Change: Based on your understanding of the Marzano reading, which of the 21 responsibilities and day-to-day management of a school are most necessary for second-order change? How does the complexity of second order change demand a very thoughtful and flexible administrator?
In chapter five, Two Types of change, Marzano lays out seven steps to be successful in second order change:
1. Knowledge of Curriculum, instruction, and Assessment-The principal has to be aware of what the curriculum is asking for, know what the instructional and assessment practices are of then innovation and provide guidance where necessary.
2. Optimizer-The principal has to be able to force behind the innovation and believe that his/her staff will follow.
3. Intellectual Stimulation-Being able teach the staff what he or she knows about the innovation.
4. Change Agent-The principal is able to challenge the status quo.
5. Monitoring/Evaluating-He/she is constantly watching and checking for the work being done.
6. Flexibility-Being able to put his/her input into the discussion when needed
7. Ideals and beliefs-That the innovation is based on their beliefs.
I feel that these seven second order changes are important because no principal can be successful if they have to use all twenty one of the first order.
It is interesting to look back at the week two Balanced Report that I took. When I got my results, I was surprised that I fell into second order. It was an interesting exercise and it showed me how hard it is to run a school day after day. One area that I scored low on was flexibility. I have to learn how listen to staff and be able to listen to other ideas.
An administrator in my opinion has to be able to listen to his/her staff and take their ideas to be successful. Running a day to day operation is not easy and to borrow a nautical term it “takes all hands on deck” to be successful. Marzano states that “When involved in the day-to-day first-order changes and corrections that face a school faces, the school leader must attend to all 21 responsibilities as regular of managing the school. When involved in second-order change initiatives that are dramatic departures from the past, the leader must emphasize 7 responsibilities.” (Marzano 2005) It is the dramatic departure from the norm that makes it difficult.
Marzano states that to be involved in second order change the leader must emphasize those 7 core responsibilities. To narrow these seven even a little more, it's critical that principals be the steady force in tackling the status quo. They are responsible for continually looking for ways to optimize resources in order to make desingated changee happen. In other words, an effective principal must be an optimizer and change agent!
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