Tried and tested frameworks can facilitate school development

Designing for transformational change

The webinar started with Annika Agélii Genlott presenting her thesis in informatics - Designing for Transformational Change in School - which she defended at the end of last year. A discussion on what needs to be done to ensure that the transformational work embraces the whole organisation and takes educational development forward followed the presentation.

The overarching question of the thesis is what a school principal can do to promote and disseminate technology-enhanced teaching based on scientific evidence that improves student learning. Annika Agéllii Genlott explained she chose informatics rather than pedagogy because she wanted to find new perspectives on school development. Sometimes you have to step out of your old shoes to find other ways of doing things, she said.

The empirical research and analysis focus on the school’s organisation and what needs to be done for a successful change to start, scale-up, and live on in the longer term.

The first step of the work on the thesis was to test a technology-enhanced pedagogical model based on current research that can serve as an engine for development. Annika Agélii Genlott chose Writing to Learn (WTL), which has been used by school principals for several years.

The second and final step consisted of two parts: 1. Develop a science-based framework that considers the varying conditions in the school organisation and helps school leaders drive the development work forward in the longer term. 2. Create a training programme to inspire teachers to use WTL in their teaching.

A clear framework for tackling problems as they arise

Annika Agélli Genlott decided to work with the Design Science Research methodology, which provides a clear framework for tackling problems as they arise. The framework reduces the risk of driving change too quickly or forgetting critical perspectives.

School leaders need to respond to teachers’ questions about technology and ways of working. They must understand the social factors that determine how innovative thinking and new solutions are understood and responded to in an organisation. It is also essential to recognise that teachers do not embrace change as quickly and to manage this.  

The thesis shows that long-term pedagogical development requires the school principal to plan, lead, and drive the work. It calls for a clear and goal-oriented leadership that considers different conditions and needs at all levels. A framework and a comprehensible methodology can provide valuable support in this respect. Schools can benefit significantly from working systematically when developing and changing their activities.

Everyone must move in the same direction

It is essential to understand that schools differ from businesses in introducing new technologies and new ways of working, said Maria Hurtig, digitalisation strategist at the City of Skellefteå. In schools, freedom of choice applies, while it is not the same space in the business world. But to speed up the digitalisation of schools, everyone must move in the same direction. More central control is necessary, and a framework could probably help here.

If the school principal conducts development work based on a proven framework, it may be easier to defend new technology and new working methods, said Annika Agélli Genlott. It’s no longer a question of someone thinking one way or the other, but of following a scientifically based methodology and working systematically from it. Ultimately, it is the principal who handles the performance of the school. That is why more work should be done in this way.

When there is an explicit ambition that everyone should take part, there is a risk that too much effort is put on those who say no, said Stefan Anderman, head of schools at the City of Lidingö. It sometimes makes it difficult to scale up the work of change and to drive development forward.  

To scale up the change work, it is necessary that the school principal is clear about what applies, and dares to take the consequences, stressed Annika Agélii Genlott. Sometimes this leads to people leaving the organisation. Of course, it’s far from easy to deal with this kind of situation, but the important thing is that those who resist don’t poison others and make it harder to continue.

What needs to be done to ensure that development keeps on going?

Another critical question is how a school principal should think and act to maintain the will to change in an organisation that has already been running for several years. Sara Penje, Head of Development at the City of Lidingö, said that the municipality has now started the fifth year of WTL. What needs to be done to ensure that the development work is still relevant and not just a box to be ticked?
 

One of the most challenging parts of the development work is to keep it alive in the long term. Five years is often a critical point in this respect," replied Annika Agélli Genlott. It is especially true if the people who were once involved in starting the project are no longer with the organisation. But there’s no set path.

One option may be to ‘change costumes’ and start talking about the changes in new ways, added Lars Lingman, Head of the Lifelong Learning Unit at RISE. That’s the way it is in the technology industry, and it’s probably true in schools too. It might reignite the spark and create the conditions for further development.

Have Swedish schools become better at driving development and change?

This October marks four years since the Swedish parliament adopted the government’s proposal for a national strategy for school digitalisation. One of the aims is to facilitate strategic, systematic and cost-effective development work throughout Swedish schools. But what does it look like in practice? Have schools become better at driving development and change?

According to Annika Agélli Genlott, schools have improved, at least from the perspective of headteachers. The digital strategy has played a role here. The schools feel more than before that they are part of the Swedish school and working towards a common goal.

Schools would likely be even better at development and change if school leaders made greater use of scientific and other proven frameworks in their work, Annika Agélii Genlott concluded. A framework is not a manual that tells you how to do things. It is a map that shows the landscape and makes it easier to find a path that leads in the direction you want to go.