Leading Change in Educational Organization

This study addresses the concept of change and its impacts or effects to educational organization settings, management and leading change, counteracts to change, politics, and economics, comprehension of the dynamics of change and their effects on the strategic planning of learning institutions, and other information that is related to leading change in educational organizations. Educational organizations are among the aspects that are experiencing a lot of change in the whole world and hence information concerning how this change should be led and managed is of great importance. There are different ways that are used in bringing about change in educational systems. Many researchers and scholars have stated that bring about change is one thing and leading and managing that change is another aspect. Traditional educational settings need to be changed in order to incorporate the aspect of advanced technology in education (Harris, 2007, pp.316).

Examination of Change, Behavior, Leadership Theories, and Principles

In order to gain a clear understanding of educational change process and its associated impacts on the practices of education, it is very imperative to examine change, leadership theories, behavior, and principles. In this case, change is brought about by leaders and good leaders usually consult the employees before implementing a change as indicated by the participatory leadership theories (Silverman, 2005, pp.23). According to the behavioral theory of leadership, great leaders are usually made but not born. In this case, a leader learns how to be a leader through practicing. Principles of a good leader include; listening, trusting oneself, empowering the subordinates, learning to be resilient, communicating effectively, and learning to take responsibilities.

The Concept of Change

In order to clearly understand the concept of change, it is of great importance to define this change. Change can be defined differently according to different situations. As indicated by Werkman (2009, pp.670), change is so all-encompassing in people's lives to the extent that it almost defeats analysis and description. Generally, change is the aspect of making something looks new or transforming something from the old form to a new one (Harris, 2007, pp.317).

Change occurs over time and hence it is inevitable. This implies that there is not a time when individuals will avoid change; this is an aspect that comes as time goes by. For instance, the increased advancement of technology has brought about a lot of changes in all aspects of life over a very short period of time. Change is not always positive as in some ways it is negative or both. This means that change may come to alter what is already there either negatively or positively or even both. Researches, as indicated by Silverman (2005, pp.23), change is unavoidable and hence it is the role of the affected parties to make sure that this change is well led and managed (Leithwood et al, 1999).

Change can be brought about by an individual to the society and it can emanate from the society to an individual. This indicates that a person can change the entire society while on the other hand a society can change the behaviors and thoughts of an individual. It should be noted that for a change to take place or to occur, there must be a cause and effects. In educational settings, technology has caused a lot of changes which have brought about improvement in performance of both students and teachers (Paton & McCalman, 2000).