Syllabus For Management of Education Change
Syllabus For Management of Education Change
Syllabus For Management of Education Change
Instructors ............................................................................................................................................................. 2
BASICS ................................................................................................................................................................ 3
Blended Structure.................................................................................................................................................. 3
On-Campus Meeting Schedule ............................................................................................................................. 3
Software Platforms and Instructions ..................................................................................................................... 3
Course Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Course Outcomes .................................................................................................................................................. 5
Course and University Policies ............................................................................................................................. 5
Expectations ofand Personal Responsibility forCourse Success................................................................... 6
Course Modules and Design Challenge ................................................................................................................ 6
Readings................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Grading ................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Instructors
Prof. dr. Koen Lombaerts Vladena Btge Jahn
Head of Department: Educational Sciences PhD Student: Educational Sciences
Vrije Universiteit Brussel Vrije Universiteit Brussel
M +32 (0)478 24 97 79 M +32 478 97 54 62
[email protected] [email protected]
Blended Structure
Face-to-face intensive sessions at VUB in October, November, and December, 2017
Online readings and assignments
Material and announcementsas well as places to post discussions, papers, files, and assignments will be
available online through the course platforms described in this document below.
Students must assume major responsibility for their own learning. As members of a learning community, they
are likewise responsible for helping their peers by consulting with them and engaging in collaborative solution
finding before seeking assistance from me. A class roster will be developed and distributed to support peer and
instructor communication.
Up-to-date announcements regarding required in-class sessions at VUB shall be made through VUBs channels.
Skype sessions for individual groups shall be announced through Canvas.
1. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ChangeByDesign/
2. https://www.facebook.com/groups/GettingToYes/
3. https://www.facebook.com/groups/CreativeConfidence/
Course Overview
Educational change requires both management and leadership, and both do not come with an operators
manual. It has been said often that managers do things right and leaders do the right thing. Sounds good,
but its not as easy as that. There is, however, a body of research that points to strategies shown to be most
effective. Building a collaborative learning community is one example. Some would say that there is a
science of leadership in education change. Some would go so far as to say that a roadmap for change is
possible.
We take a more nuanced view. While we should stand on the shoulders of giants and glean lessons from the
research into successes and failures, no one education challenge rides on such fixed rails. Educational
change also requires finely-tuned antennae capable of detecting the profoundly human characteristics of
both management and leadership. Sometimes its not so much of a roadmap than it is a compass. Here,
too, one can go so far as to say that it can very well be an art.
This course is designed both to educate our intuition and to inject a human element into well-established
processes. Bolman and Deal (2008)1 assert that suitable resolutions to education change can be found when
managers and leaders view organizations through a structural frame (sociological ideas and focuses on
formal patterns of goals, roles, and relationships), a human resource frame (addressing stakeholders
needs and motives, as well as active engagement), a political frame (in which power and conflict play a
pivotal role in make-or-break educational contexts), and a symbolic frame (how meaning, faith, rituals, and
symbols to create a unique way of life within an organization).
Dai and Yun (2012)hprovide credible evidence that design thinking (human-centered design) accelerates
educational innovation and higher-order thinking skills, provided that skilled practitioners honor
stakeholders and beneficiaries and seek feedback in order to engage whole communities in the process of
change.
We will explore several of these contexts through readings, discussions, and activities that take on the
elements of change leaders will most likely encounter: the nature of stakeholdership, dissemination theory,
theories of change, design thinking, key progress indicators, and making change stick. Each module (they
vary in length from 2-4 weeks) builds the capacity of Masters level students to create and support
educational change.
The central aim of the course consists in the deepening of insights in educational change by learning to
analyze and describe subcomponents of educational innovation. Students shall develop skills in testing
theoretical concepts and insights to determine their applicability to educational change challenges facing
schools today.
1 Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2008). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership (4th ed.). San
Francisco, CA: JosseyBass
Course Outcomes
This course aims to build theoretical underpinnings and associated skills involved processes and actors
regarding change in educational settings. It stresses the ability to design guidelines to implement innovation
in education, and conceive methodologies worthy of an education initiative.
Articulate multiple perspectives about organizational Content in course readings and online
change theory and transformative leadership contributions to discussions
Justify and utilize change tools Small group change action plans
Describe environmental influences that can affect
organizational structure and activity within education Design Thinking project
systems
Assess personal readiness to lead organizational change Reflections and discussions
The course as a necessary prerequisite for a course taken later on: Case Studies in Curriculum Design,
which will require that concepts and experiences gained from the Management of Education Change be
applied to a project by which students are given opportunities to make a direct contribution to a (1) local
school or organization, or (2) a global NGO engaged in curriculum change.
Readings
Wherever possible, assigned readings will be made available at the lowest possible cost and with an eye
toward essential content accessible in the public domain.
Not all readings are listed below. Please check each module in Canvas for changes.
Links to readings will require that users log in to Canvas
MODULE 4: Challenge
Development, KPIs, SMART metrics See Canvas
(Koen and Fred)
MODULE 5: Human-Centered
Design Thinking, Part 2 Presentations
(Koen and Fred)
Grading
Every assignment (online and in-class engaged discussions, surveys, individual research, group
projects) is required. A point will be deducted for every missed assignment.
Points are weighted for discussions, activity, reflection, and the group project. Taking that into
consideration,
Your overall point score will be assigned to each module, based upon your professors assessment
of timeliness, completeness, originality, collaborative spirit, and scholarly level.
Your grade for the course shall be the sum of points for each module
Module 2: Reflections on
Posted on Canvas: discussions, responses to readings 2 points (total)
Leadership
Module 3: Human Centered
Design Thinking, Part 1 In-class activities, discussions, responses to readings 4 points (total)
Module 4: Stakeholdership
In-class activities, discussions 2 points (total)
Review, Planning and Key KPIs
Module 5: Human Centered
Discussions, interviews, stakeholder engagement
Design Thinking, Part 2, and 8 points (total)
process reflections, and presentation in December +
follow up