Administrators′ Corner
Connecting the education dots…
Moving from policy to practice
By Leisa Simapili
Start with the teacher and the
classroom in mind
The fundamental purpose of school,
is teaching and learning. Therefore,
any policy that is being put in place
should be for the improvement of the
teaching and learning process. Policymakers should first outline how it will
be implemented at the classroom
level. Providing as many examples or
even lesson plan samples would be
very useful.
Every policy needs a
champion
I
t is now November and many
of us as administrators are knee
deep in preparing our schools for
inspections. We are also working
hard on setting up staff performance
evaluations, and monitoring teaching
and learning along with all the other
mundane administrative tasks that
come with the role.
Do you recall all the new policies and
initiatives that greeted you in late
August upon your return from summer
holidays? I would guess that you are
able to mention only the ones, which
have a direct bearing on your school or
those, which may be new to everyone
else but not to your school, as you
were already doing those things.
For a long time, the implementation
of education policies has been
considered as a rather mechanistic
task. Administrators often view them
as a series of mundane decisions
and interactions unworthy of their
attention. This is because many
policies and initiatives were often
8 | Nov - Dec 2015 |
|
initiated by decision makers, who are
far removed from the reality of running
a school on a daily basis.
Decision and policy makers are often
of the impression that the process of
policy implementation in schools is
a top-down process: administrators
were expected to carry out the
policies as formulated without any
questions or choice. However, insights
need to change, as it has become clear
that implementation cannot happen
unless the entire school staff, led by
the administrators commit to policy
implementation.
How to connect the dots
Nowadays,
policy
makers
are
becoming increasingly aware that
implementation is not an easy task. For
one, it has no clear starting point for
each school, and no clear ending. Below
are three suggestions that education
policy makers and administrators
should consider to ensure successful
policy implementation.
Class Time
When the school year gets going,
there is almost a frenzy of activities,
which take place on a daily basis. New
policies or initiatives can get lost in
this frenzy. Each new policy needs
someone to champion its cause.
Someone who is constantly working on
keeping it at the forefront of the minds
of the stakeholders. Implementation
is not always a well-organised rational
or unidirectional process. It is often
messy and circular, therefore there
is a great need for someone or even
a team of people, to manage that
process as conditions can change
midway and may need redirection.
Monitor the effectiveness
of each policy and initiative
throughout the year
Monitoring can provide vital feedback,
which can help to keep new policies
and/or initiatives on track. Vital
feedback can even be passed up to
the policymakers themselves.
It is easiest to implement policies and
initiatives if they are well designed
and relevant to the needs and goals of
your school. Sometimes, you may have
to adjust and amend policies to make
them relevant to your school. Seek
permission before doing this, in case
it has repercussions. Truly effective
policies and procedures address
genuine needs within a school.