Month: August 2019

Case study group work insights

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Working with others in a team without being able to meet physically to discuss had advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes meetings can be time consuming and not productive if the agenda is unclear, and if there is too much discussion. The advantage of not meeting physically was that we were forced to be very specific in our communication.

We were able to establish roles efficiently which meant that members knew what the expectations were. It is clear from the process that you definitely need someone who brings everything together at the end to consolidate the work. As long as roles are clearly defined and everyone knows what is expected of them then the group has a greater chance of success.

Conflict handling style

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For the Conflict Handling questionnaire I scored the following:

Yielding: 17

Compromising: 14

Forcing: 8

Problem Solving: 16

Avoiding: 19

What is my approach to managing conflict?

I tend to want to be the peacemaker in conflict situations. Conflict makes me uncomfortable, so I tend to want to put others’s needs before my own to avoid or minimise conflict. The scores above do ring true according to my feelings about conflict and how I respond to it.

Does this match to how you think of yourself?

I do think that I’m a good problem solver, but also try to avoid problems or conflicts and yield to others for this to occur.

What areas do you think you need to develop?

I need to work on my ability to express my feelings and opinions during conflict situations and be willing to make others aware of my needs and ideas. I have to develop confidence in my professional opinion and realising its validity.

School changes

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In reading the personal experiences of fellow teachers related to change it is common to see that consultation and time to process it is what is often lacking.  There is often not enough time given to absorb the reasons for the change leading to resentment and frustration. Gillian Cornwell and Carolien Powell both mentioned that new leaders often bring in new ideas without consultation of existing staff. Involvement in the change and feeling part of the process of change has always made me feel more comfortable with it.

Clement (2014, p. 45) highlighted problems that can occur with change when adequate time is not given to make meaning of the change.

Reference
Clement, J. (2014) Managing mandated educational change. School Leadership & Management, 34(1), 39-51. doi:10.1080/13632434.2013.813460

Case study learning

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It was clear to me from the Case study 2 that organisations usually have a number of issues happening at once. Schools are like other organisations in that they are busy, complex institutions that must manage so many things all at once. What I learned from the case study this week was that all schools have problems that need to be rectified, but some schools have a multitude of issues or inefficiencies that need addressing. Schools are made more complex by the fact that they have so many people with so many varying needs and it isn’t easy to manage these needs. This case study highlighted to me the importance of good leadership that addresses issues and is willing to put into place change to ensure things work more efficiently. What this case study highlighted to me was the importance of clear communication, staff involvement and clear systems that are structured and reviewed regularly. It also made me realise that sometimes initiating change in one area can actually have a beneficial flow on effect throughout other areas.