Metamorphosis: A collaborative leadership model to promote educational change

Year 2014, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 73 - 83, 01.04.2014

Stefanos Gialamas Peggy Pelonis Steven Medeiros

Abstract

A school that holds as a central belief that knowledge is individually and socially constructed by learners who are active observers of the world, active questioners, agile problem posers and critical and creative problem solvers must evolve leadership models and organizational patterns that mirror this model of genuine and meaningful learning as they promote and enhance it. Institutional change can and must take place at various levels. It can take place at the level of curriculum, adoption of new programs, and implementation of new strategies and methodologies. However, sustainable change must also take place at a deeper level, in which the very core of the institution’s being is affected, and in which members adopt new ways of thinking, behaving, creating knowledge, and interacting with each other, not only as means to an end, but as the best possible ways of achieving the goals and objectives of the institution in harmony with professional goals meaningful to each member. The authors refer to this kind of change as institutional metamorphosis, a radical transformation of an institution’s structure and function, preserving the institution’s DNA of fundamental beliefs, values and principles. They propose that leading this kind of change demands a radically new leadership structure, which embodies (and reflects) the deepest values about the nature of teaching and learning and meaningful relationships that the institution holds. They name this model the Morfosis Paradigm, explain its structure and conclude that when the model works, all levels of the organization reflect the same core principles about what meaningful relationships are that promote real learning and growth

Keywords

Change, Fractal, Leadership, Meta/Morphosis, Schools

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