Laura Thomas
A systems-based approach to change ensures that schools recognize their developmental stage and select developmentally appropriate interventions to support the school’s organizational growth, change teacher behavior, and increase student
Achievement. Based upon Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which views human development as a progression moving from most basic survival through social and relational development and up to full self-awareness and building on the successful efforts of colleagues from a variety of agencies and programs (including the Rural School and Community Trust, the School Reform Initiative, the QED Foundation, the Corporate Council for Critical Skills, and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills), the Hierarchy of School Needs “emerged out of trying to make sense of where the school/ community change process worked well and where it met resistance! (It) suggests that physical space and social fabric needs precede the needs of comprehensive curriculum and community-based education approaches. Certainly, school works on many improvement fronts simultaneously, but without a focus on the most essential tasks, headway is difficult.” (Smith & Sobel, 2010)
An accurate assessment of the needs of the school provides for intervention at the right time and maximizes the opportunity for powerful professional growth for teachers and principals. Developing internal capacity will allow schools to become learning organizations ready and able to meet the emerging needs of their students while deepening the connection within and between the school, the home, and the community.
Research shows that school improvement is a process, not a single event. (Hall & Hord, 2001) Our approach is rooted in the knowledge that the key to sustainable, continuous school improvement lies in creating learning organizations (Senge, 2006) in which stakeholders are armed with the skills and processes necessary to recognize and meet emergent challenges.
References
Hall, G. E., & Hord, S. M. (2001). Implementing change: Patterns, principles, and potholes. Allyn & Bacon.
Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Broadway Business.
Smith, G. A., & Sobel, D. (2010). Place- and community-based education in schools. Taylor & Francis.
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