Week 9 Reflections (holy cow, it's week 9!)

As a disclaimer, I may be a bit “off” on this reflection because I’m quite unfamiliar with P-12 (and why it’s considered P-12 and not K-12) districts. I did my best, however, to reflect on the chapter in terms of my work experience in higher education. There were three (not only two as asked for) trends and issues that resonated with me. The first is the redesign efforts of the five school districts listed on page 217. There were two common significant characteristics among the districts – “work[ing] to develop their district’s readiness and willingness to engage in district-wide reform” and “the development of a vision of where they wanted to take their district” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2005). Specifically, the words “readiness”, “willingness”, and “vision” stood out. A district, or any organization, cannot change if they are unready and unwilling. Furthermore, it’s important for the district, or again, any organization, to have a vision of what the change will bring. I immediately thought of this in terms of district-wide implementation of educational technology. Consider a district wanting to implement the usage of SMART Boards, for example. Prior to implementation, which includes SMART Board training and even installation, the district must create teacher interest in this initiative to evoke change. Also, the district must provide teachers with a vision of what the implementation will look like. The vision will include physical aspects, such as SMART Board installation in their classrooms, and intangible aspects, such as professional development.

Second, the Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township’s initiative of forming a leadership team could greatly benefit Baker College of Jackson. Instead of team members of a principal, PTA leader, school board member, and superintendent, Baker College of Jackson’s leadership team could be made up of the president, deans, and core faculty. Baker College of Jackson has well over 200 faculty and staff, but is unique in that a majority of faculty are adjunct, i.e. on campus as few as one night a week, and more than half of the staff is part-time. “It is difficult to shape the culture and dynamic of a [large] group”, but the Baker College of Jackson leadership team could adequately represent on behalf of all faculty and staff (Reiser & Dempsey, 2005, p. 216). On a broader scale, forming a leadership team could also benefit the Baker College System. As mentioned in previous reflections, the Baker College System is the third largest in the state of Michigan, but is spread out among 13 campuses throughout the state. System leadership teams, for example of departmental deans or counseling staff, can greatly increase the amount of cohesiveness and collaboration among the campuses.

The third trend and issues is the product vs. process approaches to change. Reiser & Dempsey (2005) define the product as “the redesigned or transformed educational system” and the emphasize the importance of the process, stating “no matter how good a design is, it will not succeed in its implementation if a sound transformation process is not used (p. 211). I think that the process is too often overlooked; districts may be too focused on the product, the end result, but it’s getting there, i.e. the process, that really matters. While I was overwhelmed at first with the focus on P-12 districts, there are many trends and issues that are applicable to higher education that I was unaware of!