.The Research Instruments used for Data collectionThe audience with the Head instructor (HT)An around one hour-long unstructured interview was carried out with the HT. Although it takes a great deal of time to analyse, the unstructured interview was deemed best for this research as the interviewee is free to talk about what is of central significance (Bell, 2005 Ribbins, 2007). The interview consisted of ten questions aimed to lift detailed information about the HTs personal view of the SDP, how the process is managed and who is involved to participate and whether the SDP is opening doors to school improvement (see supplement 1). The face-to-face interview (Ribbins, 2007212) served as a means of getting the real feelings of the HT, regarding the content, the process and the implementatio n of the SDP.The Teachers QuestionnaireQuantitative research was also used in a questionnaire consisting of ten closed statements and one open-ended question (see Appendix 2). In order to select a group which is as representative as possible (Bell, 2005), stratified sampling was used (Fogelman and Comber, 2007). In fact, the questionnaire was distributed to eighteen teachers one teacher from every subject being taught. The respondents were asked to tick one of three options Yes, No, or Do not know. Statements 1-8 were intended to investigate positive perceptions on the SDP plot of land statements 9 and 10 were intended to bring to light any controvert perceptions, if any. Moreover, an open-ended question was set in order to give the respondents the luck to give their personal views on SDP matters at school. This question placed each teacher in a position to reflect and answer freely, thus reducing the interviewer effects regarding emotionality and free response (Cohen et al., 200 0).Procedure and estimable ConsiderationsAn appointment was made with the HT of St.Helen School (a pseudonym used to maintain confidentiality) and the day of the month for the interview was agreed. Permission to carry out the research was informal, due to the fact that the probe was carried out in ones own institution. The interview with the HT was carried out onsite (Busher and James, 2007110) and in the Heads office. At the beginning of the interview, the Head of school was projectn the set of questions prepared for the interview as well as other relevant material that proved the interview was indispensable for the research. Though very time-consuming to transcribe, the interview was preserve to ensure data collection and maintain eye contact with the interviewee (Bell, 2005). The HT was given up assurance of confidentiality.It is also worth mentioning that the questionnaires were anonymised so as to assure breastplate to the participants. Moreover, the respondents were made aware of what the research was about and also of its purpose (Bell, 2005156) (see Appendix 2). Consent for answering the questionnaires was granted freely and without force.The School ContextThe investigation was carried out at St. Helen Girls Secondary School one of the 22 church schools on the island operating at secondary level. A profile of the school is given in the Table below.ST.HELEN GIRLS SECONDARY SCHOOL PROFILE form founded1999Secretary ClerkAffiliationChurchLibrarianStudent access codeFeederAreaCounsellorStudent Population364Guidance TeacherNumber of Classes15Spiritual DirectorAverage Class size24 artless Care TeamNo. of Assistant Heads2Discipline TeamTeaching ply37P.T.A.Classroom go for Staff4Student CouncilAncillary Staff3Eco School CouncilTable 1 School ProfileConclusionThis section has served the purpose of describing and giving an explanation for the methodology used in carrying out this research supported with all the necessary ethical issues arising from the same research. Following is an analysis of the findings that emerged from the investigation.AnalysisIntroductionThis section includes the significant features that emerge from the Teachers Questionnaire as well as the Head Teachers Interview. Both research tools were based on the following research questions What is the importance of a SDP to the school? How is the process of development planning carried out? Who is involved in the planning process? Is the SDP opening doors to school improvement? The presentation and discussion of the findings that follow, aim at providing answers to these questions.Presentation of Findings Teachers QuestionnaireThe questionnaire, consisting of ten statements and one open-ended question was distributed to 18 teachers. All questionnaires were collected. Following are the results for statements 1-10 of the questionnaire.Open-ended questionThe teachers questionnaire ended with an open-ended question asking the respondents to find in general abou t the SDP at their school. Only 6 (33.3%) out of 18 respondents answered this question. Four respondents agreed that the SDP is of fulfilment importance both for the teaching staff as well as for the students improvement. They claim that at their school, the SDP is discussed exhaustively most especially during the Staff Development old age. However, they argue that it is hardly mentioned during the rest of the scholastic year. Another respondent states that more time should be allocated to see if everything planned has been carried out, and if not, why. Similarly, another respondent argued that the SDP should be more carefully monitored and evaluated, and that piece of music it is frequently very cautiously planned, however, it is not adequately implemented.The Head Teachers InterviewFollowing is a summary of the Head Teachers responses to the Interview (see Appendix 1).The Head Teacher (HT) of the school under investigation holds that the SDP conducted since 2002 plays a very important role in the life of every school. Asked about who is involved in the process, the HT mentioned various stakeholders. Regarding the process, the HT states that it takes place in different stages. The difficulties encountered during the process are time and the staffs pursual and cooperation. However, since the latter has become an annual process, nearly all teachers help in formulating objectives and action plans. The HT declares that the SDP definitely provides a framework for evaluation and improvement otherwise it will be of no value. Finally the HT expressed her hopes that the SDP will lead to open wide the doors to school improvement.Analysing the FindingsThe following section is an attempt to go into the main concerns and interests raised during research. After being collected and classified, the research findings will be discussed and analysed in relation to the research questions and compared to the literature review.What is the importance of a SDP to the school?As shown in Table 2, all 18 teachers interviewed consider the SDP as important to their institution. Moreover, in an attempt to answer the open-ended question at the end of the questionnaire, one teacher claims that the SDP is of utmost importance both for the teaching staff as well as for the students improvement. As suggested by Bezzina (1999), another teacher claims that the SDP is important to enhance the students potential and that it must be used to tackle all their needs. While Bezzina acknowledges that a SDP encourages squad effort (199937), the Irish document holds that it is a great benefit to the whole school community (DES, 1999, Online). Similarly, the HT holds thatIt is a great opportunity to enhance teamwork, collaborationism and collegiality among the whole school community, that is, the Senior Management Team, the staff, the students and their parents, and all those who rightly give their share. (Interview with HT).Also, this implies that the style of leadership of the HT at St.Helen is participative (Coleman, 2005a18), as the issue of decision-making is shared with other stakeholders. Moreover, the HT confirms what is suggested in the DES document (1999, Online), mainly that the SDP gives the teachers a sense of direction as They all know what the school is after (Interview with HT).Who is involved in the process?Bezzina claims that A SDP calls for a co-ordinated effort, a belief in each others worth, and a sincere willingness to work together to achieve set goals (199936) Similarly, Lumby maintains that even though the principal may lead in the process, all staff is responsible for the recreation and adjustment of vision on a periodical basis (2007a89). This is evident at St.Helen, so much that the HT mentions the following as stakeholders Staff Members, P.T.A Members, Ladies Circle, the School Handyman, Parents, Students Council and Students. Moreover the participation of groups such as the Pastoral Team, The Green/Eco-School Team and Disc ipline Team is encouraged. The HT claims that, All these groups give their contribution. variant meetings are held with different groups on different topics they all do their utmost to achieve goals. (Interview with HT)Teachers ParticipationAlthough The Principal plays a prominent role in the leadership and management of the planning process (DES, 199926, Online) 83.3% of the questionnaire responses claim that teachers participation is encouraged in the planning process. Researchers like Bush and Coleman (2006) and Lumby (2007b) hold that the involvement of staff might cause difficulties. However, Early (2007) maintains that staff involvement in worthy increasingly important for school success. Moreover, the above mentioned Irish document states that The whole-hearted participation of the teaching staff is crucial to the success of the planning process and that the whole staff should be actively involved to enable all members of staff to participate in discussion and decision-mak ing (DES, 199927, Online). In fact, 55.6% of the responses show that the teaching staff is committed to the SDP.Also, this implies that the staff should be made aware of what the SDP is, why it is infallible and how it is to be organised. If not, there will be the risk of having staff members who are uninterested, sceptical of the whole process and determined to resist change (Lumby, 2007b97). In fact, this might be the case with a couple of teachers who joined the school only recently and who in the questionnaire (11.1%) expressed their doubt whether the SDP is threatening to the school or not, while another (5.6%) does not know whether or not the SDP is an added burden to the school (see Table 11). This implies that while the rest of the respondents (94.4%) are rooted in the three features constituting the SDP process (DOE, 1999, Online), these newly recruited teachers are not.According to the HT, the teachers are called in for SDP consultation through questionnaires and also on Staff Development Days. In addition to this, some teachers volunteer to work together in teams and in collaboration with the SMT in order to analyse audit results as well as to prioritise and draw strategic plans (Interview with HT). The response of 83.3% of the respondents shows that at St.Helen teacher participation is quite evident. Nevertheless, the HT feels that some teachers still need to be reminded to give their contribution. Also worth mentioning is the fact that, once a month or twice in a term, the HT holds subject meetings with teachers in order to sustain continuity and on-going monitoring (Interview with HT).Parent ParticipationEpstein (1992) states that parental involvement is an asset to their childs education in that the school equips them with the necessary tools to help them. While learning more about educational programmes they also get acquainted(predicate) with how the school functions. The NMC also holds that parents or guardians should be involved as partner s in their childrens education (NMC 199931). Although this idea is confirmed by the HT, however it is not so in style with 44.4% of the teachers who have doubts as to whether or not the SDP has brought about greater parental involvement (see Table 8). This also implies that the teachers at St.Helen are not yet embedded with parental involvement in the SDP process (DOE, 1999, Online).Student ParticipationThe HT believes that feedback from students is an essential input to the school (Interview with HT) so much that Hargreaves holds that they play an active role in implementing the plan and have an interest in the outcomes (198917). This implies that the students are to be involved throughout the whole process. This is believably so at St.Helen where the SMT takes into great consideration any suggestions proposed by the student council especially when they have to do with any aspect of the SDP. Also, a questionnaire is distributed p.a. to the students so as to ascertain their views ( DES, 1999, Online).How is the process of development planning carried out?The HT gave very vivid and clear explanations of how the school goes about the process of development planning. As expressed in the Irish document (DES, 1999, Online), the HT maintains that it takes place at different stages, mainly at three Staff Development Days together with monthly afternoon staff meetings. On such days, the teachers are grouped according to their subject, interest or specialisation, and so they are more incite to contribute to the discussions which usually focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the targets implemented. From these elements, decisions are taken as to what the school will be tackling as aims. Moreover, these meetings offer the SMT and the Staff an ideal opportunity to audit and evaluate progress. Furthermore, the HT asserts that, speakers who are authority on different subjects as well as Personnel from the Education subdivision also give their contribution during these meetings.Most of the teachers feel a sense of ownership and commitment when carrying out the SDP tasks assigned to them. This emerges quite plainly in the questionnaire with 83.3% of the respondents considering the SDP to be an on-going process while 55.6% believing that the school community is motivated to implement plans.According to the HT, the SDP establishes a clear programme to follow it defines targets, implements strategies, time limits, necessary resources and evaluation procedures. Similar to what Hargreaves and Hopkins (1991), Nathan (1996), Bezzina (1999), the Irish document (DES, 1999, Online), and Bush and Coleman (2006) suggest, the HT identifies four main processes to SDP in St.Helen, mainly, the Audit, Construction, Implementation and Evaluation. This implies that St.Helen Girls Secondary is meeting the standards that are required by the SDP.Is the SDP opening doors to school improvement?Sammons, Khamis and Coleman state that The normal measuring rod of effectivene ss is usually to do with better than expected academic outcomes (2005137). Consequently, 77.8% of the questionnaire responses show that the SDP promotes improvement among students. Following are three positive outcomes in addition to the acquisition of examination results (Ouston, 1999176) and as elicited from the HTs interview, in which the process to SDP implemented at St.Helen proves to be fruitful in being effective and in bringing about improvement.Improving the attitude towards LiteratureLiterature is gambling is one of the target-titles listed for implementation in this years SDP. The HT argues that after finding that Literature and Culture of Languages was weakening, the management provided a Literature Room, which h