Volumen 34 (2019): Edición 1 (January 2019)

This paper uses a systems approach to examine the implementation of a design thinking (DT) initiative in a Singaporean secondary school setting. In particular, the paper uses the systems representational tools attributed to Senge (1990) to better understand the factors and relationships that underpin successful change initiatives in terms of the change process and related outcomes. The systems approach sheds light not only on those managerial and behavioural factors that facilitate initial acceptance and adoption of the design thinking change initiative, but also those factors that might inhibit or undermine ongoing change and success. As such, the paper provides interpretive insight about what constitutes effective systemic change in the implementation of design thinking, and on the nature of individual managerial intervention necessary to sustain ongoing and effective use of the design thinking and other initiatives.

Throughout their K-12 educational experience, students should have access to resources, educators, counselors, and specialists to help meet their academic, social, emotional, college, and career needs. When school leaders or principals work in collaboration with school counselors, often school climate is more positive for students, faculty, and stakeholders. However, many school leaders do not receive proper training to evaluate school counselors. The purpose of the study is to explore school leaders’ perspectives of processes, policies, and trends in school counselor evaluation. The amount and type of support school counselors receive from their school leaders is important in developing and maintaining a progressive comprehensive school counseling (CSC) program for all students, but leaders must be familiar with CSC in order to appropriately evaluate school counselors. The results indicate that while delivery of a CSC program may be important, the evaluation process may be limited in its utility to help school counselors adhere to and implement the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model, which includes foundation, management, accountability, and delivery components. More research is needed regarding what content should be included in a school counselor evaluation.

School-based research has historically played an important role within the education system contributing to our understanding of the organisation and practice of formal education. Supported by relevant literature, this article reports on current challenges in conducting school-based research in Aotearoa New Zealand as experienced by one researcher. It suggests that conducting school-based research is becoming increasingly difficult, with possible explanations for this being the divergent workflows of researcher and school-based participant(s), the volume of demands on teachers and schools, and restricted roles for teachers and parents, which increase the risk of research fatigue. The article argues that although school-based research is rarely an immediate priority for school leaders, it is imperative that they support it if they want to be informed by its insights for policy and practice.

This article examines the nature of sudden and sweeping organisational change when a public secondary school facing closure reframed the ideological components of schooling, finding renewed hope and direction for the future. It also attempts to explain how organisational change can take place through university-led action research, activating school community support to become a science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) school, securing funding sustainability, political and bureaucratic support, and a new regional school and university partnership. Finally, it seeks to understand how teachers and leaders make sense of their new STEAM organisational identity and how they are reflecting upon this in their new work ahead.

This single bounded case study used a “sequential transformative strategy” involving an initial phase of action research reframing schooling purpose as a STEAM school. This was followed by semi-structured teacher and leader interviews hermeneutically analysed, constituting a two part project with a theoretical lens of social science theory. The theoretical perspective of Meighan’s component theory informs the analysis of the two methodologies.