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Looking for a system to improve your school's systems?
QUALITY MANAGEMENT is one of the most comprehensive approaches to SYSTEMATIC IMPROVEMENT. It has been around for a long time in industry and commerce but has not been well translated into education. Attempts have been rare with limited success against the prevailing paradigms of schools & schooling.
In addition, over the years, 'quality' has come to mean some very different things to different people, and as result carries a lot of baggage that is often unhelpful.
You may have already started using 'quality' as a key (management) strategy in your School. It happens when you and other managers work on the School systems with the help of the people involved in the School. The focus is on making your school better in terms of
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achievement: doing well & making all activity easier and better (in that order) so that the important things are achieved
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delight: having fun & making things delightful for the recipients both now and in the future (that's what quality is)
The best of what you are doing is very likely to be consistent with the principles of quality. For the purposes of this site quality is based on three major elements that work together to ensure the important things are achieved easily & well.
Quality supports people by enabling people to work together to achieve their purposes:
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analyze & learn
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design & improve
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the things that enhance their capabilities, viz, knowledge & skills, and, the systems and culture in which they work
Quality makes it easier for people to be most truly themselves because the focus is on what is to be achieved (outputs/outcomes) and how it is to be achieved (systems/processes)
The focus is not on who is to achieve the outcomes - the system (eg, the school) has that responsibility!! Quality enables people to do things more easily, more naturally.. Quality is a comprehensive set of principles and practices that help us make sense of complex situations. The principles and practices enable us make better responses to the challenges that arise continuously in schools.
The result of using quality as a management strategy is that the outcomes will be better and everything will cost less. This is particularly important when schools are being asked to achieve more with less.
You, and the people with whom you work, need the best opportunities to learn, and to achieve, and to enjoy an excellent quality of life both now and in the future. This website can help you with four possible next steps. You can
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Learn more about quality
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Consider the nature and purposes of schools
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Check out the things you might do to implement quality
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Or just learn a little more about one school's experiences so far
All the best with the application of systems improvement in your school...
Ivan Webb
Ps. If this is a little too 'technical' (a least initially) try Broken Windows. This a deceptively simple approach to involve everyone in making a contribution: it also focuses on reducing variation.