Secondary School Science Department Chairs Leading Successful Change

Abstract

A foundational understanding within education leadership literature is that education leaders are expected to guide reform efforts within school. This expectation mirrors organizational development literature that describes leaders as individuals who constructively institute change within their organizations. Although leadership and change are portrayed as codependent, no scholarship has linked change models with leadership theories. This article describes a multiple case study that explored the relationship between leadership behaviors and the change process through secondary school department chair stories of change. From this analysis, a clearer picture emerged that illustrates how leaders with little control over decisions implement change. Findings included distinct connections between CREATER change process stages and the Leadership Grid. Suggestions as to how education leaders should approach change attempts within their schools are discussed.

Department chairs as change agents

“…A prediction of this study was that department chairs would describe using different leadership behaviors in response to different change barriers. This mirrors recent assertions that leadership effectiveness changes based on contexts (Gaubatz and Ensminger, in press; Liden and Antonakis, 2009; Yukl, 2009; Yukl and Mahsud, 2010). For instance, Yukl and Lepsinger (2005) determined that certain situations benefit more from more traditional, task-focused management approaches than from people-focused styles.…”

“…Through this open approach, change agents can view resistance as a tool that provides them with a deeper understanding of how the change process might manifest (Ford et al, 2008). The value of listening to ideas embedded in resistance was demonstrated by the findings of Gaubatz and Ensminger (in press). These findings described change agents who either adjusted their leadership behaviors in response to teacher concerns or tabled change attempts in response to teacher feedback.…”

“…For instance, Yukl and Lepsinger (2005) determined that certain situations benefit more from more traditional, task-focused management approaches than from people-focused styles. Similarly, Gaubatz and Ensminger (in press) found that secondary school department chairs used different leadership behaviors during different stages of the change process impacting the success of the change. The idea that differing leadership approaches should be used in different situations is also supported by the various camps, which are based on the intuitive view of leadership within context (Fiedler, 1964; Hersey, 1985; Hersey and Blanchard, 1988; House and Mitchell, 1974).…”

“…The idea of the department chair as an agent of change is not new: Rinker (1950) believed department chairs should be promoters of change. However, limited research exists that discusses the department chairs as change agents (Peacock, 2014), and even fewer studies exist that explicitly examine how department chairs promote change within their content area (Gaubatz and Ensminger, in press; Rigano and Ritchie, 2003; Tam, 2010).…”

“…These findings further suggest that changing the climate of the department was as critical as changing structures. Department chairs have also been shown to alter their leadership behaviors based on which stage of the change process they are in and how teachers are responding to these stages (Gaubatz and Ensminger, in press). In combination, these studies indicate that department chair perception of the context in which they work influences their leadership behavior; therefore, their internal processing of environmental information could prompt strategic choices in how they respond to change process barriers.…”