Qualities of Change Agent in an organization
Change is an inseparable part of life and everyone has a tendency to feel uncomfortable during changes. I think an ideal trait of a good leader is to accept change in the positive manner and try to embrace it. Good leadership skills revolve around the ability to handle change effectively and knowing the benefits of bringing about changes. According to me, change agents are integral to struggling organizations that helps them to come back to the right track. A change agent is a person who helps the organization in transforming itself by giving importance to such factors like effectiveness and development. A change agent focuses on motivation, goals and strategy in order to bring about positive growth of the organization (Onorato, 2013). I think a change agent can focus on changing technologies and group relationships in order to bring about positive changes within a company.
I think having an entrepreneurial attitude is significant for bringing about changes in an educational organisation. Students no longer are interested in the traditional methods and they are looking for changes that will enable them to achieve their goals in an interesting manner. I think a good leader in the present age encourages the use of communication within the educational institution. Group work is exceedingly important in today’s age that enables the students to learn communication skills and adaptability that are extremely important skills in the present century (Aydin, Sarier & Uysal, 2013). In the professional world, these skills are crucial for effective performance and functioning hence the learning of these skills should start from the educational level so that the students do not face any problem later on. An interviewer from outside the school can be made use of in order to carry out a review that can reveal essential facts about the development actions undertaken by the school. The teachers and students of the school can be asked regarding their opinion on the kind of group work that can be included in the curriculum in order to teach the students effective group work skills. The interviewer can provide an impartial view regarding the gaps that he notices while carrying out the survey.
I think a successful leader should inspire his students to go beyond the confines of the class and indulge themselves in project work that can help the students gain practical knowledge. Theoretical knowledge becomes redundant in the professional life and merely knowing the concepts would not help unless accompanied by practical classes and workshops. Case studies can spur the curiosity of the students and it can help them in understanding real-life business situations (Fullan, 2013). Past and present corporate success stories can be glossed over in order to help the students understand the procedures that the executives should take into consideration in order to carry out decisions. Proper education should strengthen the students so that they can analyze a situation critically, evaluate it and come out with effective outcomes.
The goals of the modern educational system is to create an educational system that is world-class in order to help the students gain the knowledge and skill sets that will enable them to flourish as citizens. I will aim to be such a leader that can help the students to compete within the global community by taking recourse to accountability system. The students can be trained to show growth in all the areas. The children after going through the educational system should be ready for his college and career. High quality program can help the students in his future life (Bartunek, 2014). I will implement a world-class data system that can improve the outcome of students. Professional training can be imparted to teachers who will help the teachers to understand the theories and methods of new-age learning. Instructional coaches can be employed who will train the teachers about child psychology (Amanchukwu, Stanley & Ololube, 2015). I will encourage the students to make collaborations with different community organizations in order to engage the parents and students. I will provide the appropriate resources that can be used as Early Warning System in order to identify students who need assistance. Interventions can be provided and results can be used in order to plan courses for students. I will take care to ensure that the teachers are admitted with the help of a teacher evaluation system. I will take care in order to ensure that those principals who have been rated effective by taking recourse to the principal evaluation system. The non-certified teachers and inexperienced teachers can be reduced in order to bring about progress in the educational environment (Asnan, Nordin & Othman, 2014).
Goals of New-age Learning
I will frame the curricula in such a manner that will strengthen the students to solve the real world business challenge. The studies can be carried out in a more practical manner. For example, while teaching social media marketing the lecturer can refer to Facebook and Twitter and explain with the help of examples how they prove to be useful tools in spreading knowledge and help in promotions. A finance professor can make use of the mortgage crisis that took place in the year 2008 in order to help the students understand the policy of inflation along with monetary policy.
I think the students can be taught to take part in social entrepreneurship contests that can sharpen their tech startup ventures. This program can pit students groups who can be pitted against each other. A number of institutions can come together in order to sponsor such kind of contests.
Building relationships with the students can help in dissolving the fears of the students. The teachers should respect the point of view of students and the relationship between a teacher and student should not be left to chance. Instead of manipulating, the teacher should know how to motivate the students because manipulating means controlling the actions of others. Motivation, on the other hand comes from the inside and it involves the desire to invest in a person or in an activity (Northouse, 2015). The behaviour of the students can be regulated with the help of rewards. I will take care of the fact that the classroom culture should breed curiosity and it should actively engage the students. Social interaction should form an important aspect of the classroom and content related conversations can be facilitated within the classroom. Online class discussions and debates can help in this regard. The activities can be changed from time to time in order to gather momentum. An ideal leader can help the students in recovering from the bad decisions. The topic can be taught in an interesting manner and the leadership should be able to show enthusiasm for the subject (Shapiro & Gross, 2013).
Young adolescents look for yardsticks in their lives so that they can measure their result. The students can be made aware of their goal so that they can work hard and try to achieve it. As an ideal leader, I will encourage the teachers to be feedback focussed so that they can grant the students the power to redo different assignments on the basis of teacher feedback. The perform-feedback-revise-perform-feedback-revise cycle can motivate the adolescents and prepare them for their future profession (Boylan, 2016).
Teachers should be trained by the ideal leader to cultivate expertise in the manner the mind works. The curricula should be vivid that will arouse curiosity in the students. The learning goals should be made clear to the students so that they realize the importance of the content. The young adolescents want structure and pattern and so patterns can be revealed in the texts. (Harris, 2013).The curriculum should be integrated so that the students can respond well to the thematic instruction. Motivation arises when the students apply the skills that are taught in one class to another class.
Conclusion
A good leader should be able to handle change effectively and know the benefits that will come about after introducing the changes. Change agents are pivotal for organizations that are struggling so that they can come back in the right path. Having an entrepreneurial attitude is important in order to bring changes to the educational system. I will implement a world-class data system in order to improve the results of the students. I will deliver professional training to teachers that will help them to understand the theories and methods in the new era of learning. Instructional coaches can train the teachers about child psychology that will help them to deal with the students. The curricula can be framed in such a manner that will enable student to solve the business challenges in the real world. The studies should be imparted in a practical manner in order to prepare the students for their future.
References:
Amanchukwu, R. N., Stanley, G. J., & Ololube, N. P. (2015). A review of leadership theories, principles and styles and their relevance to educational management. Management, 5(1), 6-14.
Asnan, R., Nordin, N., & Othman, S. N. (2014). Lean implementation in service sector: the role of change agent. In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Technology and Operations Management, Malaysia (pp. 1-6).
Aydin, A., Sarier, Y., & Uysal, S. (2013). The Effect of School Principals’ Leadership Styles on Teachers’ Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction. Educational sciences: Theory and practice, 13(2), 806-811.
Bartunek, J. M. (2014). Organizational and educational change: The life and role of a change agent group. Psychology Press.
Boylan, M. (2016). Deepening system leadership: Teachers leading from below. Educational management administration & leadership, 44(1), 57-72.
Fullan, M. (2013). The Jossey-Bass reader on educational leadership. John Wiley & Sons.
Harris, A. (2013). Distributed leadership: Friend or foe?. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 41(5), 545-554.
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Onorato, M. (2013). Transformational leadership style in the educational sector: An empirical study of corporate managers and educational leaders. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 17(1), 33.
Shapiro, J. P., & Gross, S. J. (2013). Ethical educational leadership in turbulent times:(Re) solving moral dilemmas. Routledge.