Week 3: Academic Leadership

What can we learn from Fullan’s Leadership Framework?

Michael Fullan has come with a frame work that empowers leaders to deal with complex changes that is indisputable in today's world.  In his framework for leadership it integrates the five core competencies by attending to a broader moral purpose, keeping on top of the change process, cultivating relationships, sharing knowledge, and setting a vision and context for creating coherence in organizations (Fullan, 20001). Fullan (2001) claims that leaders who adopt this framework will be transformed into exceptional leaders, who constantly mobilize their people to do important and difficult work under conditions of constant change.

Moral Purpose

Effective leadership consist of having a purpose of making a difference in the organization and its people by coming up with strategies that assemble many people to deal with difficult problems (Fullan, 2001).

Understanding Change

Fullan (2001) describes that it is significant to understand change in order to lead it better. Without knowing what the changes it is impossible to direct on the change. The leader needs to identify the difficulties in the change and ways to tackle those complications.

                                                      Relationships

According to Fullan (2001) it is not the people in the organization that assist the manager to become an effective leader instead it is the relationships formed by the manager and his/her subordinates that make him/her a good leader. It is important to accept all subordinates no matter of the culture or social backgrounds. Leaders should be able to get along with all of his/her subordinates. The interactions between the leader and subordinate play an important role in becoming an effective leader (Fullan, 2001).

Knowledge Building

Effective leaders should be knowledgeable about what is going inside and outside the organization (Fullan, 2001). Leaders should have sufficient, most up to dated and relevant knowledge which will impact the organization in the slightest manner. In addition, Fullan (2001) believes that effective leaders must share and articulate the knowledge to his/her subordinates. It is also important to make the knowledge shared convincing and believable for others.

Coherence Making

Effective leaders values and implement the design that works best for the organization/for a specific situation (Fullan, 2001).

In addition to these, Fullan (2001) identifies the significance to maintain high energy, enthusiasm and hope to encourage people to feel that even difficult problems can be tackled productively.

What are the implications in our workplace?

As leaders it is important to meet the demands of the globalized world by having a purpose of making meaningful change within the organization. In order to implement a change, firstly leader should understand the change and have sufficient knowledge/data or fact about the change, its benefits and drawback, its challenges and ways to deal with the challenges. Once the leader understands and gathers enough evidence of the worthy change, next is to articulate the changes and convince his followers about the change. For gaining the trust of the leader it is important that the leader had built and maintained good relationships with the followers. Leader’s should accept and have meaningful interactions with all his followers. Hence, Fullan’s Framework for leadership can be applied in all situations where there is a manger and his subordinates.

For instance, in a school where integrating technology in teaching and learning is not practiced, there can be lots of challenges, like negative attitudes and beliefs of teachers. An effective leader can manipulate their attitudes and beliefs by sharing the moral purpose of the change and making the teachers understand everything about the change. In addition, an effective leader will change his leadership patterns until the change has taken place.

References

Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a Culture of Change. Retrieved on March 20, 2014 from http://iowaascd.org/files/5413/4503/4056/MFullanAug15.pdf

Week 3: Organizational Learning

With reference to Senge’s 5 disciplines - to what extent is your organization a Learning Organization?

1. Personal mastery personal visions & awareness

In Villa College (VC) the individual staffs and the organization is more focused on action (living the moment) rather than on learning (foreseeing future). It can be said that the individuals might have a personal vision and mission on where they want to be in the future, but it is hardly articulated within the organization. However, there are few staffs that can be noticed to be self driving in predicting and acting for their future. For such staffs the organization intends to assist them in any way they can (for instance by restructuring their work schedule for attending full time courses).

Moreover, professional development programs are conducted on a regular basis but it is not very effectively managed. Staffs are given options for attending professional development programs and it is observable that few staffs have excuses for not attending the program.

2. Mental models to be shared

In VC plenty of discussions are carried on concepts like organizations climate, culture and leadership. However, the tradition of sharing criticism with the higher management is not well instilled. Staffs resist sharing their pessimistic thoughts in meetings since the staffs get often labeled and are better off without giving suggestions to the organization.

Feedback's are collected on a customary basis by using different mediums but it is understood that some stakeholders are not taking the feedback process seriously as they believe that there is no action/change in organization after giving proper feedback's. Hence, now it is difficult to get quality response regarding the organization.

3. Shared vision

VC prepared its first vision and a mission with the help of all the staffs who were currently employed by then. Vision and mission statement is clearly displayed near the entrance of the College. However, it is not verbally well articulated within the organization and specific goals on achieving the vision is not identified.

4. Team learning through ongoing collective enquiry

Staffs at similar levels are quiet good team players. They engage as a group to enhance their faculties and demonstrate their willingness to deal with new and ambiguous situations. However, within heterogeneous teams it is often noticeable that there is lack of confidence in offering solutions. Hence, strategies to enhance team learning needs to further encouraged and implemented.

5. Systems thinking

VC view goals and problems as part of entire organization rather than secluded issues. Meetings to analyze the organizational goal, strategies implemented on how to achieve those goals and further recommendations are gathered and implemented at its best possible way. 

To sum up, given the lack of expertise of the college and its management, and various external (political) and internal (culture) barriers Villa College is on the verge to establish Senge's 5 disciplines of organizational learning.

"The

Learning Organization may best thought of as a journey, not a destination; a philosophy, not a program."

(Kerka & Sandra 1995)

Reference

·         Kerka & Sandra. (1995). The Learning Organization: Myths and Realities. Retrieved on March 24, 2014 from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED388802.pdf

Bibliography

·         Tuecke, P. (2001). The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations. Retrieved on March 24, 2014 from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.131.1981&rep=rep1&type=pdf#page=86

·         Marsick, V, J., & and Watkins, K, E. (2003). Demonstrating the Value of an Organization's Learning Culture: The Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire. Advances in Developing Human Resources. doi: 10.1177/1523422303005002002.

Week 3: Organizational Learning

Here is an excellent video about learning organisation.

have a look for an introduction about Senge's 5 disciplines

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxd1mSOb__Y

Week 2: Bring on the Learning Revolution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I

You guys might have watched this. In case you have not, please have a look. This is interesting

Week 2: Higher Education: Governance, Management and Practice

Overview of Maldivian Higher Education System

Maldives established its very first college in 1998 under the name Maldivian College of Higher Education (MCHE) which later changed to Maldives National University (MNU) in 2011, making it the first University in the country. It was only after 2008, MCHE/MNU had its first competitor -Villa College, the second higher education institution in the country. Hence, the higher education system in Maldives is still in its infancy and has a lot to learn from the developed countries.

For the purpose of this task, examples are taken from these two institutions, namely Maldives National University (MNU) and Villa College. Please visit the following site for further information.

http://www.villacollege.edu.mv/index.php/about-villa-college

http://www.mnu.edu.mv/index.php/the-university

Challenges in Governance, Management and Practice in HE

Ø  Competition in attracting and retaining quality staffs

v  In Maldives the teaching profession is not valued enough, hence there is a lack of human resource in this field. Main reason for this is due to the small salary compared to other professions. In addition , due to other mismanagement issues and poor governance, for example, lack of proper structure and fairness in giving promotions , salary increment and appraisals, a lot of qualified professionals are leaving this field for better opportunities overseas.

v  To address this issue higher education system needs to develop proper policies regarding salary structure and increments and make sure that an equal emphasis is given to higher education sector. Emphasis should also be given to provide professional development opportunities in this sector. Kim and Loadman (1994) also mentioned that intrinsic (professional challenge, professional autonomy, interaction with colleagues and students) and extrinsic (working conditions, salary increment) rewards need to be offered to maintain the quality staffs and to attract quality staffs.

Ø  Quality assurance

v  The two main methods of quality assurance used in Maldives are evaluation of teaching by students and lecturers' performance appraisal process. Often, the results of both of these processes are unreliable mainly because most students do not take it seriously and  fill such evaluation forms just for the sake of it, or they tend to favour certain lecturers. Secondly, sometimes appraisals are highly subjective and often based on only one lecture observation. Depending only on these two methods are not enough because as Anderson (2006) describes, the authority given to students in evaluating lecturers has the potential for damage. In addition Anderson also states that  "performance appraisal process is a surveillance that could potentially be used  against the lecturers".

v  Hence, better ways to assure quality need to be considered. For example models like `production model’, which depicts a direct relationship between inputs and outputs  (Tam, 2011) can be used. In addition using  the `value-added approach’- which measures the gain by students before and after they receive higher education, and the `total quality experience approach’- which aims to capture the entire learning experience undergone by students during their years in universities or colleges need to be practiced (Tam, 2011).

Ø  Technology

v  Mainly multimedia projectors are used during lectures. Although there is access to multimedia resources most lectures do not use them properly because of time constraints in preparing the secondary resources or due to lack of up to date knowledge and confidence in using them properly. In addition Internet/ WiFi is slow or unavailable and unreliable.

v  To address this problem professional development workshops need to be held for existing lecturers to help them build their confidence in utilizing latest technology in class. Learning management systems like blackboard/moodle need to be established so that both students and lecturers become more used to the latest technologies. This is important to prepare the students and staffs to survive in the globalised world.

Ø  Teaching pedagogies

v  Both higher education institutions use face to face lecture method using PowerPoint presentation and few discussions. A variety of methods need to be used for delivery. For instance, blended  learning methods need to be introduced and practiced.

v  This would give access to educational opportunities for a wider population, for example students in rural and remote islands.

Ø  Research

v  Area of research has not been a focus of higher education in the Maldives. There is no research journal in the country. Reasons could be due to the lack of funding to conduct research, lack of qualified researchers and because there are more important issues to address at the moment than research area. However, due to the lack of a research focus students graduating from these institutions lack knowledge of research methods and practice.

Conclusion

As Maldives higher education system is still in its infant stage it has to cope with a lot of challenges in governing the system. First, it should focus on ways to enhance the quality of the system by attracting and retaining qualified lecturers. This can be done by providing an attractive salary and other benefits.  Secondly, these higher education institutions need to make more use of the latest technologies both in teaching and in the learning process. Pedagogical instructions need to be enhanced by using a variety of methods using multimedia, internet and learning management system to ensure that its graduates are ready to enter the work place in the globalised world. Finally, both institutions need to improve its focus on research area so that the staffs as well as the students are equipped with the skills required to survive in this technologically advanced era.

Reference

§  Kim I and  Loadman, W.(1994). Predicting Teacher  Job Satisfaction. Retrieved March 12, 2014 from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED383707.pdf

•  Tam, M. (2001). Measuring quality in higher education. from http://www.tandfonline.com.wwwproxy0.library.unsw.edu.au/doi/abs/10.1080/13538320120045076

Week 1: Introduction

Introduction of myself

Hi, I am Aishath Waheeda. I am from Maldives. Maldives is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a chain of 1900 coral islands.

This is my first semester in UNSW. I received Australia Awards Scholarship to do Master of Education (Higher Education) Program from this university.

I have been teaching Chemistry for secondary school students for six years. I did my bachelors in Education while working as a resource teacher.

As for my personal life, I am married and have two daughters. My husband and my elder daughter (2 years) are in my country while I am here with my 3 months old baby. I am staying in Kensington with my sister.

Reason for enrolling  in this course

As a teacher I felt that there are so many issues in our education system that stems from  teacher training institutions in my country. My main aim of taking this course is to learn more about ways to enhance the higher education system, particularly teacher training institutions in Maldives. I am very much interested in improving the education system of my country and I believe I can help a lot if I can learn more about this field. I want to know more about the contemporary issues and challenges in this field and ways to tackle them through use of theoretical principles and conceptual models. With the knowledge and practice I gain from this course, I will be able to help by applying this knowledge to identify and resolve the problems in the higher education system in my country.

What I hope to gain from this course

Firstly, I look forward to learn about the role of technology in higher education systems. It is one of my goals to enhance the higher education of my country by enhancing the programs with the help of technological advancement so that the educational needs can be open to a wider population, especially for the students who cannot travel (due to financial, work and family concerns) to the capital city where all the higher education institutions are based. I would like to know about the use of  online learning methods in this area.

In addition, I hope to gain the knowledge, skills and practice on ways to enhance the quality of higher education systems. This include ways to maintain and measure the standard of higher education programs and courses. I wish to learn more about curriculum and pedagogical designs, and how infrastructure and management practices affect higher education institutions.

I am also very interested to know about the issues in higher education that I may not be aware. It is my utmost interest to do research on the contemporary challenges faced to higher education systems and how to tackle such challenges.