Case Study 2

Posted: March 26th, 2020

Case Study 2

Student Name

Institutional Affiliation

Case Study 2

Executive Summary

The case in question focuses on the subject, Nahum as well as the challenges derived from his newfound responsibilities as a principal and leader of a transformation school, Plum Elementary School. As the principal of his former school, Mountain Creek Primary School, the subject in question exhibited skills and patterns in educational leadership that would eventually lead to the transformation of the respective institution. As an outcome, he gained a promotion at Plum Elementary School at the cost of his friend, Melissa, who had since been demoted from the position of principal at the respective school. Despite his experience, the critical problem that affects Nahum involves the lack of progress in academic achievement due to the teachers’ “defeatist” attitudes. Furthermore, the district expects Nahum to deliver positive results as quickly as possible to invoke a notion of transformation as far as Plum Elementary School is concerned. For the subject in question, Nahum may respond efficiently by addressing the teachers’ attitudes first, evaluate the organizational culture that encompasses the school’s workplace, and apply strategies that expunge any resistance towards change.

Problem Statement

The central issue that dominates the situation in question comprises the defeatist attitudes exhibited by the teachers at Plum Elementary School. Accordingly, Nahum identified problems that were derived from the core issue and focused on prioritizing them, creating working relationships, and altering the culture that was present in the educational institution. In addition to this, he focused on the implementation of a transformational style of leadership that concentrated primarily on the modification of the climate at Plum Elementary School to enhance the academic performance of the students. Regardless of the changes and transformations that he implemented before the district’s summoning, the school did not reflect the progress that matched the amount of effort that he had executed since attaining the principal seat. Consequently, the core issue – the teachers’ attitudes – depicted other issues that Nahum had to deal with for the aim of implementing any real change within the school. These issues included:

• Dwindled expectations from the teachers regarding their students
• Low level of morale
• Textbook-based planning
• Lack of urgency
• The absence of differentiated teaching

Strategy

To facilitate his current predicament, Nahum may first focus on addressing the attitudes displayed by his teachers. Even though the instructors are aware of the pending consequences should the school continue to fail, they are demoralized and do not feel compelled to engage in tactics that will boost the students’ performance levels (Owens & Valesky, 2015). The strategy that Nahum can apply in the respective situation may involve collaborating with the former principal of the school, Melissa. Since she was fired from the school for the same reasons, Melissa may be the best person to follow through because she probably possesses a good grasp of the problem. However, it is also essential to consider that Melissa was actually demoted to provide the position to Nahum. In this respect, she may be unwilling to assist the current principal. In addition to this, she may express bias towards his situation and efforts to modify the behavior of the teachers because of the same reasons.

Nonetheless, the strategy that the subject may concentrate involves the alteration of the current organizational climate. Indeed, Nahum can choose to focus on the implications of the organizational culture inherent in the school. Generally, the culture of an organization tends to refer to the values, beliefs, and actions that are embedded and exercised among members that constitute a workplace (Harris, Bennett, & Preedy, 2017). The culture usually influences the attitudes and behaviors exhibited by the employees and faculty members (Razik & Swanson, 2010). In respect to the situation, it may be possible to suggest that Plum’s organizational culture mostly normalized the teachers’ defeatist attitudes hence contributing to low academic functioning and performance among the students. In this respect, the strategy may involve the application of transformative strategies that expunge the current status quo. If the tactic is successful, Nahum will be able to alter the attitudes and behaviors of the instructors towards their students and engage in measures aimed at improving the school’s academic performance. However, with constraints such as limited time and resistance to change, the strategy may not be applied in time and fail to exploit the intended impact.

Conclusion

The best possible strategy that Nahum can implement in response to the situation involves the modification of the organizational culture via the implementation of transformative tactics. Based on the case, it is clear that the culture at Plum Elementary School contributed to the institution’s low academic performance as illustrated by the demotion of Melissa and the recruitment of Nahum due to his experience in the transformation of institutions, specifically Mountain Creek Primary School. In this respect, Nahum was hired to enhance the school’s performance and make it alluring to students within the district. In addition to this, the defeatist attitudes exhibited by the teachers – despite the processes applied by Nahum – are a coherent indication of the impact of the school’s organizational culture. The implementation of a transformative tactic, specifically those that emphasize the eradication of the present attitudes may help foster a new direction towards behaviors that encourage learning and academic achievement.

References

Harris, A., Bennett, N., & Preedy, M. (2017). Organizational effectiveness and improvement in education. Philadelphia, PA: Open University Press.

Owens, R. G., & Valesky, T. C. (2015). Organizational behavior in education: Leadership and school reform. Boston, MA: Prentice Hall.

Razik, T. A., & Swanson, A. D. (2010). Fundamental concepts of educational leadership and management. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.