Spirals of Change. Educational change

Spirals of Change. Educational change as a driving force for school improvement Rudi Schollaert & Pieter Leenheer (Eds.)(Syllabus serie nr. 17), LannooCampus, 2006, 310 pp. (ISBN 90-209-6812-2)

Educational change is unavoidable in a society that is continuously on the move. In a high-tech society where new technological developments drastically change people’s habits and lifestyles. In a post-modern and multicultural society where a variety of – often conflicting – views, cultures and lifestyles coexist. In a global society, where economic developments shift the power balance from one continent to another in less than one decade. If schools will not or cannot find appropriate responses to these developments and their implications, they will become obsolete and irrelevant in next to no time. An adequate response to these complex challenges cannot simply consist of applying some change management tricks of the ‘how to change your organisation in 10 simple steps’ type. The BASICS approach to educational change tries to avoid the trap of false simplicity. Change that is to result in genuine, lasting and sustainable improvement is a complex, context related process. Lasting change cannot be imposed top down. It is a by-product of the learning community – the ultimate definition of what a school should be. The BASICS spiral logo illustrates the way sustainable improvement takes place, not in a linear way, but gradually expanding from the core outwards.
Change efforts that do not lead to sustainable improvement are a waste of time. They will only contribute to the self-fulfilling prophecy that educational change