The management of educational change: A case study

Abstract

This report examines the issues inherent in the management of curriculum change. The change in question was initiated through one of five national Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) projects in modern foreign languages for post‐16 students. In the light of the expanding opportunities in Europe post‐1992, and the place of a modern foreign language as a foundation subject in the National Curriculum, the main purpose of the project was to find ways of generating a place for modern foreign languages in the post‐16 core curriculum. A brief background to developments in TVEI is given, and the identification of required changes against this background and that of a new European awareness is described. A description of the project itself highlights the processes by which change was established and the management issues inherent in the initiation of change. Following the monitoring and evaluation of the project, the author concludes that change at a local level was very effective. Viewed as action research the project was very successful, but as a national project it was based on the research development and diffusion model, and is unlikely to produce change on the scale initially perceived by TVEI planners. © 1993 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.