I have been exposed to school development planning, a rigorous process which is involving following systematic and step-by-step progression (Babur, Safdar, & Retallick, In Press).

· Motivation and encouragement to participate all stockholders (School management, teachers, parents, students and community etc.

· Environmental scanning (internal/external) to know the existing position of school and its surrounding to keep an eye on the transformational factors, and emerging trends through SWOT, PEST or SWOC[1] analysis to bring a positive perspective and concerns to forefront;

o Shared Vision practice.

o Identification of goals and objectives then prioritizing.

· Action plan & monitoring plan by proper allocation of resources.

· Audit quality.

THE PLAN

For this plan of action, I would term it as a ‘superficial’ because, I couldn’t go through the prescribed step-by-step process and had to prepare an imaginary sketch of my school keeping almost two years back data in mind. This was a situation for me like; when someone is verbally instructed on how to swim or any other activity, s/he may feel confident initially and assumes that s/he has understood the whole process of swimming and it will now be easier to practically employ that learning in water. Of-course s/he will not get its actual taste, the difficulties, complexities and hindrances until or unless they actually engage in swimming. When it comes to the real situation, theories are forgotten and one builds on his/her own understanding and discovers, adapts and invents new strategies in the quest for survival. Hence; the following plan of action can be a survival technique by skipping many important aspects of a systematic planning.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF CONTEXT[2] AND RATIONALE FOR ACTION PLAN

Although, after a situational analysis there have been identified many areas which need urgent attention for the development. However, I will opt to improve parental/ community involvement strategies, because when I look back to my context, I feel a great discrepancy in parental involvement in day to day schooling process. The school is purely managed by a voluntarily body of selected members from the community but parental involvement or community involvement is not that much welcomed and honored in practice, which needs an urgent attention as I understand that parents are the partners of education and my leadership style would be focusing on the capital development (Sergiovanni, 1998) of all stakeholders of school including parents. Parents are usually ignored and assumed as not necessary to involve in school activities. So keeping the aim to enhance organizational capacity and to increase students learning outcomes in mind I would try to develop wisdom (Jones & Kilburn, 2005) among staff and will initiate such an action plan which will be effectively implemented and try to institutionalize (Fullan, 2001) in future.

School Vision[3]

We, at the ABC Memorial Public School, believe in the creativity of the learner. We cherish parents as educational partners and well informed participants in the learning of the children.

Mission Statement

We at the ABC Memorial Public School are committed to build strong partnership, and to enhancing relationship and communication among home, school and community to promote the academic, social, and emotional growth of all children to enable them to become intellectually competent, to be responsible citizens, successful home members, and productive learners and workers.

PRIORITIZED GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

1. Community/Parental Involvement - Focus Area for action plan

2. Teaching Learning - Goals & Objectives in Appendix C

3. Professional Development of Staff. - do -

4. Management and Infrastructure - do -

Goals and Objectives for the Academic Year 2009 – 2010

AREA	GOAL	OBJECTIVES
1. Community/Parental Involvement	*1.1 Improve parental involvement as parents are the partners of the school*	1. To achieve the active involvement of parents in the school activities related to teaching, learning and management through the formation and functioning of different committees, which will also help prepare parents to actively participate in school decision-making and develop their leadership skills in governance and advocacy, to provide parents with skills to access community and support services that strengthen school programs. 2. To generate a pool of data about the expertise and socio-economic status of parents to be utilized in the process of teaching and learning in future. 3. To raise awareness among parents about the importance of education and to increase their participation in the day to day schooling process, through appointing a community mobilizer, which will help parents to understand the importance of education and learning, to promote two way (school-to-home and home-to-school) communication about school programs and students’ progress and finally to provide parents with strategies and techniques for assisting their children with learning activities at home that support and extend the school’s instructional program.

COMMUNITY/PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

Child’s education is a responsibility shared by the school and family during the entire time the child spends in school. The goal of every school is to educate all students effectively to achieve the students’ learning outcomes (Fullan, 2001), and to accomplish this goal the schools and parents must work as knowledgeable partners. Parents are an integral component of a school’s ability to provide for the educational success of their children (Gianzero, 1999). Therefore schools should ensure endeavors to meet the diverse cultural and language needs of parents and children. Engaging parents is essential to improve student achievement and that schools should foster and support active parental involvement.

It has been accommodated (Illeris, 2003) in my learning that when we involve parents in education, children's learning positively relates to higher achievements and capital development (Sergiovanni, 1998) in shape of parents, students and over all environment of school. So, more intensively parents are involved in their children's learning, the more beneficial are the achievement effects. There are strong indications that the most effective forms of parent involvement are those which engage parents in working directly with their children on learning activities. To involve parents we can include as a school board member, a participant on a parent advisory committee or an active member of the PTA. This involvement ultimately results in student achievements which have been found to emerge from involving parents[4] in governance.

For the academic year 2009-10 our school will initiate some targeted activities to improve parental involvement to achieve the boarder goal of parents as partners. I have planned following five activities to ensure an ongoing partnership between families, communities, and school;

1. Formation and regularized functioning of PTA – My Focus of action this year.

2. Appointing a community mobilizer. - do -

3. Formation and regularized functioning of SMC. Next action Plan – Appendix E

4. Two parental awareness workshops - do -

5. Socio-economic survey of parents. - do -

ACTION PLAN FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2009 – 2010

ACTION STEPS	WHO WILL DO IT?	BY WHEN?	RESOURCES REQUIRED	OUTCOMES (Detailed Outcomes in Monitoring Plan below)
*Formation and regularized functioning of PTA*	BOG President, Principal, Vice Principal, Academic and Non-academic staff.	(Formation) Till the end of August 2009 (Functioning) On going monthly meetings on every last week of month.	Time, refreshment, circular, resource persons, TOR, meetings, planning for the activities of PTA,	· Students’ performance improved. · Parents’ teachers team work. · Fee collection on time. · Parents visit school frequently. · Students’ absenteeism controlled. · Improvement in classroom teaching.
*Appointing a community mobilizer.*	BOG President, Principal, Vice Principal	August 2009	Salary, Transportation, Time, Human Resource.	· Awareness about education will be increased among parents. · Generation of resources. · Establishment of Inter-school networks · School community network. · Two way communication between school and parents. · Increase students’ enrollment.

MONITORING PLAN

INPUT, PROCESS, OUTPUT, OUTCOME

ACTIVITY ONE: FORMATION AND REGULARIZED FUNCTION OF PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION
INPUT	Ø Discussion with the teachers, other professionals and well wishers of school for better selection of PTA members. Ø Arranging professional sessions and meeting with parents. Ø Calling parents and teachers time to time meetings to develop strategies. Ø Proper documentation of all the process Ø Encouraging the planned activities for PTA. Ø Budget allocation for PTA activities. Ø Establishment of PTA resource center Ø Invitation circulars to parents to select appropriate parents Ø Refreshment and transportation if needed. Ø Assigning responsibilities and designation to different parents.
PROCESS	Ø Motivating and allowing parents to work on their activities through consultation with teachers and management. Ø Capacity building measures through exposure visits and workshops/ professional sessions. Ø Helping the newly selected/elected office bearers of PTA in establishing the rapport building among students, parents and teachers. Ø Appropriate funding to develop PTA resource center Ø Getting willingness of the parents through meetings and workshops. Ø Motivating and involving parents in school matters/decision making processes to make them feel partners of school. Ø Providing necessary financial resources transportation, refreshment etc Ø Sending Parents to different organizations to see their mode of working
OUTPUT	Ø Parent feel a sense of belongingness Ø Parents experience and acknowledge their important role and feel about the importance of education and involvement in school matters directly Ø Parents show day by day improvement in their roles. Ø Parents will be professionally developed through professional sessions Ø Students show improvement; ethically and morally. Ø Teachers feel another supportive channel in the form of parents Ø Students’ punctuality and discipline increased.
OUT COMES	Ø Learning communities will be enhanced and will grow further. Ø Parents frequently visit and will discuss their child’s progress with teachers and ultimately students will improve their moral/ethical values day by day Ø School tuition fee will be collected in time and defaulters list will be reduced Ø Students attendance ratio will increase Ø Students enjoy home tasks as school tasks because PTA’s motivate the parents that how to help their children at home Ø Students’ enrollment will increase and school’s financial resources will ultimately increase.

ACTIVITY TWO: CREATTION OF A POST AS COMMUNITY MOBILIZER
INPUT	Ø Budget allocation to create a new post as Community mobilizer. Ø Appointing a CM to motivate parents and to minimize the gap. Ø Encouraging, supporting and guiding activities regarding parents involvement Ø Provide extra financial attractions for extra/long hour work Ø Providing clear guidelines about school vision and involvement of parents. Ø Providing physical space/office for dealing with parents Ø Providing appropriate space to arrange motivation workshops. Ø Preparing monthly visit schedule and its proper documentation.
PROCESS	Ø Arranging motivational workshops for parents. Ø Arranging time to time meetings. Ø Arranging various parents sessions through Ø Involving CM during decision making process regarding parental involvement Ø Conducting motivational workshops on the easily accessible vicinities for parents.
OUTPUT	Ø CM will plan short term and long term activities on the basis of TOR Ø CM will arrange effective workshops/sessions for the parents Ø Parents will share their problems with CM. Ø CM will be able to communicate the school vision and school priorities to parents. Ø Parents see school a supportive organization and feel no hesitation to discuss issues. Ø A two way communication will increase. Ø Parents will be informed about importance of education and their roles in school matters Ø Students’ achievements will increase. Ø Parents will be motivated to share their expertise in school.
OUT COMES	Ø Enrollments will be increased. Ø Matters regarding students’ development will be easily resolved. Ø An easy accessible channel to communicate with the parents. Ø Importance of education will be spread to a wider/large community. Ø A good rapport of school among community. Ø Sense of belongingness among community Ø No civic problems for school any more. Ø Confidence among school and community strengthens.

REFERENCES

Babur , M.; Safdar , Q. & Retallick , J. (In press). IIEP, UNESCO on behalf of ANTRIEP (Asian Network of Training and Research Institutions in Educational Planning)

Fullan, M. (2001). The New Meaning of Educational Change. New York: Teachers’ College

Gianzero, G. (1999). Promoting Parental Involvement, Improving Student Outcomes. (Working paper for San Diego Dialogue).

Hasegawa Memorial Public School. (2005). Prospectus. [Brochure]. Hunza. KWA.

Illeris, K. (2003). Towards a contemporary and comprehensive theory of learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education. 22(4), 396-406

Jones. C., & Kilburn, B. (2005). Improving Leadership Pedagogy: Organizing Concepts and Theories. Retrieved from http://www.midwestacademy.org/Proceedings/2005/papers/Jones.doc.

Serviovanni, T. (1998). Leadership as pedagogy, capital development and school effectiveness. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1(1), 37-46

APPENDIX A

THE SCHOOL CONTEXT

In 1991 during an attempt to scale ABC peak, a Japanese climber was killed by an avalanche. The local community struggled very hard to find out the dead body of the climber from the glacier. The climber’s widow was also accompanying the community during their quest. After recovering the body, he has been buried in the area by fulfilling climber’s last wish (informed to community by the widow). Keeping the hard work and unselfish efforts of the community the widow offered a huge amount and assured of a continuous funding for a project in the memories of her late husband (Prospectus, 2005).

Resulted by this happening an NGO came into being to plan the effective utilization of funds. Community members from all the walk of life gathered to think and of-course identified different proposals. Finally, all the community came to a conclusion that we should initiate an English medium school to spread the quality education as Education and English was the increasing demand of the time. The governing body planned for the construction of the school infrastructure, keeping all the aspects (size, population, market demand, neighboring environment and future growth etc.) and affecting forces of future in mind. Now, after 10 years of the completion of the said project, it is imparting quality education to the new generation of the area. The said body use to plan for the betterment and it is achieving its targeted goals.

Name: ABC Memorial Public School,
Total Number of Students: 600
Total Number of Faculty. 28 (18 Female + 10 Male)
System: Co-Education.
Medium of Instruction: English
Affiliated with: FBISE Islamabad.

· School Management: Community based managed school.

APPENDIX B

AN IMAGINARY SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

Strength (internal)	Weakness (internal)
§ Students are disciplined and motivated for learning. § Principal has autonomy in decision making § Existing computer lab § Co-education § Two vacant rooms § Cooperation among teachers and punctuality. § Strong monitoring and follow-up by Management. § Own Premises § 10 B.Ed trained teachers § 5 MT – Master Trainers. § Parents regularly informed and invited as guests to activities in school. § Motivation among teachers for positive change.	v Untrained teachers – about 60% v Outdated computers v Limited interaction with parents. v High Teacher turn over v Lack of exposure to good practices v No in-door sports or physical activities v Traditional teaching approaches/ No activity based teaching v Library with fewer books. v Lack of English fluency among students v No formal policy guidelines of the school. v Leadership responsibilities centralized with Principal and Vice Principal.
Opportunities (external)	Challenges (external)
· Possibility of renting premises to generate funds · Computers in 80% students’ homes · Area Nazim/Councilor is cooperative · Possibility of AKU-EB affiliation. · Principal has contacts with heads of other schools in the city · Influential parents. · HERP[5] – A teacher resource centre. · AKU-IED graduates available in surrounding.	v Limited parental involvement v Time constrains for parents to involve in schooling v Limited awareness of new teaching approaches v Competing fee structure in neighboring Schools v Govt. policies frequently change v Inconsistent board policies. v Gender stereotyped society.

APPENDIX C

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR THE ACADEMIC YEARS 2010 - 2013

AREA	GOALS	OBJECTIVES
2. Teaching Learning	Goal 2.1 *Improve teaching practices in school for improved learning*	1. Initiate varied classroom teaching strategies 2010-2011 onwards through collaboration with peers. 2. Students to be engaged in giving presentations in class IV-X by 2011 3. Introduce Activity based and hands on activities in all classes up to VIII, for conceptual understanding by 2012. 4. Develop a resource room for teachers by 2013.
2. Teaching Learning	Goal 1.2 *Nurture creativity and confidence in students through co-curricular activities.*	1. Develop leadership skills in class IX and X students by forming Science, Literary and Drama Clubs 2010-2011 on wards to plan one co curricular activity per club for school. 2. Provide opportunity to all students within school to display talent and develop confidence through participation in various activities – 2010 – 2011 onwards.
2. Professional Development of Staff.	Goal 2.1 *Building a community of learners through professional development of staff*	1. To support teachers to implement new teaching approaches and reflective practice in the next academic year. 2. Initiate peer observations and mentoring in 2011. 3. Identify training opportunities and send at least 1 teacher x 4 subjects to attend workshops every year outside school from 2010 – 2013.
3. Management and Infrastructure	Goal 3.1 *Increase management effectiveness*	1. Delegate leadership responsibilities to 3 teachers as section heads on a rotational basis every year. 2. Prepare formal policy document for the school by August 2010 3. Identify courses and send Principal/Vice Principal for training in 2011 and 2012.
3. Management and Infrastructure	Goal 3.2 *Improve Existing Facilities in School.*	1. Establish library for students to provide reading facilities by September 2010. 2. Provide a room for indoor games to compensate for outdoor physical education activities by August 2010. 3. Equip computer lab with modern technology (at least 10 new computers with updated software and a printer) by 2013.

APPENDIX D

Overall Outcomes and Impact of Parental Involvement

· The elimination of mistaken assumptions parents and school people may hold about one another’s motives, attitudes, intentions and abilities

· The growth of parents' ability to serve as resources for the academic, social and psychological development of their children - with the potential for much longer term influence (because of continued interaction with their children over time)

· The increase of parents' own skills and confidence, sometimes furthering their own educations and upgrading their jobs, thus providing improved role models for their children

· The increase in parents serving as advocates for the schools throughout the community

To achieve all above we have to ensure to;

· Communicate to parents that their involvement and support makes a great deal of difference in their children's school performance, and that they need not be highly educated or have large amounts of free time for their involvement to be beneficial. Make this point repeatedly.

· Encourage parent involvement from the time children first enter school (or preschool, if they attend).

· Teach parents that activities such as modeling reading behavior and reading to their children increase children's interest in learning.

· Develop parent involvement programs that include a focus on parent involvement in instruction--conducting learning activities with children in the home, assisting with homework, and monitoring and encouraging the learning activities of older students.

· Provide orientation and training for parents, but remember that intensive, long-lasting training is neither necessary nor feasible.

· Make a special effort to engage the involvement of parents of disadvantaged students, who stand to benefit the most from parent participation in their learning, but whose parents are often initially reluctant to become involved.

APPENDIX E

ACTION PLAN FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2010 – 2011

*ACTION STEPS*	WHO WILL DO IT?	BY WHEN?	RESOURCES REQUIRED	OUTCOMES
*Formation and regularized functioning of SMC.*	Principal, Vice Principal, Academic and Non-academic staff.	(Formation) Till the end of August 2010 (Functioning) On going monthly meetings on every first week of month.	Time, refreshment, circular, resource persons, TOR, meetings, planning for the activities of PTA,	· Improved school infrastructure. · Resources generation. · Shared decision making. · Co-curricular activities are enhanced. · Utilization of community resources.
*Two parental awareness workshops*	Principal, Vice Principal, PTA/SMC	1) September 2010 2) November 2010	Stationary, refreshment, whiteboard markers, classroom, furniture.	· Parents will be sensitized towards the needs of their children. · Students’ homework will be improved. · Parenting skills will be enhanced.
*Socio-economic survey of parents.*	A committee of 4 teachers + 2 support staff will be formed to device a questionnaire and initiate the survey and to create a database.	September - October 2010	Time, Questionnaire Stationary, computer, photocopies, Human Resource, transportation	· Up-dated database. · Baseline information. · Parents’ expertise is utilized in the process of teaching and learning. · Human and material resources will be identified. · More resources will be available for school improvement.

[1] SWOT - Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats, PEST - Political, Educational, Socio-cultural, Technological, and SWOC - Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & Challenges

[2] The context has been described separately, which is enclosed herewith as Appendix A.

[3] Vision of school and mission statement, developed after an imaginary situational analysis - Appendix B.

[4] The over all outcomes and impact of parental involvement is enclosed herewith as Appendix D.

[5] HERP – Hunza Educational Resource Project – A private teachers’ training institute.

A Journey into Creative Writing

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

PEDAGOGICAL LEADERSHIP ACTION PLAN

INTRODUCTION