“To make systems-level change happen, stakeholders, especially educators, need to buy into the change.”

Owning Change: Governance, Accountability & Engagement 

Governance is closely aligned with leadership. Governance refers to formal systems and structures that create or endorse decision-making authority and tends to be used to describe the formal responsibilities of leaders to make decisions. A school principal, for example, is both a leader for change and the formal local decision maker in the school. In systems-level change, leadership should be distributed across and within all levels of the education system and governance will follow in many cases. Formal systems can be used to decentralize decision making while keeping the ultimate authority in place. The relationship between different levels in governance structures should be reciprocal rather than purely top down to encourage collaboration in decision-making processes. A practical example of this can be seen in Quebec Education’s governance principles which include “subsidiarity,” or the decentralization of processes and decision making. This principle allows a traditionally centralized responsibility to be distributed while leaving the ultimate authority centralized.

Accountability in the literature tends to refer to the outcomes associated with attempting to live up to governance decisions and the consequences of achieving or not achieving the desired outcomes. For example, a school principal may follow a governance decision related to the management of attendance. The principal is not responsible for the decision but is accountable for the way in which the decision is executed and the results of that form of execution. Accountability need not be associated with punishment or rewards—accountability, especially in the literature on competency-based education, is tied to continuous improvement. Vermont, for example, developed an accountability system for continuous improvement in which all schools have been identified as needing improvement. The intention was to destigmatize the label of improvement and send a message that improvement is universally needed and continuous (Patrick et al. 2018). Here, accountability moves away from “rank and punish” systems based on single variables (e.g., grades) toward empowering stakeholders to get the information and support they need to better help all students succeed.

Engagement fits in this domain because it addresses the conceptual/emotional side of ownership. Just as competencies possess a dispositional or willingness element (Hipkins, 2010), effective change processes require particular attitudes and motivation. Most change models refer to engagement or buy-in as necessary for effective change. To obtain engagement from stakeholders such as students, teachers, principals, parents, communities, or employers, two main approaches emerge in the literature: (a) communicate/educate regarding the need for change and (b) gather meaningful input from those to be engaged (e.g., Intel Education, 2017; Milton, 2015; Phillips & Schneider, 2016; Sturgis, 2016). These approaches are often done in tandem (e.g., combining presentations with input sessions). The Canadian provinces and territories reviewed for the development of this framework have combined public and specific audience forums (e.g., with parents or employers) to inform stakeholders and gather feedback. Some have gone to great lengths to engage particular groups to ensure their voices are heard. Nunavut Education (2007), for example, included in-depth consultations with Inuit Elders and community members and included their language and concepts throughout the curriculum. Some grow their “engaged” audience by building upon earlier and ongoing change efforts. Manitoba Education and Trainingcombined their global competencies system-level change efforts (e.g., a whole-system approach to Education for Sustainable Development, and K–12 Framework for Continuous Improvement) with specific initiatives such as the Sustainable and Education Academy and Manitoba Education for Sustainable Development Working Group. Initiatives such as these enable Manitoba Education to iteratively gather stakeholder input and test ideas. Engagement in these cases tends to be built from the ground up, with Manitoba Education facilitating the process.

At the front lines of implementation, educators, of course, are key players and their engagement and support are essential for system change. The provinces and territories furthest along with integrating global competencies, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec, all have processes in place that ensure educators are  communicated with and their input is sought. Educators there are also active contributors to curriculum and assessment design and testing.

Owning Change Worksheet

For more information, and to consult the references indicated above, please click here to download the pan-Canadian systems-level framework on Global Competencies.