As I reflected on his observation, I started to think about how my body of work as a professor, author, and consultant may have contributed to that resurgence of interest in systemic change. It is my hope that in some small way, the ideas I have shared about large-scale change in school districts have influenced this resurgence of interest in systemic change.
What I did to try to identify how I may have influenced the return of systemic change was to examine my experience and extract from my vita samples of my work from 1980-2000. Here’s what I found.
In 1980, Chris Argyris sponsored an honorary faculty position for me in the Harvard Graduate School of Education to study his and Donald Schön’s ideas about personal and organizational learning. That’s when I started thinking about organizational learning in school systems.
In 1985 and 1986, I published my first two articles on applying principles of organization development and systems theory to improving the practice of instructional supervision in school districts. In 1990, I continued writing about the application of systems change to the challenge of improving instructional supervision.
An article in 1992 expressed views that reflected a shift in my thinking away from how to improve the process of instructional supervision to improving whole school systems. Then, in 1995 I published three articles that continued to shift my thinking to a focus on using systems theory to improve entire school systems.
In 1995, I started publishing and distributing The F.M. Duffy Reports. These were free quarterly reports distributed through the U.S. mail to an international audience of practitioners, professors, consultants, school board members, and politicians. The theme of the reports was about how to create and sustain system-wide change in school districts. In 2005, I started distributing these Reports via E-mail. The theme remains the same.
My first book was published in 1996 with the title Designing high performance schools: A practical guide to organizational reengineering. This book described in detail how to apply principles of systemic change to improve schools and school systems. One of the chapters in that book was about Knowledge Work Supervision.
1997 saw another two articles published about applying principles of systemic change to improving school systems. Two more articles appeared in 1997 and 1998 about a reconceptualized model of supervision that shifted the focus of supervision off of individual teachers and onto the performance of an entire school system. That model was called Knowledge Work Supervision (which was first described in my first book).
I invited Lynda Rogerson and Charles Blick to co-author Redesigning America’s schools: A systems approach to improvement. That book was published in 2000 and provided a detailed description of how to redesign an entire school system using Knowledge Work Supervision. Charles Reigeluth of Indiana University, a noted expert on systemic change in education, characterized that book as the best one he has ever seen on applying principles of systems theory to the challenge of transforming school systems.
I stopped reviewing my vita at the year 2000 because that was the year that Fullan published his article on the return of large-scale reform.
Since 2000, I have published many more articles and several more books. The Knowledge Work Supervision methodology has been transformed into Step-Up-To-Excellence.
All tolled, I hope that my ideas as expressed in my writing, teaching and consulting have contributed in some small way to the return of large-scale reform in education as commented upon by Michael Fullan.
1997 saw another two articles published about applying principles of systemic change to improving school systems. Two more articles appeared in 1997 and 1998 about a reconceptualized model of supervision that shifted the focus of supervision off of individual teachers and onto the performance of an entire school system. That model was called Knowledge Work Supervision (which was first described in my first book).
I invited Lynda Rogerson and Charles Blick to co-author Redesigning America’s schools: A systems approach to improvement. That book was published in 2000 and provided a detailed description of how to redesign an entire school system using Knowledge Work Supervision. Charles Reigeluth of Indiana University, a noted expert on systemic change in education, characterized that book as the best one he has ever seen on applying principles of systems theory to the challenge of transforming school systems.
I stopped reviewing my vita at the year 2000 because that was the year that Fullan published his article on the return of large-scale reform.
Since 2000, I have published many more articles and several more books. The Knowledge Work Supervision methodology has been transformed into Step-Up-To-Excellence.
All tolled, I hope that my ideas as expressed in my writing, teaching and consulting have contributed in some small way to the return of large-scale reform in education as commented upon by Michael Fullan.
References
Books
Duffy, F. M. (2005, in press). Power, politics and ethics: Dynamic leadership for systemic school improvement. Leading Systemic School Improvement Series. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
Duffy, F. M. (2004). Moving upward together: Creating strategic alignment to sustain change. Leading Systemic School Improvement Series, No.1. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Education.
Duffy, F. M. (2003). Courage, passion, and vision: A guide to leading systemic school improvement. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Education and the American Association of School Administrators.
Duffy, F. M. (2002). Step-Up-To-Excellence: An innovative approach to managing and rewarding performance in school systems. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Education.
Duffy, F. M. & Dale, J. (Eds.) (2001). Creating successful school systems: Voices from the university, the field, and the community. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.
Duffy, F. M., Rogerson, L. G., & Blick, C. (2000). Redesigning America’s schools: A systems approach to improvement. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.
Duffy, F. M. (1996). Designing high performance schools: A practical guide to organizational reengineering. Del Ray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press.
Articles
___________(2000 Winter). Re-conceptualizing instructional supervision. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 15 (2), 123-145.
____________(1998). Knowledge Work Supervision: Transforming school systems into high performing learning organizations. ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, EA 029224.
___________ (1997 May). Supervise schooling, not teachers. Educational Leadership, 54 (8), 78 - 83.
___________ (1997 January). Knowledge Work Supervision: Transforming school systems into high-performing learning organizations. International Journal of Educational Management, 11 (1), 26 - 31.
__________ (1995). Supervising knowledge-work. NASSP Bulletin, 79 (573), 56-66.
__________ (1995). Supervising knowledge work. ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management. EA026349.
__________ (1995). Designing high performance schools through instructional supervision. ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management. EA026350.
__________ (April, 1992). Random thoughts, deeply felt. In the Chesapeake Bay Organization Development Network Newsletter, 6 (2)
____________(1990 Spring). Soil conditions, cornerstones, and other thoughts: A treatise for a school superintendent. Wingspan,5 (2).
__________ (1986). Improving the effectiveness of supervisory practice. Planning and Changing: A Journal for School Administrator, 16 (4), 195-205.
__________ (1985). Analyzing and evaluating supervisory practice. In ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management (ED 458707).
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