Making Sustainable Large-Scale Change Possible: The Ontario Experience Essay

Whoever verbalize that the only constant thing in the world is change is indeed a sage. That person could have acknowledged the statement based on personal acquaintances. Everything in the world changes from time to time- persons, g overnment and even the climate. Changes argon staple events in the world.            Changes often come as surprises. On organizational level, change could come as a way of intervention which may bring forth negative or positively charged consequences. The world immediately is filled with movements of people clamouring for change. The daily raws in the goggle box flash with headlines on citizens calling on their establishments for reform students protesting on the streets to fill democracy environmentalists and animal-rights advocates asking for ban on chemicals and so on. Practically, people fade for change in their personal lives, work, laws, and in the government.      &nbs p     The education sector in some countries goes for change, too. In Ontario, Canada an overhaul in the macrocosm education dodge took place to address the problems plaguing the schema.  Levin (2007) summarized the change as a strategy which serves as an ens group Ale of large-scale change in education that is respectful of educators, moderately to students and communities and based on the best available knowledge (p. 323).            The education strategy in Ontario, Canada suffered from setbacks since early 1990s due to government measures obligate (Levin, 2007).  at that place were reductions in staffing levels and increased in teachers workloads. Consequently, these yielded labour strikes, dissatisfaction and low-morale among the teachers.Levin report that during the late 1990s, a change in the government system took place which adversely affect the education system. Local nurture districts were redu ced to half, school principals were taken by of the teachers union and signifi bumt amount of funding was cut. Teachers took the brunt of these changes as the government and accordingly was deemed as critical of world teachers and schools.  Levin cited that the people were unhappy and dissatisfied with the public education system.            Canadas 2003 election changed the educational atmosphere as it became the rallying cry of the Liberal Party, which won the election. Levin pointed out that the new government crafted new strategies (dubbed as the Literacy and Numeracy system and the Student Success Strategy) in late 2003 to realize the problem of public education.  These have two main goals to improve basal school literacy and numeracy outcomes and increase high school graduation rates.            Now on its almost fifth year of implementation, the strategies proved effective. The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat of the of Ontarios Ministry of educational activity reported the following accomplishments through its 2006 Project Report, Making It Happen   improve overall tyke rate of 64% for reading, writing and mathematics in Grade about 17,000 schools improved by five or more than percent in their Grade 6 reading scores over 2000 schools got best reading scores among Grade 3 students while 900 schools did better on both the Grades 3 and 6 reading scores.            Moreover, Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat reported in 2007 that the number of schools with very low performance dropped by three-fourths. first rates rose by fiver percent, from 68% to 73% in school year 2005-2006. Levin wrote that on that point have been an obvious level of vigour and enthusiasm and the number of teachers leaving the work or opting for early retreat was reduced.Insight from Basic System Approach on the Ontario Case&n bsp           The Ontario exist is maven example of how a system works. From the previous(prenominal) lesson, Owens (2004) explained the interrelatedness of subsystems and the septuple causations. The problems of education in Ontario in the 1990s directly hit the teachers. These problems caused unspoilt effects on the quality of education.In turn, the students were affected as they struggled with difficulties on subject beas such as reading and mathematics. Since Ontario is a highly-diversified province, students who ar children of immigrants were in any case knocked down by the problems within the system.  One back end see, as Owens emphasized, that the quintuple causation of problems and solutions directly affect the integral system. My personal analysis is as a system, the problem of one minute part ripples through the whole system, contributing to its downfall once left unguarded.        &nbs p   The Ontario problem back then was caused by a change in the political leadership and system. Decisions imposed upon the teachers from the authorities led to supremacyive breakdowns in the public educational system. Ultimately, Levin tell that most p arents lost their confidence in public education and resorted to one-on-one enrolment.            Reading through Levins article, I could say that the principles behind the go along success of the Ontario public education system are consistent with our lessons and previous reading. Ontario is a success story a model which is worth emulating.            Nevertheless, one may wonder is the Ontario experience transferable? Can it be duplicated to other provinces within Canada and to other countries as well?            I should say that the Ontario experience is unique for every agency is diff erent from the rest. Many factors contribute to its situation such as the political, economic, cultural, and social atmospheres.            But, despite of the given unique conditions, the strategies can be also applied to smaller systems on a case-to-case basis. Strategy such as reducing classroom size and student mentoring are very pragmatic. Likewise, the principles of participation, computer address and evaluation are quite universal which for me, makes the Ontario bulge out can be reproduced or duplicated to other schools provided that the socio-political and the cultural aspects are integrated. I believe good practices are worth following and essential be contextualized to ensure its effectiveness. It must also be sustained.Lessons Learned from the Ontario Experience            The Ontario example is a case which highlights the necessity of change. It demonstrates the power of change to generate positive results which impact the whole system.  There are significant lessons which we can charge from the article. Personally, I gained from reading Levins work.            The first lesson that struck me is the complexity of the educational system. Education is really indispensable to a country that it takes a government policy to influence the whole system. A governments conclusion or ruling on the educational system either take a crap or ruin a country. Countries count on their education department for productive, patriotic and loving citizens good citizens are profitable to a country. I also realized that a government initiative is very coercive as it demands implementation and obedience from its constituents as compared with a grass-root level or city-level proposals. Political influence and leadership make the implementation of projects or syllabuss more smoothly.             I also appreciate the consultation aspect of the Ontario project. I knowing that consultation has benefits. Consultation is a venue where the voices of the concerned parties are heard. By this, there is representation. The suggestions of the parents and teachers are heard. As I ponder through the case, it came to me that consultation is one factor which makes a school system successful.  After all, parents and students are the clients of a school. Their voices must also be tapped for the proper implementation of school projects. Consulting the parents on their childrens concerns and inquiring them on issues are part of our profession as teachers or educators.            Another particular lesson is the relevance of partnership. Levin discussed that the Ministry of Education hammer partnerships with different local school boards for the implementation of the two strategies. The educational system has many stakeholders and they m ust be acknowledged and won over.  Through partnership, relationships are formed, allowing for a better working environment.            The reading taught me also that test and answerableness matters. Like what the Ontario example demonstrated, tests are very important to measure the success of educational policy. Tests also work as gauges which measure the success of students. I was impressed by the fact the Ontarios Ministry of Education directed its provincial and district offices to report on the public the progress indicators of the students.            There is no such thing as a complete or entire program, as what I have reflected from the article. The Ontario experience is not without flaws. Levin wrote that the teachers feel overwhelmed by the tasks. There are challenges for every change or new programs to be implemented. There are always detractors and encouragers within a system. A program can be accepted or scorned. Either way, it is an inescapable reality.            In relation to change, it does not happen in an instant. It is not an overnight function. A change in the system may mean years of implementation. condemnation can only aid and sharpen its implementation.            Lastly, to recognize the skills and the capabilities of the teachers is one winsome factor in education. The Ontario problem commenced because of the governments bias against the public school teachers (Levin, 2007).  Teachers are major stakeholders in the educational system thus, theres a need for acknowledgment and incentives. Teachers are important assets therefore, they must be treated as invaluable human resource to the system. stopping point            The strategies adopted by the Ontario Ministry of Education proved to be successful. Sus tainable, large-scale projects can be a tough challenge but if all the systems are in agreement to it and proper delegation of work is done, it can drop dead a pleasurable job and a welcomed change. Ontario has set an example my opinion follows impossible ideas can be realized if the stakeholders within the system are united.BibliographyLevin, B. (2007). Sustainable large-scale renewal. Journal of Educational Change, 8, 323-336.Owens, R. G. (2004). Organizational behavior in education Adaptive leadership and School Reform. Boston MA Allyn & Pearson, p. 19-21.Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat. (2007). Making it happen. Toronto Ontario Ministry of Education. Retrieved April 11, 2008, from http//www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/makeithappen.pdf. p. 14