The management team is expected to provide technical guidance to enable the institutional governing body to come up with well-informed decisions on the running of the institution. The management team collects relevant information individually for planning and compiles the draft plans that are availed to the school management for input and authorisation (Ministry of Education 2008a:10; 2014: 32). Planning curriculum change at the school or institutional level can begin with any elements or stages of defined curriculum development. It is a continuing process involving interactions, refinements and reviews related to changing structures, organising principles and content. It is concerned with the rationales behind the changes and the issues pertaining to facilitating and managing change.
The Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) in Zambia is legally mandated to develop national curricula aided by the education policy. School managers and classroom teachers are authorized to interpret the government policy on education and implement the designed content (core-curriculum) enshrined in the syllabi. However, with regard to the management of curriculum change in the studied basic schools in Mongu Township in Zambia, all school managers and teachers are mandated to develop a localized core-curriculum (unofficial curriculum) for teaching and learning in line with the officially planned national core- curriculum (see discussions in paragraphs 2.4.3, 2.4.3.1 and 2.4.3.2 above). Therefore, the planned institutional curriculum, vision and mission statement must be aligned to the national curriculum, vision and mission statement to sustain and maintain conformity, compliancy and consistency for quality delivery of education.
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Planning curriculum change at the institutional level has many implications, not only for the sake of selecting knowledge but also, crucially, for the management of skills that a learning institution may require to function effectively (Gregorio 2006:27; Di Paola & Hoy 2008:48). Planning curriculum change at the institutional level will require an adoption of the learner- centred approach to be applied in the classroom. Thus, the quality delivery of the learning content marks a fundamental feature of managing curriculum change. Planning curriculum change and change processes may entail responding to the multiple competencies needed for changing institutional performances and environments (Gregorio 2006:27).
It is imperative to manage the challenges of new learning environments by responding to the new learning objectives like learning for creativity and adaptability. This is done to change the learning processes in order to preserve the institutional identity and develop institutional understanding (Di Paola & Hoy 2008:48). The preservation of institutional identity and the development of the institutional understanding results in the development of human qualities and interpersonal relationships becoming more essential, while job-specific occupational skill for the manager increasingly becomes a second priority (Gregorio 2006:27; Di Paola & Hoy 2008:48). A lesson may be learnt by the basic school managers in Mongu Township in Zambia with regard to the way Gregorio’s (2006:27) and Di Paola and Hoy’s (2008:48) viewpoints fit into their basic school management systems for planning curriculum change.
Reiss (2007: 53), Murphy (2007:74), Pellicer (2008: 51), Pryor and Pryor (2005: 7-8) and Schollaert and Leenheer (2006:25) feel that the head of the senior management team plays a decisive role in developing a policy-making capacity within the school. However, sustainable improvement can only be achieved if many role players in a variety of positions contribute actively to this worthy cause and purpose. It means that several teams in the school ought to work together simultaneously on related issues about their school management systems. This step is essential in planning and managing curriculum change. Furthermore, in planning and managing curriculum change, the senior management team needs a shared understanding of where these efforts are taking them in view of working towards the desired outcomes.
The school managers also need to understand the prevailing conditions that permit them to work towards achieving the stated outcomes. School managers are driven towards internal capacity building and management coherence in the school. Capacity building and coherence for school managers in planning curriculum change are parts of the tasks that enhance leading
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the change agents in the school. Capacity building and coherence in planning creates a powerful learning environment for learners and staff alike. School managers can achieve much progress in the school by setting up a continuing professional development policy, and by promoting agency through empowering people to work co-operatively in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust (Murphy 2007:74; Pellicer 2008: 51; Schollaert & Leenheer 2006:26). The school managers and class teachers in the basic schools in Mongu Township in Zambia may find this assertion helpful in their school management practices that are aimed at improving the organisational objectives.
According to Reiss (2007: 53) and Schollaert and Leenheer (2006:25), schools as organisations can develop a policy on learning and leading change and can work continuously on such policies while focussing on a set of particular goals as the only way towards lasting and sustainable improvement in schools. This can be done effectively as a part of planning curriculum change. Ultimately, school managers and teachers in the basic schools in Mongu Township may develop school policies that can improve their schools sustainably by focusing their management practices on particular set goals. Organisational change efforts that do not lead to sustainable improvement areas are a waste of time (Schollaert & Leenheer 2006:25). The organisational change efforts that focus on sustainable improvements in schools ought to be commensurate with the beliefs and values that school managers hold for their organisation (Reiss 2007: 53; Murphy 2007:74; Pellicer 2008: 51; Pryor & Pryor 2005: 7-8). ACC (2002b:8) remarks that:
…educational institutions that adhere to effective change processes are the types of institutions that seem to reorganise the organisational values and practices, replace and re-assign change agents in key positions, change the reward systems, create new symbols and rituals, modify the selection and socialisation processes to engage change agents that promote new organisational values.
The above matters need to be taken into consideration in the planning process at the institutional level. The idea of organisational change involves change in the culture of the organisation, where culture refers to the way things are done in the context of school change (Reeves 2009:37; Reeves 2006a:88-89.). Therefore, cultural change in the context of the school demands that organisational change agents define what will not change, and what will change (Reeves 2009:37), and will use the right change tools for the system (Christensen,
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Marx & Stevenson 2006:77). Thus, a change of the culture will require relentless personal action and commitment by the leader (Reeves 2009:37).
Changes in an educational institution mean a move towards making organisational cultures more flexible, responsive and focused on change agents’ needs, service and quality. The role of hierarchy (management protocols) in organisational change is, typically, to communicate the essential clues and messages of change (Reeves 2009:50). Networking for teachers and administration offers a powerful and fast method of communication in managing institutional change. School managers have the mandate to share effective practices, respond to challenges and provide practical insights in the management of school affairs (Reeves 2009:51). It is the responsibility of the basic school managers in Mongu Township in Zambia to consider the above issues as fundamental to their planning and management of curriculum change in their basic schools. The management roles of the basic school managers in Mongu Township will determine the direction they take in their school management practices aiming at reaching greater heights focused on institutional or organisational improvement.