Lesson Three
♦ Structural reform creates personal conflict.
One of the greatest governance tasks for education organizations is caring for its people—energizing, motivating, and encouraging them so that they feel valued, continue to learn, and contribute to the achievement of organizational goals. Mary Green has studied the consolidation of school districts in Newfoundland and Labrador in terms of its impact on those charged with implementing top-down reforms and on those directly affected by those changes. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in one school district Green (2012) suggests that the reform processes of 1997 and 2004 accomplished the corporate goals set by government, but failed to meet a reasonable standard of basic care and concern for individuals. Throughout the repartitioning process, Green argues, senior managers were positioned in contradictory ways creating ambiguity between their personal values and the professional responsibilities required by government. Her research describes how some of the same senior staff members who had given their life’s work to building up the school district were charged with breaking it down, placing them into forced retirement or unemployment. One lesson for policymakers considering structural reform is that efforts must be made to lessen the personal tensions associated with a redefined organizational structure. Educational changes must be undertaken in compassionate, generous and nurturing ways, where care for individuals becomes a genuine core value.