Communicating the Need for Change

This OIP focuses on the utilization of the processes and procedures of Cawsey et al.’s (2016) Change Path Model theory of change. In Cawsey et al.’s (2016) Change Path Model the communication plan is comprised of four phases: (1) the preapproval phase where plans are devised to garner support; (2) the need for change phase where communication plans explain the rationale, reassure staff, and clarify the steps in the change process; (3) the midstream change phase to inform all key stakeholders of progress and to obtain feedback; and (4) confirming/celebrating the change phase where communication plans are devised to inform all stakeholders of successes and to celebrate improvements (p. 320-321).

The creation of a school-based anonymous survey is the first tool to be discussed in relation to communicating change as it has been identified by Cawsey et al., (2016, p. 312) as an important method for collecting information and providing feedback. It would be a valuable exercise to share the draft survey with the unions of both teachers and support staff so they are aware and can provide feedback. This collaboration with the unions would prove beneficial to increase the return rate of such surveys. The survey tool would also permit school teams to capture stakeholder attitudes, opinions, and

experiences at specific points in time while gaining the opportunity to track the results longitudinally (Cawsey et al., 2016, p. 311). Political agendas do not disappear through the use of a survey, but they make it possible for participants to provide anonymous feedback and input that they may not provide publicly (p. 311). Anonymous surveys can be used to identify internal and external stakeholder expectations, measure satisfaction levels, assess attitudes and beliefs across the school community, and determine specific areas for improvement. The survey can also stimulate and advance conversations and insights regarding what is going on, how people are feeling and how things can be improved. This communication approach can be used to enrich the interpretation of the extant data and to more fully explore the implications for action (Cawsey et al., 2016, p. 312). Therefore, in this OIP principals are encouraged to utilize the sample anonymous survey included in Appendix B as they work with their staff and students in the collection of site-specific data. Discussions on the use of a survey instrument would raise awareness

and understanding of data analysis while also communicate support and commitment to action that will benefit all members of the school community.

The second tool to be used in communicating change is the stakeholder analysis tool as it will help schools to identify all stakeholders in their school community and to use their feedback to help communicate the change initiative. Cawsey et al. (2016, p. 196) define stakeholder analysis as the process of identifying the key individuals or groups who can influence or who are impacted by the proposed change initiative, and then work strategically with those individuals or groups to make them more open to the notion of change. Included in this process is the analysis of position, motives, and the power of all key stakeholders which is vitally important to the principal in assessing the school’s readiness for change. Stakeholder analysis also identifies the formal and informal connections between people, structures and the systems at play (Cawsey et al., 2016, p. 199). Not only does this communication strategy make it more likely that

stakeholders will support the idea of change, but it will put the principal and other school- based leaders in a better position to manage them and the context (Cawsey et al., 2016, p. 199; Srinivasan, 2008). The stakeholder analysis process can assist principals and school staff in thinking carefully about who will be affected and who has to change their

behaviour in order for the initiative to be successful. In the implementation phase of this initiative, stakeholder analysis will help the principal to identify how and when

stakeholders should be involved and with whom to communicate regarding project progress. During the monitoring phase, stakeholder analysis will serve as a valuable tool to provide a baseline against which to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of

engagement by stakeholders, both those supportive and those in opposition (Srinivasan, 2008). As Cawsey et al. (2016) have determined, different stakeholders will be at different stages of readiness for change; therefore, using the Change Path Model in this OIP will ensure that all stakeholders are accounted for, engaged, managed and

communicated with, while their readiness for change is monitored at all stages of the change process.

While some stakeholders may recognize that there are differences between school communities and the populations they serve, staff working within those schools may not know or understand the nature and impact of existing safety, diversity and equity

differences. Therefore, the third and final communication tool that will be utilized is the equity audit. The equity audit is a systematic way for the principal to assess the degree of equity or inequity present in specific areas of their school’s programs, instructional practice, student safety, and achievement. The equity audit can provide an opportunity to reflect on areas in need of improvement and garner support for improvements needed to further school, department and/or school community commitments to safety, belonging and inclusion. In terms of the actual tool itself, a generic one has been created (Appendix C) based on a number of examples that have been collected and synthesized. Completion of a site-based equity audit will help schools better understand areas of strengths, needs and concerns. Using such a communication tool would provide an opportunity for principals and their staff to reflect upon what they are doing well and how they might enhance student safety, equity and the acceptance of diversity in the future. Therefore, the goal in using an equity audit in this OIP is to have school principals lead their staff in communicating their site-specific data to reveal information on identified safety issues and program inequities, to generate discussion of the key safety issues (Skrla, Scheurich, Garcia, & Nolly, 2004), and to provide a corrective to potential biases (Sullivan, 2014) that may affect school alignment with district and provincial policies, and Ministerial Orders.

It can be expected that not all principals are aware of their association’s

leadership standards assigning them the role of challenging structures that create barriers to equity and inclusion while leading the development of an inclusive and collaborative school culture (BCPVPA, 2013, p. 17) as these standards are not mandated into practice. Therefore, there is a need for each school in the district to adopt an accountability

strategy to chart their progress toward this goal. With this in mind, the implementation of this OIP will include a measurement strategy to assess the degree of change in the

behaviours of staff and key stakeholders at the school level, and the degree of impact of those changes on reducing students’ harmful verbal and physical behaviour as measured through the annual student Satisfaction Survey results (Parisse-Brassens, 2016). The anonymous school-based surveys could also be repeated as a strategy to measure change over time for staff as well as for students. And finally, measuring the impact of staff and stakeholder change on reducing students’ harmful verbal and physical behaviour would

require the comparison of survey results, extant and site-based longitudinal data, review of the school’s code of conduct in relation to the required components, and the

examination of school-based documents related to communication, collaboration and consistency of approach.