Learning, leading and the business of schooling

Transcription

1 Dr Paul Richardson Presented at the CPA Conference Lae, Papua New Guinea 21 August 2015 Abstract The role of an educator and the role of the accountant are both integral to the delivery of an effective school. While there are many factors that contribute to the way that schools operate in contemporary society, they are businesses and must be led and managed as businesses if they are to operate successfully. However, tensions may arise between educators and accountants about whether the targets that are set and the measures applied to determine the effectiveness of a school should be pedagogically sound or fiscally rigorous. This paper discusses the nature of learning; the history of schooling and the process of leadership from an educator s viewpoint, but is presented so that reflections on its content may also be considered from an accountant s viewpoint. 1. Introduction Throughout this paper the notion of effectiveness and what contributes to making an organisation effective will be discussed using three key concepts. They are: - The nature of learning; - The importance of leadership; and - The business of schooling. These concepts will be considered with the view that for schools to be pedagogically effective they must also operate as sustainable and viable businesses. Throughout the paper it will be suggested that realising such a paradigm can be complex as there are ongoing tensions between educational effectiveness and financial effectiveness because of the pedagogical focus of schools. The paper is presented in four sections: - Section one explores the nature of learning and the constructs of schooling that have emerged over time as a result of the human desire to learn and understand the world; - Section two investigates the nature of schools past and present; - Section three will discuss leadership and the impact it has on the effectiveness of an organisation; and - Section four will then look at the role of schools not only as educational service providers but also as businesses. The paper aims to establish a background and context for schooling in contemporary societies; provide views about learning; and provide discussion about the operation of schools as businesses. 1

2 2. About learning Learning does not need to happen in schools. Schooling doesn t necessary assure that learning will occur. Learning may be defined as a process in which an individual transforms from one stage of being to another, because of the acquisition of new knowledge, insights, understandings or skills. Through learning a person moves from an existing level to a new one by increasing his or her capacity to function and interact with objects and/or people in new ways. Schools are institutions that have evolved over time for the purpose of providing courses of instruction to enhance the potential for groups of individuals to learn. However, regardless of the quality of programming, quality of teaching and/or the levels of resources provided in a school, it is the individual who engages in and is responsible for the effectiveness of a learning process. 2.1 The shape of learning When one considers what learning looks like, one is challenged. Learning is a cognitive process that does not have a tangible form. However if it did, what might it look like? Traditionally schools have offered learning in chunked stages. As a learner demonstrated proficiency with one set of knowledge or skills from a course or curriculum, that learner progressed to the next level. Schools operated a model where knowledge was standardised and was hierarchical. For example, Grade Two learning was designed to be more complex than Grade One learning, and so on. But in reality the nature of learning is not a lock step phenomenon to which all students must align regardless of ability or aspiration. That model is too simplistic for the complexities brought to the process by the learners who are exposed to it. Perhaps the shape of learning could be described as a curved line where it is steep at the beginning and then levels out as a learner attains knowledge and skills. Perhaps learning may look like a spiral where the learner progresses steeply and then plateaus before progressing again onwards and upwards in an ongoing life process. Despite these imaginings of what learning might look like as a tangible object, the nature of learning means that individuals continue to add layers of knowledge, skills, insights and/or attitudes. Through a layered learning analogy, prior learning forms the core and new learning continues to add to the attributes of the individual. Also in cases where a particular interest is pursued, the layers may bulge. A professional athlete, for example, may have a bulge in their layers of learning when interests enhance focused learning in, for example, fitness, or motor skill techniques. A musician may build on a layer when concentrated learning about concepts such as notation, rhythm, melody or coordination is pursued. While ideas about the shape of learning presented above are hypothetical imagery, they challenge the notion that learning is a lock step process, and therefore challenge the graded model of schooling which is still the predominate model offered by schools worldwide. Further to a discussion on the shape of learning, the timing of learning by individuals must be considered. People do not learn at the same pace, in the same way and to the same extent. Whatever the shape that learning may take, it can be argued that levels of learning within a group may vary. If learning does not necessarily happen in stages, then schools need to consider why they persist in teaching in stages. Schools are not always structured to support learning and the individual traits of their learners. They are predominantly structured to function to support teaching. They are 2

3 program driven and content oriented. A learner centred school does not apply grade levels, courses of instruction and requirement to pass a test at the end of a set period of time as an effective way to improve the holistic development of students. However schools that deviate from the traditional grade, curriculum, assessment model are challenged by systemic education officials and parents of children who attend. School systems endeavour to maintain the status quo and parents expect their children s schools to be the same as they were when they went to school. Schools are unique in the business world because, unlike other organisations, it can be argued that in developed and, in most developing, countries everyone has been to school and therefore everyone professes to know how schools work and find comfort in returning to a common recognisable schooling environment with their own children. This phenomenon is very rare in other businesses and/or professions. 2.2 The three D s of learning The process of learning can be described in three ways: - Default learning; - Designed learning; and - Desired learning. Default learning is learning that happens regardless of schooling or curriculum. You do not need a teacher for default learning to occur. Fire is hot. If we touch it we learn this. PMV buses bump people to the ground. If we walk in front of one that doesn t stop we learn this. Default learning is instinctive. However in the realm of human learning it can extend beyond fight or flight responses to interactions, relationships and experiences. Default learning results in the learner accumulating banks of life long applicable knowledge and lifelong recalls of emotions, fears, anxieties or experiences. Designed learning is the domain of institutions. It is a school s curriculum, or a TAFE or university course. It may be the teachings of a church group. It can even be the instruction sheet that is supplied with a ready to assemble (RTA) product. Designed learning is designed to teach a specific regime of information. The effectiveness of the designed learning is therefore determined by the effectiveness of the design and the appropriateness of this design to the context in which it is offered. Desired learning is the preferred method of learning for most individuals. It is learning that is undertaken by an individual who sees benefit from undertaking the learning. If a person is interested in a topic, concept or skill, that person is more likely to engage in the learning in a purposeful way. Learning a hobby or a sport may engage a person because of a desire to learn about, or improve the ability to undertake that activity. For those who commit to further study to attain a degree are usually committed to success in that field because of a desire to learn more or gain a qualification that can be applied to benefit that person. The challenge for educational institutions such as schools and universities is to provide designed learning that is desirable to its learners. Some course designers will argue that some aspects of their programs need to be default learning so that basic skills essential for further application can be embedded. All aspects of the learning process are necessarily essential to a learner attaining a relevant education. Schools and school leaders need to be cognisant of the attributes and effects of each on learners in order to provide effective programs that will educate their students. 3

4 3. About schools Schools are considered globally as the principal source of institutional education. They exist as they do today as a result of several major influences on their evolution: - They have been influenced by the traditional hierarchical views of what knowledge is and how it should be imparted; - They are an outcome of the industrial revolution; - They have been influenced by military culture; and - Societal expectations shape the programs that schools offer. Over time schools have changed very little. Schools of today are very similar in design and service provision as they were two hundred years ago. Technological advances have changed the ways the people of the world think, interact and behave, but they have had little effect on the way that people think about schools. Also, schools are businesses. They cost money, individually or systemically, to operate. They rely on income to provide services. However, their effectiveness cannot and never has been able to be measured by monetary gain or benefit. 3.1 Schools and the hierarchy of knowledge Education was once the privilege of the rich or the religious. Knowledge was considered as sacred by the church leaders. Teaching came from theological scriptures and was passed on from generation to generation. The concept of questioning or challenging the teachings was not considered. The knowledge was the domain of those in institutions such as monasteries or the aristocracy who could afford to engage learned scholars. While schooling and schools have changed since these times, the values of the knowledge culture have to some extent remained. Traditionally it has been considered that one requires knowledge to quantify learning. In many cases this may be true, however with diverse and multiple sources of information now readily available, the ability to assess, infer, and apply acquired knowledge is as important. Knowing something, but not knowing what to do with it or how to use it may be as impractical as not knowing something in the first place. Traditional views of the purpose of schools still influence current structures. While institutions are changing in response to the expectations of the contemporary societies in which they operate, and with the rapid evolution of technology, there are remnants of the historical view that education is for the elite keepers of knowledge that remain in the education industry. 3.2 Schools as factories As a working class emerged as a result of the industrial revolution, the development of schools for the masses also emerged. As global capital driven economies emerged, the needs of countries to skill and educate a workforce to support such economies also became a driver for the establishment of institutions as providers of education services. As identified earlier in this paper, prior to this time, education was mainly for the privileged elite and the senior leaders of the churches. Education was originally considered an inherited right and knowledge was considered as sacred and exclusive to those who were trained or tutored in such information. Much of the education regime was driven by philosophy and theology. 4

5 The rapid transition to an industrial manufacturing world and to production lines led to cost efficiencies. The newly emerging technologies brought the potential for wealth to be accrued by businesses and governments alike. The skilling of workers became critical to the success of a newly emerging capitalist society. A new genre for education embraced the acquiring of skills and knowledge that could be applied to a rapidly changing world. Also, the advances in printing via ever improving printing presses meant that written text no longer remained the exclusive property of the rich and privileged. Books became affordable. Information and ideas became accessible. As book availability increased, the ability to read became a sought after skill. Schools as education providers emerged. They responded to the rapidly changing needs of the societies in which they were emerged. However, they adopted similar structures to the factories. Schools mirrored the factory model. Like a production line, students were processed through stages or grades. At each stage a predetermined level of knowledge level was imparted. When the student could demonstrate a capacity to recall the knowledge, the student was progressed to the next level. Schools looked and functioned were very much like factories. Mass production, trading in raw materials and manufactured materials, created the need for upskilling in computation and calculation. The notion of profit and loss, the notion of capital investment, and the concept of risk analysis created new curricula. However, knowledge was finite and schools were designed to impart this knowledge to students by the most cost efficient and effective means. Since these times, manufacturing and technology have progressed. However schools as institutions have maintained the status quo. There is no longer a need for the teacher to be the central keeper of the knowledge. The teaching, information, ideas, and opinions are regularly available to anyone who can access the internet. However, schools continue to provide a central figure at the head of a class. While there are many influences on the capacity of students to learn, schools in the main provide standardised programs and rely on students to fit their programs as they measure them against such standardised programs. Also schools across the world have adopted western factory style constructs. Regardless of local culture, schools across the world are very similar in design. Regardless of the location, classrooms tend to look the same from country to country. 3.3 School as military institutions The upsurge in militarism across most societies throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century managed to influence the way schools were run. The regimentation and discipline of the armed forces easily transferred to the running of schools. Even today there are schools that parade rather than assemble. There are schools who continue to march as part their school culture. 4. About leading The world has seen many great leaders and many styles of leadership. Individuals who possess skills in leading have managed to attract followers and supporters to undertake epic historical events, lead dynasties and, in recent years, governments or multinational corporations. Modern democracies are encumbered with the ongoing debates about whether their politicians make good leaders or bad leaders. These debates lead to the question: what 5

6 is a good leader? They also evoke the response that the answer to such a question is inadequate. The pertinent questions about leaders and leadership should be about effectiveness. In other words, leadership should be measured by the ability of the leader to achieve the aims and goals of the organisation being led. An effective leader - understands the needs of the organisation; - aligns, supports and promotes the values of the organisation; - articulates directions and outcomes for the organisation; - applies appropriate strategies to achieve the preferred outcomes; and - identifies, empowers and acknowledges personnel who can maintain momentum towards organisational targets and goals. A tension for school leaders arises because they are encumbered with dual expectations in the measure of their leadership effectiveness. As an educational institution a school s effectiveness is typically measured by the academic performances of its students; the competencies of its teachers; the variety and range of the curriculum it offers; the level of social cohesion and discipline it maintains; and/or the satisfaction of the parents and its community. Discussions about whether a school is a good school or a bad school rarely include conversations about whether or not the school balances it books. However, as a business, a school s effectiveness must also consider whether the school operates within budgets and without over runs on expenditure. School leaders who only focus on academic effectiveness at their schools run the risk of compromising sustainability if expenditure is not contained within budget. The principal whose only focuses is balancing the books and operating within eternal finite budgets, may compromise academic programs by not employing adequate staff or not providing adequate resources. Despite these tensions, school leaders have to accept that they lead businesses and must do so within the constraints experienced by all businesses. 5. The business of schooling The previous three sections of this paper have discussed the history and nature of schooling, the nature and process of learning and, the role of leadership in organisations. The final section aligns the phenomenon of schooling to a business model where the nature of schools and the constructs of modern education systems are discussed as transactional and/or economic entities. The section will consider schooling as a business, the impacts such a business may have on the economy in which it exists and the complexities of operating in such an environment of profit and loss, balanced ledgers and fiscal sustainability in the modern world. 5.1 A school as a business Ever since the emergence of collective or group tutoring, schools have been a business. Private entities have established schools believing that their services will be seen as beneficial by fee paying parents and therefore create an income to counter the expenditures of operating such a facility. Church groups have funded networks of schools believing that their investments in these establishments will help to educate their parishioners in line with their particular faiths or beliefs. Governments worldwide have established state run schooling 6

7 systems as part of their social responsibilities. They are provided with the intention of educating constituents in line with the values and beliefs of the political climates in which they govern. Whatever the circumstance of their provision, schools cost money to function. They need to operate within budgets. They are expensive constructs as they incur ongoing capital and resource expenditure. However the success of a school is not measured in financial profits and losses alone. While it is obvious that a school in which expenditure consistently exceeds income cannot be sustained as a viable business, a school where income regularly exceeds expenditure may be considered profitable in financial terms, but it may not necessarily follow that it is effective in pedagogical terms. There is a myth across most western societies that wealthy high fees private schools are the best schools because they showcase facilities, plant and assets in abundance. By their selfactualised rhetoric they proclaim that they are the most effective in enhancing student academic performance and that by enrolling students in such a school parents will see great benefits if they pay the fees. While such schools are usually high performing schools, the expenses outlaid and the outcomes achieved are dependent on the abilities and commitment of the students who are enrolled, as is the case in all schools regardless of the level income generated by the school. Likewise, privately operated schools that have emerged in developing countries in recent years that charge fees in excess of their expenditure outlays, may be profitable in a budgetary sense, but in order to make financial profits may not be staffed or resourced appropriately to meet the needs of their students. Schools that make regular profits may not provide the most effective education for their students. On the other hand, schools that make ongoing losses cannot afford to provide effective educational programs. Schools are businesses that cannot measure their success in financial terms however the importance of financial rigour is integral to their success. 5.2 A school is a business dependent on consumer confidence. If a school does not provide the services to the approval of its financiers, it will not attract and/or maintain enrolments and therefore will not attract and/or maintain the income it requires to sustain the business. Regardless of student educational experiences and outcomes, all forms of schooling are assessed by their customers (the parents) in terms of value for money. Whether government funded, church run or independent, schools are reliant upon consumer confidence to maintain an enrolment base to support their ongoing expenses. Independent schools and, in many cases, church run schools can be affected by the impact of waning consumer confidence in the short term as annual enrolment figures increase or decrease. Every year the books need to balance if business costs are to be met. Government schools are less reliant on the direct impacts of increasing or decreasing enrolments as a system but at the local level, the principal s capacity to staff and resource a school effectively is impacted by such trends. In a democracy the views and opinions of constituents may influence the political decisions and policy directions of incumbent governments. 5.3 Education is a social phenomenon Since the institution of schooling was established, its purpose has been to portray the social values and expectations from the era in which it operated. Governments of all political 7

8 persuasions in all countries have continued to mandate the curriculum to be taught to those they are endeavouring to educate. Knowledge, skill sets, attitudes and values are embedded in the programs that their schools provide. Church sanctioned schooling systems are responsible for their theological teachings. Sectarian schools will still impart the social values of the society in which they operate. All schools are charged with the responsibility of providing courses of instruction that are seen as pertinent to the advancement of their societies. 5.4 Schools promote the notion of value adding for their students In manufacturing a business measures its effectiveness by the value added nature of their production. Raw materials are brought to the business. A process is applied to the raw materials and a product emerges. The quality of that product impacts on the success of the production programs and in turn the fortunes of that business. In service industries, value adding comes through the processes applied, the attitudes embedded or the competencies acquired by those who are served. In schools the notion of value adding can at times be a little more abstract. The programs and services offered by a school can only be as effective as the learning gained by the student who engages in them and more importantly, the ability of the student to apply what has been learnt to real life situations. Schools can promote the quality of their curriculum; their discipline; their social and spiritual development: but if the individual student does not aspire to embrace or engage in the program, the school may have limited influence on that particular individual s success. Likewise some parents may believe that if they pay the high fees they will buy a quality education for their child. There are some raw materials that simply cannot be processed to meet the expectations of, or the quality controls of, the products expected to be produced. 5.5 Schooling as an investment A society that has an effective education system and therefore effective schools produces citizens who are prepared and skilled to contribute to that society. However from a business perspective measuring the economic value of schooling is difficult to do. Dollar inputs into providing schooling may not necessarily be able to be measured in dollar outputs. While schools need to consider how they operate as businesses their success cannot be measured exclusively in business terms. 5.6 Schools cannot be built on islands Both socially and economically, a school cannot operate in isolation from the society in which it exists. It needs to meet the social demands of the society by providing a relevant academic and social curriculum. They also need to meet the economic demands of the society by being both affordable and accessible. Schools need to identify the services they wish to provide, but they also need to assess the market they serve and ensure that they are within the parameters of need and affordability for that market. 6. Conclusion Throughout history schools have evolved and changed to meet the expectations of the societies which they have served. Educational leadership as a profession has emerged as a challenging discipline. The pressure placed on governments and education system leaders to 8

9 provide schools that meet the needs and expectations of their constituents has seen the demands on school leaders become twofold. School Principals have been charged with producing quality educational outcomes for their students, but also have the added pressures of working within finite annual budgets. Financial managers and accountants are charged with the responsibility of keeping school on a sound fiscal footing but have the added pressure of endeavouring to adequately fund quality educational programs to meet the demands of the school leader, the expectations of the parent community and society. Principals are not accountants and accountants are not principals, but for the effective management of a school to occur, the two professions must work closely together, adopt empathy for each s position and responsibilities and continuously find ways to provide the best educational outcomes for the students within a regime of managed budgets. 9