Leaders Perception About Change Management Of Private Secondary Schools Of Bole Sub-city Addis Ababa

This paper tries to capture the self-perception and practices of private secondary school leaders in Bole sub-city of Addis Ababa towards Change Management. The study departed from the assumption that our currently globalized World required and encouraged constant changes in every aspect of our lives, including in the private secondary education sector in Ethiopia. The latest Policy Guidelines of the Ethiopian Ministry of Education also seem to encourage such transformations. However, ‘real-life’ practices have also shown that introducing changes into organizations could be disruptive, and required proper and gradual management in order to obtain the desired outcomes. Moreover, change management also required organizations and their personnel adapting new mindsets, processes, policies, practices, and behaviors. Appropriate leadership and leadership skills were also essential for introducing and adapting changes into organizations. However, the author of this study assumed that leaders in private secondary schools may not be adequately prepared for change management processes as they did not have the necessary training or managerial experience. Accordingly, the researcher tried to assess the self-perceptions and practices of school leaders by looking at their attitudes towards change management in the areas of school curriculum and instruction, staff personnel administration, general school administration, and school community relations. A total of 182 school leaders, including 26 principals, 26 vice-principals, 104 department heads and 26 team leaders (unit leaders) were covered for this study through structured questionnaire surveys in 26 private secondary schools. The surveys were also complemented with structured interviews and the personal participation of the researcher through his long experience in educational leadership and change management. The results of the survey showed that the majority of the school leaders seemed to be ‘in principle’ favorable to and accepting of change management practices. However, when looking at certain parameters requiring concrete managerial decisions, like changes in school administration, curriculum, school personnel and community-relations, we notice uncertainties and doubts in the respondents’ answers. Moreover, a look at the background characteristics of the respondents seems to suggest certain limitations in terms of their training and experiences. The study recommends that further studies be made to analyze the perception and practices of private secondary school leaders towards change management over a longer time-span.

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