Teach Middle East Magazine Jan - Mar 2020 Issue 2 Volume 7 | Page 32

Sharing Good Practice
BUILDING SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL
IMPROVEMENT
BY: DR AHMED KARIM
experience in Bahrain, it seems that
the high performance schools are
adaptive to change, with their teachers
having a clear sense of the reasons for
improvement. Teachers at such schools
demonstrate a willingness to change
their practice in response to the
outcomes of students' achievements,
as well as considering work skills and
knowledge requirements or future
societal needs.
T
here are many definitions
of sustainability across the
globe, but within these are
some
common
features.
The Australian Research Institute
in
Education
for
Sustainability
discusses the definition of sustainable
development as being that which
"meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own
needs" (2009, p. 2). This definition is
congruent with the one developed
by Hargreaves and Fink who argue
that: "sustainability does not simply
mean whether something can last. It
addresses how particular initiatives can
be developed without compromising
the development of others in the
surrounding environment, now and in
the future" (2003, p. 3). Sustainability
is seen as continuous improvement,
as an ongoing "learning by doing" that
actively involves teachers, students
and parents to understand the
reason for the change and to commit
to the improvement (Australian
Research Institute in Education for
Sustainability, 2009). Capacity building,
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Term 2 Jan - Mar 2020
on the other hand, is more than school
improvement: According to Crowther
(2011, p. 6) "capacity building is the
internal process of mobilizing a school's
resources in order to enhance priority
outcomes and sustain those improved
outcomes".
Harris
and
Lambert
(2003) explain that school capacity
building is concerned with providing
opportunities for teachers to work
collaboratively in new ways, arguing
that schools that build the capacity
for improvement and implementing
change are more likely to sustain
improvement over time. Schools that
have built capacity and capability are
willing and ready to change, having
developed within leaders the ability to
manage the change process needed
to effect improved students' outcomes
Fullan (1985) argues.
In this conceptualisation, the ultimate
goal for school improvement is
not just to implement the needed
improvement initiatives, but rather
to build the capacity that secures
long-lasting effects on students'
outcomes. From Ministry of Education
Class Time
The literature suggests that for schools
to be adaptive and know what and
how to change, not only do school
principals need to have a school
improvement model that is clear and
useful (Novick, Kress, & Elias, 2002),
but they also need to know how to
sustain the improvement with enough
time to see the impact on students'
achievement (Fullan, 1985). According
to Fullan (2001, cited in (Muijs, Harris,
Chapman, & Russ, 2010) there is a desire
for educational reform being voiced
in many countries, a call for change
that is guided by powerful ideas,
but shallow commitment, with little
attention being paid to the building
of capacity for implementation and
sustained progress. As a result, school
improvement reforms have failed
in many countries, especially where
governments have tried to do too
much at once, layering many changes
on top of one another and adopting
new initiatives with little analysis of
why this initiative is needed, or how it
fits in with, or replaces, what is being
practiced already. Indeed, often
new initiatives in school reforms are
adopted before teachers have had
time to practice and see the benefit
from the old ones (Muijs et al., 2010).
That is the case when insufficient
effort is being paid to create the
conditions for building capacity
within schools to accommodate
such major changes. School capacity
building is concerned with creating
the conditions and opportunities for
working collaboratively to enhance
learning. In this scenario school
becomes a professional community