Respondents talked about their conception of change when they were asked about their experience of the change initiative but they also kept coming back to it in their responses to other questions as well. Although every respondent had an individualised experience of the change initiative through the interplay of their personal experience with this particular change, previous experiences in the system, and their thoughts and beliefs about education in general and issues related to pedagogy, achievement and improvement in particular, they had some common ideas. This is partly because their experiences were rooted in the same system, context and the reform process. A strong indication emerged in most of the responses that the initiative was a good idea and within this, there were some associated clusters of ideas. The table below illustrates the categories of issues and their strength in the data:
Table 5.1 Categories in the conception of the change initiative
Category No of scripts evident in
Perception that initiative was good 16
Tensions related to implementation and resistance 12 Issues around pedagogy and examination 11
Public profile 2
Respondents mostly expressed positive attitudes towards the change initiative as 16 out of 20 respondents used words like ‘good’ ‘positive’ ‘healthy’ ‘better’ to describe the reform and they further substantiated this optimistic view in their explanations. They touched on a wide range of ideas encompassing the need and positive reception of this change and the anticipated improvement in pedagogy and student learning, or the indication of progress. The reasons given included:
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there was ‘need for this change’ (R1)
it was ‘welcomed by the teachers’ (R11)
its ‘content and material is good’ (R4)
it has ‘improved student learning’ (R8)
it has ‘supported good students’ (R7)
it has boosted student achievement (R12)
it is ‘positive and right system to encourage independent study’ (R20)
it has ‘enhanced vision’ and ‘brought clarity’ (R17)
it is an indication of progress (R19)
Some respondents commented on the significance of the change. However, for some respondents, not withstanding these claims, there were some associated problems as well. In elaborating on these problems, the issues of poor implementation and capacity to manage the change were discussed. Therefore, even if change is received well, there is no guarantee that it would be implemented successfully and result in the intended outcomes being achieved because of the gaps between policy and practice (Hopkins, 1994). When respondents mentioned the problems, the most commonly cited ones were related to:
Poor implementation process
Understanding and capacity for change among the implementers
Significance of the change
Practicality of the change in terms of its feasibility
Persistence in use of obsolete teaching methods
Disadvantages for schools in far flung areas
Disadvantageous position of weaker students in comparison to more able students
Disadvantageous position of institutions with no experience of teaching and learning for O and A levels in comparison to institutions with this experience
Poor implementation of the reforms was thought to be a major issue undermining the possible impact of the change initiative and seven of the respondents were quite explicit in stating that: ‘The entire problem has occurred due to ‘wrong implementation’ (a faulty implementation process) otherwise it is a good initiative’ (R 4). Hopkins (1994, p 74) has
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termed this situation as ‘the reality of change’ as opposed to ‘the rhetoric of change’. This is the case with many of the educational change initiatives which according to Hargreaves and Hopkins (2005, p 9)
are rarely thought through in advance, systematically planned, and implemented, then tested and evaluated before wider dissemination.
Commonly, what seem to be good ideas are adopted, partially implemented and poorly evaluated, until interest dwindles and another idea comes along.
Four respondents also aired another concern, which was about the understanding of the reform and capacity of change managers, who would be required to implement the reforms.
Although it was acknowledged by the principals that the proposed reforms had focused on the enhancement of student understanding, there was a perceived lack of understanding about the real aims and objectives, procedures and tasks to be undertaken to bring about the required change. Those whose task was to implement the reforms and here this included those in teaching roles and those concerned with the examination: teachers and especially paper setters and paper markers were focused and their lack of understanding was seen as limiting the benefits of the change programme. This lack of understanding tempered the capacity to manage the change on the part of head teachers ‘The will was not stronger and capacity to manage the change was missing’ (R5).
Two of the interviewees were negative about the significance of the change though they thought the reformed system better and more positive. One of them was of the view that the change that had been introduced was quite insignificant and did not address areas where change was actually needed. These ideas compare with the conception of first order change by Cuban, (1990), when the change initiatives aim to affect practices and activities but do not deal with aspects that are more fundamental. While the other respondent expressed that change in the syllabus was not significant but change in the examination system was an important step: ‘From our stand point whenever changes are introduced, these are quite insignificant’ (R7) ‘there is not much change in the syllabus’ (R15).
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Some respondents were concerned about the practicality of the change programme. They expressed their misgivings about the situation on the ground and their concerns included the lack of skills/understanding on the part of teachers and students as well as more organisational issues: extra large class size, limited term time and the scarcity of resources all of which made the change hard to achieve. This situation illustrates neglect at the pre-implementation stage of the change process (Fullan, 1991) or the ‘beginnings’ stage (Carnall, 1999) to carry out a thorough and effective account or ‘strategic analysis’ about the crucial components of environment, internal resources and culture and values of the schools (Fidler, 2004).
Five respondents also raised the issue of the continued usage of old methods in teaching, the syllabus design and in the examination system (paper setting and marking), which may be part of the ‘denial stage’ of the reaction to change when people try to maintain their present situation (Carnall, 2007). They were of the view that the change programme cannot be successful if teaching and assessment are not changed accordingly. Without the adoption of new and suitable methods, the change programme remains only partially implemented: ‘The pattern of examination which we have adopted is apparently good, as we are going for objective type questions but we have old methods and we still use them. When this pattern is based on cramming, it is not beneficial for students’ (R12).
Six respondents mentioned the issue of disadvantageous position of academically weaker students in comparison to the position of more able students in the new system. Some of them just stated it as a fact of the situation while others picked it up as a source of tension, which will limit the potential of this change initiative. According to the respondents, as the difficulty level of the syllabus and examination papers has increased and the conceptual and analytical approach is encouraged, so only academically better students can excel. Therefore, the disadvantage for weaker students has become more pronounced: ‘We have new system which is positive for good students’ (R7).
The disadvantageous position of institutions with no previous experience of teaching and learning for O and A levels in comparison to institutions with this experience also came up in
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the interviews with two heads of the institutions. According to them and many other respondents, the model of O and A levels has been adopted as part of the change in curriculum and examination system. Some of the institutions in Pakistan have affiliation with Cambridge and London universities for external examination along with the local examination boards, and so they give the option to students to study in either of the two systems and then take the respective external examination. These institutions have a system already in place where they have teachers who are trained to teach according to the requirements of the A levels system and they can work with their students accordingly especially in relation to more progressive teaching learning processes. It is easier for these schools to adapt to the present change programme because they have a preparation and understanding: ‘In this change those institutions which were already teaching O levels are at advantage. But the institutions without this system are facing difficulties as the managers as well as teachers are not trained for this system’ (R19).
Some of the respondents articulated their conception of change in terms of its relation to pedagogical issues. These issues were mainly divided into two categories, one relating to student learning and the other to the change in the examination system, which has been seen as a highly significant influence on the teaching and learning process. Student learning was discussed from two standpoints, firstly what was required in the reformed curriculum and secondly, what was necessitated by the changes in the examination system. Teachers’
reaction to a change initiative is linked with their perception about the beneficial impact of the reform for them and for student learning (Waugh and Ketusiri, 2009). The respondents perceived that the change programme had promoted conceptual development and reduced rote learning among students: ‘it is conceptual and the rote learning has been checked’ (R9) and ‘prior to this, students used to cram but now they study’ (R8). This conceptual development is supported by thorough study and development of the critical and analytical perspectives. Rote learning is perceived by the interviewees to be an attribute of the old system, which constricted the conceptual development of the students:
‘It is a transition from rote learning to innovative and creative learning which is a very healthy change’ (R10).
‘Now the approach is analytical and critical and conceptual studies have been encouraged’ (R20).
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‘Now one cannot do selective study and one has to go through each and every thing’
(R11).
The examination and assessment system was also a recurring theme with some respondents emphasizing the fundamental changes to the examination system, which had in turn necessitated changes in the approach to teaching and learning. The reasons cited for the profound influence of the examination system were the significance of examination results for the future studies and careers of students and for the accountability of teachers and institutions. ‘As we are examination oriented and we are aiming at good examination results so we do as best as we can’ (R 7) and ‘Our curriculum, teaching and learning all are examination oriented. When teachers are teaching, they have examination questions at the back of their minds so they teach accordingly’ (R20). One respondent went to the length of suggesting that improvement in the quality of education has been planned to take effect through an improvement of the quality of assessment in the examination. ‘The thrust of the change was to improve the quality of education by improving the quality of assessment and evaluation.’ (R5). Thus, the change in the examination was the leverage for change in other aspects particularly teaching and learning: ‘while assessment may well steer learning, this can have positive consequences in terms of enhanced meaningful learning’ (Norman et al 2010, pp 496).
The issue of the public profile of the change initiative was raised with some concerns about the over emphasis of its significance and politicization. This was a minor theme referred by one respondent ‘Actually there is much fanfare about change and actual change was quite insignificant’ (R5).
In short, the emergent ideas in this section are the overall positivity about the reform initiative, the impact of reform on promoting conceptual learning and teaching and assessment. There were issues related to faulty implementation, feasibility, lack of understanding and capacity among the implementers regarding this change programme and the issue of a continued use of previous methods in teaching and assessment. There were concerns about the structural disadvantages in the reformed system for academically weak
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students, geographically far off institutions and for the institutions with no system in place for O/A level teaching. Those seen to be in advantageous position were the able students, centrally located urban institutions and institutions with an already functional O/A level system respectively. This gives us a sense that school heads have positive image of the purpose, content and intentions of the reform initiative especially with relation to its impact on the development of conceptual and analytical learning and teaching and on the assessment to drive the change in pedagogy. At the same time, there have been identified some structural and practical problems, which have been considered serious and damaging for the real potential of the reform by the principals.